Innovation at risk: Congress must make vital small-business programs permanent

Boston Globe

05-05-2025

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But the innovation economy is under threat. The Trump administration is slashing federal research funds to public universities and cutting experienced research staff across agencies, including at the National Institutes of Health. These reckless cuts will jeopardize future breakthroughs and sacrifice US competitiveness. We cannot cede next-generation technologies to other countries.
To support and grow the innovation economy, the federal government must bolster the successful initiatives that help keep the United States at the front of the pack. Since 1982 and 1992, respectively, the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs have delivered federal research and development funding exclusively for innovative small businesses and the research institutions they partner with — without forcing entrepreneurs to give up ownership in their companies.
For every dollar spent, these programs have produced
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Since the creation of SBIR and STTR, Massachusetts small businesses have become some of the best innovation partners for the federal government and have benefited significantly, receiving
In the biotechnology sector, private early-stage funding can be especially hard to secure because it is capital intensive and requires years of trials and research before products reach patients.
Yet, some Republicans in Congress are demanding major reforms that would hamstring these programs and stifle innovation — all to benefit private interests and private profits. Republican proposals to reform the SBIR and STTR programs would force innovative small businesses to rely on hard-to-secure private investment, which would require entrepreneurs to give up partial ownership in their companies. There is even a proposal to cap the amount of funding available to a single company within the programs, which would end the more than 40 years of a merit-based system. These federal programs were created by Congress, on a bipartisan basis, with the belief that the government has a responsibility to invest in innovative small businesses to further foster innovation in America.
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Thanks in part to the SBIR and STTR programs, the United States has experienced a golden age of innovation over the past several decades. To build on this success and fuel a robust innovation economy, Congress must ensure SBIR and STTR can meet the growing needs of entrepreneurs and small businesses for years to come. It can do this by