The House Small Business Committee voted in favor of extending the Small Business Innovation Research program another seven years on Monday.
The bill, H.R. 2392, subsequently passed the House by a voice vote.
V.I. Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen said that program helps small businesses succeed.
"The SBIR Program is one of the most effective and successful technology
programs for entrepreneurs ever created," Christensen said. "Small businesses might not have the colossal research and development departments that some larger businesses have, but they do have the colossal ideas.
"SBIR makes sure those ideas are looked at and funded," she said.
The SBIR program was established by the Small Business Innovation
Development Act in 1982, based on a successful pilot program at the National Science Foundation. It was reauthorized in 1992 and will lapse on October 1, 2000 without Congressional action.
"The vote today moves us one step closer to extending this important program
another seven years," Christensen said.
The SBIR program has resulted in several accomplishments in a variety of areas including cancer research. With National Cancer Institute support, for example, GMA Industries, Inc. has engaged in several SBIR efforts resulting in:

• Breakthroughs in providing access to cancer results in Medicine, Pharmaceuticals, Food Processing, Environmental, and the Chemical industries.
• Technological innovations resulting in costs that are significantly below industry norms for document imaging and capture, and database development applications.
• Creation of export markets that did not previously exist.

In addition, the program gives a fair shot at funding to minority and disadvantaged businesses, Christensen said. Roughly 12 percent of the awards made under the program
are given to minority and disadvantaged businesses. That translates to over $850 million dollars since the program has begun, she said.
"This funding provides real opportunities for many businesses that might not otherwise have been awarded a chance to implement their ideas," Christensen said.
As a testament to its success, SBIR has also become an international model.
Representatives from governments throughout the world come to the United States to study the program.