Senators support small business innovation

Two federal programs providing support to small businesses, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), need long-term reauthorization. U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), ranking members of Senate committees, took up the cause during hearings in February 2011. One business funded by SBIR now has 17,000 employees and pays more in taxes than the entire annual budget of the Small Business Administration. Landrieu and Snowe want an eight-year reauthorization, as do supporters of the National Small Business Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Academies of Science and a host of other business groups.