[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 136 (Thursday, October 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11121-S11122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH'S RURAL OUTREACH PROGRAM

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about giving small 
businesses the tools they need to be successful in today's competitive 
marketplace. I am committed to providing those tools by fully 
supporting the continuation of the Small Business Innovation Research 
(SBIR) Rural Outreach Program. Congressional commitment to small 
business development has created a network of people nationwide, 
especially in Wyoming, that is excited and knowledgeable about the SBIR 
Rural Outreach Program.
  The SBIR Rural Outreach Program provides an excellent funding 
opportunity for individuals and small businesses in rural areas that 
have a passion to explore, develop and commercialize their innovative 
ideas. Created in 1982, the SBIR Program is a highly competitive 
program that encourages small business to explore their technological 
potential and provides the incentive to profit from its 
commercialization. By including qualified small businesses in the 
Nation's research & development arena, high-tech innovation is 
stimulated and the United States gains entrepreneurial spirit as it 
meets its specific research and development needs.
  The SBIR Program is designed to target the entrepreneurial sector 
because that is where most innovation and innovators thrive. However, 
the risk and expense of conducting serious R&D efforts are often beyond 
the means of many small businesses. By reserving a specific percentage 
of federal R&D funds for small business, the SBIR Program protects the 
small business and enables it to compete on the same level as large 
businesses. The SBIR Program funds the critical startup and development 
stages and it encourages the commercialization of the technology, 
product, or service, which, in turn, stimulates the U.S. economy.
  Each year, ten federal departments and agencies are required by the 
SBIR

[[Page S11122]]

Program to reserve a portion of their R&D funds for award to small 
business. Such agencies include the Department of Agriculture, 
Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, and National Science Foundation.
  Following submission of proposals, agencies make SBIR awards based on 
small business qualification, degree of innovation, technical merit, 
and future market potential. Small businesses that receive awards or 
grants then begin a three-phase program. Phase I is the startup phase, 
awarding up to $100,000 for approximately 6 months support exploration 
of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology. Phase 
II awards of up to $750,000, for as many as 2 years, expanding Phase I 
results. During this time, the R&D work is performed and the developer 
evaluates commercialization potential. Only Phase I award winners are 
considered for Phase II. Phase III is the period during which Phase II 
innovation moves from the laboratory into the marketplace. The small 
business must find funding in the private sector or other non-SBIR 
federal agency funding.
  In 1997, Senator Burns and I cosponsored legislation and Congress 
established the SBIR Rural Outreach Program to increase the SBIR 
participation of small businesses located in the states that receive 
the fewest SBIR awards. The program is limited to funding activities 
which encourage small firms in those states to participate in the SBIR 
Rural Outreach Program. The Outreach Program is targeted toward the 25 
under-represented jurisdictions in the SBIR program in an effort to 
provide a secure funding mechanism to states so that they could develop 
an effective five-year effort to assist small businesses to take 
advantage of the SBIR program.
  As you may know, western small businesses have some special 
impediments to overcome. The SBIR Rural Outreach Program provides an 
excellent funding opportunity for individuals and small businesses that 
have a passion to explore, develop and commercialize their innovative 
ideas. This is especially true in rural states like Wyoming. The 
Wyoming small business community is one of the cornerstones of our 
state's economy. Wyoming is the smallest state, with a large number of 
small businesses. The SBIR Rural Outreach Program is one way for 
Wyoming's small businesses to access federal funding.
  Rural states need technology-based businesses that the SBIR program 
nurtures. The SBIR Rural Outreach Program is one of the few 
opportunities for Wyoming's small businesses to access federal R&D 
funding. I believe more innovative and aggressive approaches are needed 
to help rural states achieve greater participation in this, especially 
at those agencies that have proved difficult for small businesses to 
access.
  There are several outreach activities that have been effective in 
helping small businesses in rural states compete successfully in the 
SBIR Rural Outreach Program. For example, the Wyoming SBIR Initiative 
outreach efforts have led to substantial gains in both the number of 
proposals submitted, the quality of proposals submitted, and the number 
selected for award. For example, Wyoming received one Phase I award in 
1994. Wyoming, however, received 8 Phase I awards by 1995 and has 
received a total of 43 Phase I awards by 2000. To date, Wyoming has 
received approximately $9 million since 1987 for both Phase I and II 
awards, but there is still more that should be done to assist small 
businesses in the West.

  I want to share the dramatic impact that SBIR awards have made on one 
Wyoming company--Wyoming Sawmills, Incorporated. The company's first 
Phase I SBIR award was from U.S. Department of Agriculture in May 1997, 
and it won the follow-on Phase II program in September 1998. The 
project aims to convert low-grade lumber into construction quality 
lumber through an innovative laminating technique. Wyoming Sawmills 
will begin commercial sales of the new product in 1999, and it already 
has captured related R&D funding based on this SBIR project. In January 
1999, the company won a National Science Foundation Phase I award on 
another laminated wood product concept.
  Another success story is CC Technology. CC Technology, a Laramie-
based small business, has been notified of a $400,000 SBIR Phase II 
grant award from the National Science Foundation, NSF. During Phase I, 
the business did research on measuring cyanide levels in gold mining 
leach pads. For Phase II, a team consisting of CC Technology, Detection 
Limit, and Aspect Consultant Group has been built to monitor cyanide at 
both the mining solution levels and at trace levels for environmental 
compliance.
  I want to express a special thank you to Chris Busch, from Senator 
Burns' home state of Montana and who coordinated SBIR efforts in 
Wyoming for the past five years. Chris Busch did a remarkable job 
working with people in Wyoming to raise the awareness and participation 
of small businesses in the SBIR program. Working with small businesses, 
public organizations, and others in Wyoming and nationwide, Chris got 
people involved, helped them through the grant management process, and 
guided them in market development and commercialization. His commitment 
to small business development has created a network of people in 
Wyoming that is excited and knowledgeable about SBIR. Chris has helped 
to plant the seeds of economic diversity in communities that really 
need it. Chris' activities and commitment of this program are making 
SBIR work.
  In closing, SBIR programs work for small businesses in rural states, 
especially Wyoming. Fortunately, we have several dedicated westerners 
in the Congress who have committed their time and legislative efforts 
to expand the successes of SBIR to all parts of the country. It is my 
hope that my colleagues will see the importance of this particular 
government program that is truly assisting small businesses nationwide. 
I look forward to continued bipartisan efforts to benefit our nation's 
small businesses by strongly supporting the SBIR Rural Outreach 
Program.

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