House Committee passes Lawson bill to help spur innovation in small business

Yesterday in the House Small Business Committee, members passed several bills, including U.S. Rep. Al Lawson’s bill, H.R. 2702, the Small Business Innovation Research Program Commercialization Assistance Act.

His bill would create a pilot program under the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). This pilot program will provide additional funding for Phase II of the SBIR program which helps small business startups bring their products and services from commercialization into the marketplace.

The SBIR program encourages small businesses, including universities, to perform research for federal agencies in the fields of innovation and technology, with the potential to bring their research products into commercialization.

“This program is beneficial to not only small businesses, but also to the research facilities that support small business startups,” said Lawson “I know that in my district in North Florida, our innovation hubs at Florida A & M University, Florida State University, and the University of North Florida will all benefit from the opportunity to utilize the SBIR program to help develop cutting edge technology that will see our country into the future. It is my hope that research institutions all across the country can do the same.”

“The SBIR program fosters technological advances among entrepreneurs but, too often, firms run out of capital trying to bring their innovative new products to market,” said Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee. “By making additional funds available during the commercialization phase, this legislation will help more companies clear this hurdle and create new jobs. I applaud Mr. Lawson for his leadership in getting this measure approved by the Committee.”

Laawson’s bill passed as an amendment to H.R. 2763, the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Improvements Act of 2017.