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The Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program is a U.S. government funding program, coordinated by the
Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...
, intended to help certain
small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ...
es conduct
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
(R&D). Funding takes the form of contracts or grants. The recipient projects must have the potential for commercialization and must meet specific U.S. government R&D needs. Funds are obtained by allocating a certain percentage of the total extramural (R&D) budgets of the 11 federal agencies with extramural research budgets in excess of $100 million. Approximately $2.5 billion is awarded through this program each year. The
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
(DoD) is the largest agency in this program with approximately $1 billion in SBIR grants annually. Over half the awards from the DoD are to firms with fewer than 25 people and a third to firms of fewer than 10. A fifth are minority or women-owned businesses. Historically a quarter of the companies receiving grants are receiving them for the first time. In April 2021, the DoD reported on a lack of due diligence for SBIR recipients, which permitted funds to go toward companies linked to the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...
. In 2022, the program was reauthorized with additional disclosure requirements for companies that have ties to "any foreign country of concern, including the People’s Republic of China.”


Participating agencies

Each Federal agency with an extramural budget for R&D in excess of $100,000,000 must participate in the SBIR Program and reserve at least 3.2% of such budget in fiscal year 2017 and each fiscal year after. A Federal agency may exceed these minimum percentages. In 2010, the SBIR program across 11 federal agencies provided over $2 Billion in grants and contracts to small U.S. businesses for research in innovation leading to commercialization. , SBIR programs are in place at the following agencies: *
Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...
(
National Institute of Food and Agriculture The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is a U.S. federal government body whose creation was mandated in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. Its purpose is to consolidate all federally funded agricultural research, an ...
) *
Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for busi ...
**
National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
**
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditi ...
*
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
(divided into 13 components) **
Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is org ...
** Department of the Navy **
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** Chemical and Biological Defense **
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**
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**
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** Defense Microelectronics Activity **
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**
Missile Defense Agency The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles. It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which w ...
**
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of natio ...
**
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** Special Operations Command *
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(
Institute of Education Sciences The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent, non-partisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. IES' stated mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice ...
) *
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*
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(
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,
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,
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
) *
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...
( Science and Technology Directorate,
Domestic Nuclear Detection Office The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) is a jointly staffed office established on April 15, 2005 by the United States to improve the nation’s capability to detect and report unauthorized attempts to import, possess, store, develop, or tran ...
) * Department of Transportation *
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*
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*
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...


Related programs

A similar program, the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR), uses a similar approach to the SBIR program to expand public/private sector partnerships between small businesses and nonprofit U.S. research institutions. The main difference between the SBIR and STTR programs is that the STTR program requires the company to have a partnering research institution which must be awarded a minimum of 30% of the total grant funds. As of 2014 federal agencies with external R&D budgets over $1 billion were required to fund STTR programs using an annual set-aside of 0.40%. The Small Business Technology Council, a member council of the National Small Business Association, hands out the Tibbetts Award annually "to small firms, projects, organizations and individuals judged to exemplify the very best in SBIR achievement." Federal and State (FAST) is a program of State-based business mentoring and assistance to aid small businesses in the preparation of SBIR proposals and management of the contracts.


History

The program was established with the enactment into law of the Small Business Innovation Development Act in 1982 to award federal research grants to small businesses. The SBIR program has four original objectives: to stimulate technological innovation; to use small business to meet Federal research and development needs; to foster and encourage participation by minority and disadvantaged persons in technological innovation; and to increase private sector commercialization innovations derived from Federal research and development. The program must be periodically reauthorized by the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
, but reauthorization is generally included in each new budget. The program was re-authorized through FY2017 by the 2012 Defense Authorization Act (P.L.112-81). Rep.
Mazie K. Hirono Mazie Keiko Hirono (; Japanese name: , ; born November 3, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Hawaii since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Hirono previously served as a member of th ...
(D-HI) has proposed the SBIR Enhancement Act of 2011 as HR 447 of the
112th Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...
, which increases the funding for SBIR by increasing the funding tax from the original 2.5% up to 5%, raises the Phase 1 amount to $200,000 and provides for economic adjustments every five years.http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.447: Historical minimum percentages of their "extramural" R&D budgets for awards to small business concerns are: * 2.5% of such budget in each of fiscal years 1997 through 2011; * 2.6% of such budget in fiscal year 2012; * 2.7% of such budget in fiscal year 2013; * 2.8% of such budget in fiscal year 2014; * 2.9% of such budget in fiscal year 2015; * 3.0% of such budget in fiscal year 2016; and * 3.2% of such budget in fiscal year 2017 and each fiscal year after. A Federal agency may exceed these minimum percentages.


See also

* Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 *
Bayh–Dole Act The Bayh–Dole Act or Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act ( Pub. L. 96-517, December 12, 1980) is United States legislation permitting ownership by contractors of inventions arising from federal government-funded research. Sponsored by senat ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Small Business Administration Research and development in the United States Fundraising