Sen. Maria Cantwell Backs Bill To Invest In Small Business Innovation
Sen. Maria Cantwell released the following statement:
Today, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) helped pass legislation out of the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee that invests in technological innovation in high-tech small businesses. The SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research)/ STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) Reauthorization Act of 2011 (S. 493) helps sustain the flow of capital to job-creating small businesses. The legislation passed out of committee by a vote of 18 to 1 and now heads to the full Senate.
In the last decade, the SBIR program has invested nearly half a billion dollars in more than 1,000 high-tech small businesses in Washington state. Technology-based industries make up 13 percent of the state’s private sector employment workforce, or more than 380,000 people.
