Balderson to Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Spark Commercialization of American Technologies

Press Release

Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) are announcing plans to reintroduce their bipartisan legislation that would enhance commercialization opportunities for American small businesses' innovations. The Research Advancing to Market Production (RAMP) for Innovators Act would support American entrepreneurs by expediting the application processes for two of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) programs: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology (STTR).

"Innovators are playing a key role in not only developing new technologies, but in rebuilding America's economy," said Balderson "At this critical moment, the RAMP for Innovators Act will ensure those lacking critical resources to bring good ideas to market have these needs met."

"If we're only talking about getting people back to work, we're missing the point," said Houlahan. "We need to be talking about creating new jobs as well. Our economy is continuing to evolve, and as we work to rebuild from the devastation caused by the pandemic, we need to be fostering innovation and job creation at every turn. As a former engineer and entrepreneur, I know the problems our small businesses and entrepreneurs face in normal times, and that those problems have multiplied tenfold during this pandemic. We need to be doing everything in our capacity to support our talented entrepreneurs in translating their innovative ideas into marketable products and cutting-edge technology -- too many endeavors fail because they lack access to capital or face IP protection challenges. Pennsylvania is home to a number of successful startups, which began with an idea and have turned into small businesses, creating jobs on Main Street and products Americans use every day. I'm proud to work with Representative Balderson on this bipartisan legislation that will help jumpstart job creation and support our entrepreneurs and small business owners. We cannot wait."

The RAMP for Innovators Act builds on the success of the SBIR and STTR programs by further improving technical and business assistance and making small businesses eligible for fast-tracked U.S. Patent Office services.

Balderson and Houlahan previously introduced the legislation in July 2019 during the 116th Congress.

BACKGROUND

The SBIR and STTR programs are two of the premier federal initiatives to foster American innovation, competitively funding U.S. small businesses to meet federal research and development needs, though many struggle to translate investments into marketable goods and services. The RAMP Act would enhance these programs by:
Improving the SBIR/STTR application peer review process to include commercialization potential in addition to scientific and technical merit;
Increasing the speed at which Federal Agencies make SBIR and STTR awards;
Designating a new Technology Commercialization Official in each Agency to help SBIR awardees commercialize;
Improving the flexibility of technical and business assistance for SBIR/STTR awardees;
Establishing an annual commercialization impact assessment at each agency to monitor the program's successes;
And developing an interagency agreement between SBA and the U.S. Patent Office to help SBIR/STTR companies with intellectual property protection.

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