Press Releases

Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH) today teamed with a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators to introduce a bill that would enhance commercialization opportunities for American small businesses’ innovations.

The Research Advancing to Market Production (RAMP) for Innovators Act would support American innovators 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). The RAMP Act builds on the success of these programs by further improving technical and business assistance and making small businesses eligible for fast-tracked U.S. Patent Office services.

“As job creation engines, startups are vital to the American economy but often lack the resources to bring good ideas to market,” said Balderson, a member of the House Small Business Committee. “The RAMP Act is a resourceful way to bridge that gap and foster American innovation, strengthening our position in the global economy.”

The RAMP Act was co-authored by Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (R-PA). A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).

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.