Snowe Praises President's Executive Order Requiring Small Business Programs to Adopt Focus on Manufacturing-Related Projects

2/25/2004

From: Craig Orfield of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 202-224-5175; http://sbc.senate.gov

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 -- U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today praised President Bush for signing an Executive Order re-affirming his strong commitment to the manufacturing sector and setting new priorities to aid manufacturers through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

"With the stroke of a pen, President Bush has strengthened the federal government's commitment to focus resources on the nation's manufacturing sector," said Snowe, Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. "His action today is especially important for Maine, which has been particularly hard hit by the recent decline in manufacturing jobs."

The President's order, number 13329, signed yesterday, will make manufacturing-related research and development a priority under the SBIR and STTR programs. It also will require the heads of federal agencies to report annually to the SBA and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on their efforts in implementing the order. Additionally, it will require the SBA to develop mandatory guidance for federal agencies to help them comply with its goals.

"Efforts like the President's Executive Order are essential to focus federal resources on reviving our manufacturing sector and rebuilding the high-quality jobs that traditionally have been sustained by manufacturing,"added Snowe.

Snowe has made stemming manufacturing job losses a top priority. Late last year, she introduced the "Small Manufacturers Assistance, Recovery and Trade (SMART) Act" (S.1977), which calls on the SBA to enhance its services and programs offered to manufacturers.

The SBIR Program was established when President Reagan signed into law the "Small Business Innovation Development Act," which required federal agencies with research and development budgets of $100 million or more, to set aside not less than 2/10th of one percent of that amount for the first SBIR program. The program now requires agencies to set aside 2.5 percent of their budgets.

The STTR Program was created in 1992 to stimulate technology transfer from research institutions to small firms while, at the same time, accomplishing the federal government's research and development goals. It was designed to convert the billions of dollars invested in research and development at the nation's universities, federal laboratories and nonprofit research institutions into new commercial technologies.