Innovation New Jersey
  • Home
  • Our Coalition
    • Contact Us
  • News
  • Resources
    • State Supports
    • Federal Supports
    • Higher Ed Supports
  • Join Us

Innovation News

Everything Innovation. Everything New Jersey.
Follow us and stay connected.

U.S. Senators Introduce ‘Startup Act’ to Reauthorize Regional Innovation Strategies, Implement Commercialization Grants

10/13/2017

0 Comments

 
Westerville, OH — The State Science & Technology Institute (SSTI) reported that U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) along with Senators Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced the Startup Act on September 28.
 
The legislation would help regions throughout the country address critical gaps between R&D and economic prosperity.
 
SSTI has worked with the offices on sections of the bill that reauthorize and expand the Regional Innovation Strategies program and would implement a new commercialization grants program.  
​SSTI supports the Startup Act (S. 1877) and calls upon other senators to cosponsor this bill and for the House to take up the legislation.
 
In a press statement accompanying the reintroduction, Sen. Moran explained the urgency of the issues to be tackled by the varied elements of the bill.
 
“New business formation and the rate of entrepreneurship have reached historic lows,” Moran said.
 
“Simply put, America is falling behind and losing talent and jobs to countries overseas. Congress must work to reverse these trends and support policies that allow better opportunities for someone to take an idea, bring it to market, and in the process of pursuing that success, create jobs for other Americans.”
 
Innovation policy has enjoyed strong support from across the political spectrum and the Startup Act continues in that path, with Sen. Warner saying: "For years, we have pushed in Congress for commonsense legislation to encourage entrepreneurship and help startup companies grow and thrive.”
 
Sen. Warner is quoted as further saying, “This bipartisan bill seeks to attract and retain the talented innovators and entrepreneurs that will help our country and Virginia promote capital investment and achieve economic growth.”
 
Sen. Blunt concurred, saying “The Startup Act will make it easier for entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses, resulting in more good-paying American jobs. The bill will also increase U.S. competitiveness by ensuring that we have the workforce we need in high-demand STEM fields, which will pave the way for new innovations and stronger economic growth.”
 
The changes to the Regional Innovation Strategies program are significant.
 
First, the program’s duration would extend through FY 2024, and the authorization level would increase to $100 million (subject to appropriations).
 
Second, the new language would clarify the program’s emphasis on regional solutions to transform research into new solutions, products and businesses.
 
The bill accomplishes this by placing priority on outcomes, rather than process, by allowing project timelines to increase to five years, and by divorcing the program from “clusters,” which has caused some confusion with the Small Business Administration’s regional innovation clusters initiative.
 
The bottom line is that the Secretary of Commerce will be able to implement a Regional Innovation Strategies program that is even more responsive to local needs.
 
The new commercialization grants program has been in previous versions of the Startup Act, and as with previous iterations, would allow awards to support the transformation of federal R&D into new products and businesses.
 
Unlike past versions, the new bill would make both institutions of higher education and venture development organizations -- included as a new, legal definition of these entities -- eligible for funding.
 
The exact stipulations of the program would be designated by the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, but would emphasize replicable efforts to transform R&D and encourage entrepreneurship.
 
The size of the program would be relative to the federal extramural R&D budget, which is difficult to quantify in advance, but would essentially be about 4 percent the size of SBIR funding, which was $2.3 billion in FY 2015.
 
Other provisions of the Startup Act would provide visas for immigrants with advanced STEM degrees, codify the international entrepreneur rule, implement several new reports and make additional changes related to immigration and spending.
 
The Startup Act is another example of Congress making a strong statement of support for innovation as a driver of future economic prosperity. SSTI applauds Senators Moran and Warner for their leadership on this issue.
 
“This bipartisan legislation,” Sen. Moran said, “would reduce barriers to growth, encourage investment in new businesses, improve the regulatory process, keep talent here in the United States and accelerate the commercialization of university research that can lead to new ventures and the creation of good-paying jobs in Kansas and nationwide.”
 
Moran’s statement added, “With a new administration and a renewed focus on achieving American economic competitiveness, I urge my colleagues to support the Startup Act so that it can be debated and considered in the Senate.”
 
To learn more about the bill and to find out how you can encourage your delegation to support the Startup Act, contact SSTI today at 614-901-1690 or [email protected].
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Do not miss a single innovative moment and sign up for our newsletter!
    Weekly updates


    Categories

    All
    3D Printing
    Academia
    Acquisitions
    Aerospace
    Agriculture
    AIDS
    Algae
    Alumni
    Animals
    Architecture
    Astrophysics
    Autism
    Awards
    Big Data
    Bioethics
    Biofuel
    Biomedical
    BioNJ
    Bioterrorism
    Bit Coins
    Brain Health
    Business
    Camden
    Cancer
    CCollege
    Cellular
    Centenary
    Chemistry
    ChooseNJ
    Climate Change
    Clinical Trials
    Cloud Tech
    Collaboration
    Computing
    Congress
    Coriell
    Council On Innovation
    Crowdfunding
    Cybersecurity
    DARPA
    Defense
    Degree
    Dementia
    Dental Health
    DOC
    DOD
    DOE
    Drew
    Drones
    Drug Creation
    Einstein's Alley
    Electricity
    Energy
    Engineering
    Entrepreneurship
    Environmental
    FAA
    Fairleigh Dickinson
    FDA
    Federal Budget
    Federal Government
    Federal Labs
    Federal Program
    Finance
    Food Science
    Fort Monmouth
    Fuel Cells
    Funding
    Genome
    Geography
    Geology
    Global Competition
    Google
    Governor Christie
    Grant
    Hackensack
    HackensackUMC
    Health Care
    Healthcare
    HHS
    HINJ
    Hospitals
    Immigration
    Incubator
    Infrastructure
    International
    Internet
    Investor
    IoT
    IP
    IT
    Jobs
    Johnson & Johnson
    K-12
    Kean
    Kessler
    Legislation
    Logistics
    Manufacturing
    Medical Devices
    Med School
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Microorganisms
    Molecular Biology
    Montclair
    NAS
    Neuroscience
    Newark
    New Jersey
    NIFA
    NIH
    NIST
    NJBDA
    NJBIA
    NJ Chemistry Council
    NJCU
    NJDOLWD
    NJEDA
    NJEDge
    NJHF
    NJII
    NJIT
    NJMEP
    NJPAC
    NJPRO
    NJTC
    Nonprofit
    NSF
    OpEd
    Open Data
    OSHE
    OSTP
    Parasite
    Patents
    Paterson
    Patients
    Perth Amboy
    Pharma
    POTUS
    PPPL
    Princeton
    Prosthetics
    Ranking
    Rare Disease
    R&D Council
    Report
    Resiliency
    Rider
    Robotics
    Rowan
    Rutgers
    SBA
    Seton Hall
    Siemens
    Smart Car
    Smart Cities
    Software
    Solar
    Space
    SSTI
    Startup
    State Government
    STEM
    Stevens
    Stockton
    Subatomic
    Supports
    Sustainability
    Taxes
    TCNJ
    Teachers
    Telecom
    Therapy
    Thermodynamics
    Transportation
    Undergraduate
    USEDA
    Verizon
    Video Game
    Virtual Reality
    Water
    WHO
    William Paterson
    Women In STEM
    Workforce Development

Home   Coalition   News   Resources   Events   Join Us
Picture
Innovation New Jersey Coalition
10 West Lafayette Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
732-729-9619