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Senior Columnist Keith Girard and other featured contributors track the latest small business news.

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Keep the "S" in SBIR!!!

As a small business owner, I have been writing letters to Congress on this issue. However, we seem to have powerful forces against us.

By: Bart Heenan on 6/12/09 at 3:30 PM

House Ready to Steamroll Venture Capital Bill

Names of the 10 companies in wash.dc for abuse of hubzone ...

Can you please sent or post the names ...

By: Rudy C. on 6/12/09 at 3:21 PM

Widespread Abuse Found in SBA's HUBZone Program

Bravo!

I must also say thank you Keith - you hit the nail on the head on this one. I do appreciate your ability to clearly lay out all the facts here. Like Fred, I am also not ready to give up on the SBIR program, but it really seems that the VC's have paid up (well paid) all the right people. It just amazes me sometimes that the small business committee does nothing for small businesses, really, what part of small business committee do they not understand?
There is a major difference between small business and venture capital, but it really seems like both the White House and the small business committees think of them as one in the same. By the admission of the NVCA, vc money only goes to about 0.2% of small businesses, so what about the other 99.8%? Their voice has been completely left out when it comes to SBIR. The House small business committee has held numerous hearings on SBIR re-authorization yet not one actual small business person, meaning someone who is not affiliated with the NVCA or BIO, was allowed to come and speak. There is a real disconnect from reality here, and I thought that kind of stuff was going to end when Bush left office.
We, the real small business community need to have our voices heard here. Contact your representatives and tell them to keep the SBIR program a small business program. Thank you for your voice here Keith, keep it up, small businesses thank you.

By: Kevin Baron on 6/11/09 at 5:29 PM

House Ready to Steamroll Venture Capital Bill

On the Mark ...

Thanks for this insightful analysis, Keith. As an advocist for NOT changing the SBIR eligibility rules, I'm not ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat, but the handwriting is certainly on the wall! You've expressed the essence of the battlefield accurately. I must say that your titling of this as being the "Venture Capital" bill instead of the "SBIR Reauthorization" bill made me wince!

For those who would like to follow the legislation as it rolls through Congress (with or without steam to propel it), the House has four pieces of its bill:
H.R. 2769, ?Commercializing Small Business Research and Development Act?
H.R. 2767, ?Investing in Tomorrow?s Technology Act?
H.R. 2772, ?SBIR and STTR Enhancement Act?
H.R. 2747, ?Rural Technology Development and Outreach Act?
The Senate is working on S.1233, "A bill to reauthorize and improve the SBIR and STTR programs and for other purposes".
You can follow the progress of all of these on http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd

It will undoubtedly take a Conference Committee to get things ironed out. Monitor http://www.SBIRreauthorization.com for information on what's developing.

By: Fred Patterson - The SBIR Coach on 6/11/09 at 3:56 PM

House Ready to Steamroll Venture Capital Bill

Going and Growing Green!

Going GREEN is the only way to survive in this market. If you are developing, creating, or issuing a business plan, make it a stimulation for the environemt, and give back to the children of the World! Make your project LEED certified.

For ideas, we can be reached at: info@foundersregistry.org

Thank you,

The Helping Hands Foundation for Habitat and Humanity
...

By: Daniel Merandi on 6/10/09 at 8:24 PM

Cruising to a Greener Planet on the High Seas