Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

SSTI, originally known as the State Science and Technology Institute, hosted a well-attended and robust interactive webinar on Monday about the beginning stages of the reauthorization of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

“SBIR has been around 43 years,” said Mark Skinner, SSTI’s Chief Executive Officer. He noted, however, that the last reauthorization in 2022 only extended the program for three years, so that authority expires September 30, 2025.

Explaining that he was not predicting the future, Skinner did add that the overall 2025-26 federal budget is likely to be smaller, meaning the two programs will most likely be smaller in total.

As noted in this teknovation.biz article, much of the webinar focused on what was summarized in the SSTI brief on S.853. The bill, introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 5 by Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), ironically has not yet been assigned to a committee.

Among the topics of high interest were:

1. The impact on the STTR program;
2. The significance of the proposed Phase IA program;
3. The implications of the “emerging states and rural area” category; and
4. “The Mills,” known as businesses that have their primary or sole revenues coming from SBIR and STTR awards.

Skinner invited participants to stay engaged and contribute to discussions around “The Mills,” the future of STTRs, SBIRs and commercialization – the economic development end goal, and the role of state matching programs, such as Tennessee’s, in the next SBIR reauthorization.

---