Governor
Seeks to Match Federal Funding for Kentucky's Small Businesses
Governor Ernie Fletcher's initiative to increase support for Kentucky's small
businesses unanimously passed out of the House Economic Development Committee
on February 8.
House Bill 422, sponsored by Representatives Harry Moberly, Jr. (D-Richmond),
Jimmie Lee (D-Elizabethtown) and Don Pasley (D-Winchester), authorizes the
Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA), within the Cabinet for
Economic Development, to create an incentive program to match federal Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer
(STTR) awards to high-tech companies in Kentucky.
"Passing this initiative means Kentucky will become the only state in the
nation with a comprehensive, start-to-finish matching funds program for
innovative small businesses that receive federal SBIR and STTR awards," said
Governor Fletcher. "These grants are directly related to developing new
technologies into commercial products and services, which are more likely to be
manufactured in Kentucky since they will be developed here."
The Cabinet for Economic Development's Department of Commercialization and
Innovation would administer the programs that match all Phase I and Phase II
federal SBIR and STTR awards received by Kentucky businesses. This
includes matching awards of up to $100,000 to support Phase I exploration of
the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology. Phase II
federal awards, which support full-scale research and development, would be
matched by the commonwealth up to $500,000.
"SBIR and STTR matching funds will be an important part of Kentucky's
innovation strategy to promote the development of new high-tech products to
boost our economic competitiveness," said Cabinet for Economic Development
Secretary Gene Strong. "By offering entrepreneurs and small businesses the
opportunity to effectively double their product research and development
funding, it makes sense more of these businesses will be compelled to stay in
or relocate to Kentucky.
More information about the U.S. Small Business Administration's SBIR and STTR
programs can be found online at http://www.sba.gov/sbir.
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