Inventor, entrepreneur and co-founder of the wireless company Qualcomm Irwin Jacobs spoke before Congress Thursday to urge lawmakers to continue funding the $2.5 billion Small Business Innovation Research program.
"SBIR was created in the 1980s in response to intense national concern about the position of the U.S. in the face of rising global economic competition," Jacobs told members of the Senate Small Business Committee. "Today, such concerns are even more paramount. The U.S. Government must remain fully engaged in providing incentives to spur innovation, technologies and new products."
According to Politico, the SBIR channels more than $2 billion each year toward leading companies in fields such as information technology, biotech, medical research and other innovation-based sectors, helping many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs incorporate in California.
President Barack Obama has also been busy promoting investment in innovation, along with education, as key to "winning the future," referring to growing competition from markets in Asia and Europe.
In his State of the Union speech, the president argued that the reduction of onerous government regulations is important toward that ends, calling for a government[-]wide review of red tape. A recently introduced bill - H.R.72 - that addresses these same concerns passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives last week.
Tags : ca, formation, incorporation news, small business management
Posted: Feb 18th, 2011