76 



It is much too soon to determine the success or failure of the 

 program based on completed projects because the program has just 

 completed its first year and is only partially through its second 

 year. The activity of the first year indicates that the program 

 has been well received by small business and by the research 

 institutions . 



In the first year of operations small firms submitted 1,950 

 proposals for Phase I awards. Participating agencies actually made 

 183 Phase I awards for $17,932,916. These firms collaborated with 

 major universities, FFRDCs and other non-profit research 

 institutions across the country. 



SBA' s Role and Administrative Improvements 



SBA's role in the SBIR and STTR programs is one of policy, 

 oversight, coordination, evaluation and reporting. SBA has the 

 authority to issue and amend policy directives which participating 

 agencies must follow. In addition, SBA is responsible for data 

 collection and issuing an annual report to Congress. SBA also is 

 responsible for monitoring compliance and program evaluation by 

 participating agencies. And finally, SBA represents the SBIR 

 program and small business interests in national R&D and technology 

 forums . 



As the committee has learned over the course of the past six 



