$5 billion in federal funding for small business innovation is being held up a tiny group of entrenched companies who benefit from the status quo. Small businesses across the USA doing impactful work from lifesaving medical devices to environmental innovations to defense tech have been on hold for the past 5 months.

We are asking Senator Ed Markey [D-MA] to stop delaying the implementation of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, and agree to company limits.

By doing so, we can continue to nurture a vibrant ecosystem of small businesses and innovators. Join us in advocating for this critical change.

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The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has been instrumental in fostering innovation across the United States. Each year, thousands of small firms undertake high-risk projects that might not otherwise receive funding, thereby fueling innovation and creating jobs.

A small number of companies ("SBIR mills") are being awarded a huge number of SBIR grants.

One company based in Massachusetts (Physical Sciences Inc.) has won 1,800 SBIR awards and collected $710 million in SBIR grants — more award dollars than was issued to all companies in 26 states combined. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that just 22 “small” businesses received 10 percent of all Small Business Innovation Research funding.

The fix is simple: Limit the number of proposals submitted per company per year and/or cap total lifetime SBIR funding per company.  9 of the 11 SBIR agencies ALREADY limit proposals and/or awards per company per year.  A submission limit will not eliminate any companies, and will cause each submission to be higher quality since no more “shotgun” approach will be possible. A multi-million dollar ceiling per company is generous enough to support small companies with legitimate long-term research and bridge "the valley of death." Additional federal R&D funding methods exist outside of SBIR/STTR which can support further work for successfully commercialized products & services.

The House has passed a bill to reauthorize the SBIR program, which has been stopped since October. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), ranking member on the Small Business Committee, is blocking SBIR reauthorization because he refuses to add any limit. His proposed "commercialization benchmarks" are not sufficient. We are asking Senator Markey to stop delaying the implementation of the SBIR program, and agree to a limit per company.

Reopen the program. Enable the next generation of American breakthroughs. Demand SBIR reauthorization with limits.

-- Links for additional reading --

https://www.the-scientist.com/the-federal-government-s-research-innovation-lifeline-has-gone-dark-73913

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/eric-d-blatt_sbir-reauthorization-update-were-on-share-7427302558827704320-hZBf

https://defensescoop.com/2025/09/08/sbir-mills-are-draining-americas-innovation-fund/

https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/19/business/sbir-program-markey-ernst-tech/

https://www.nsbaadvocate.org/post/news-sbir-sttr-reauthorization-gains-momentum-with-nsba-sbtc-push-as-congress-exchanges-proposals

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Early capital is essential to bridge the "valley of death" and bringing needed products to market for government needs. But when a company’s existence is solely reliant on annually receiving 20-plus SBIR/STTRs for decades, it should be questioned whether that company is meeting the objectives of the program. SBIR Mills deliver less ROI compared to first-time SBIR winners. They have fewer patents and lower total sales and investments per SBIR dollar than first-time winners.

The week of Jan 5, 2026, Senator Joni Ernst provided a counterproposal to reauthorize the SBIR program.  Unlike Markey's proposed "commercialization benchmarks," this bill allows agencies the discretion to cap the number of proposals a small business can submit annually. A number of groups which claim to speak for small businesses, like National Small Business Association (NSBA) or Small Business Technology Council (SBTC), are advocating AGAINST limits. This petition is to demonstrate that we - small business owners, investors, researchers, policymakers, constituents, patients - want limits. We ask Sen. Markey to move forward with this proposal and reauthorize SBIR/STTR for 3 more years. 

Establishing limits will provide a more balanced distribution, giving numerous startups and small companies a fair chance to compete for resources and bring their innovative ideas to fruition.

Please sign this petition to restart the SBIR program and ensure SBIR's funds are distributed more fairly and effectively for the benefit of all.