How the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Matters

This note describes several performance characteristics of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The numerical examples are based on our analysis of the 1,878 randomly selected projects conducted at firms that responded to the 2005 National Research Council survey. The data show that firms receiving SBIR funding are able to overcome the initial technology-based hurdles that small, entrepreneurial firms frequently face, thus facilitating a more permanent and possibly longer-term employment growth.