NASA hopes to propel small business innovation

By on October 11th, 2012

October 11, 2012 in

NASA hopes to bring small businesses into the fold with more contracts.

A number of entrepreneurs may see a boost in their small business funding, as one U.S. agency plans to engage more with the sector.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is pushing to give small businesses more federal contracts, USA Today reports. In fact, last year, the federal agency surpassed its small business contracting goal by more than 28 percent, awarding $2.6 billion to local companies.

NASA has explained that the renewed dedication to small businesses comes as an acknowledgement of developing firms as hubs of creativity and inventiveness, according to the source. The agency recently announced that it would be adding more rewards for participants in its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

“We know that small businesses are sources of innovation,”said Rich Leshner, NASA’s SBIR chief. “We know they’re sources of job growth. We know that’s true, in part, because of the creativity they’re allowed to have. We know how that complements the great ideas and great minds we have at NASA.”

However, the same cannot be said of the federal government as a whole, which has never reached its goal of awarding 23 percent of prime contracts to small businesses.

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