“In Southern Missouri, we have the prefect combination of soil and climate to grow just about anything.  We also have institutions that foster the same environment for new technologies and research opportunities.

 

Here in Southern Missouri, we are also growing ideas.

 

Our state is home to 126 companies and more than 15,000 jobs that use biotechnology to create new products and processes that we use in our homes, our fields, and our places of business.  Biotechnology is an essential growth area of health care.  It is an industry that is growing and is increasingly open to small businesses. 

 

The economic significance of these jobs and companies is not small, either.  In 2003, $1.1 billion was generated by biotechnology companies.  The University of Missouri operates a $60 million program to support research in the life sciences.  The output of these efforts, both public and private, is seen in the way new medicines, both name-brand and generic, called biopharmaceuticals, are produced.  Agriculture bioscience is responsible for pesticide-resistant plants and new hybrids of fruit that can stand up to Missouri’s hot, late summers. 

 

Biotech varieties of corn, soybeans and cotton have increased Missouri production of food and fiber by more than 311 million pounds.

 

Yet, our early results have been so successful that more growth in biotechnology is sure to follow.  Some estimates state that more than 21,000 jobs could accompany these new research ideas on their way to commercial markets in Missouri alone.  We have used science to great effect in our fields, our pharmacies and our state economy.  If we are to continue reaping the rewards of biotechnology, we must clear the way for investment and support for innovative research.

 

This growth can only occur if we invest in our biotechnology companies.  We must pay special attention to the small businesses which, along with all other American small businesses, produce most of the innovation and provide most of the jobs in our country. 

 

One such effort involves making the research done at our area universities available to
entrepreneurs who would like to use the results in manufacturing or economic development.  We have some cutting-edge technologies, practices and materials coming out of our university research labs.  Unfortunately, there are few chances for a private individual to acquire that patent and start up, or expand, a small business here at home.

 

Another effort focuses on public support.  I am the cosponsor of a bill to expand the role of Small Business Innovation Research grants, which are administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration.  For years, these grants have helped entrepreneurs bring biotechnology ideas to market.  Today, the grants are not available to ideas that garner the support of private investors. 

 

In a startling example of backwards bureaucracy, biotechnology innovations which are promising enough to gain the active attention of investors are now somehow ineligible for a similar vote of confidence from the federal government.

 

This decision of the Small Business Administration makes no sense to me, when our universities and clinical hospitals are working so hard to enlist the support of private labs.  There is no question we should support and encourage biotechnology innovation – not interfere in the investment market.  Passage of this bill in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate, where Missouri Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent have registered their strong support, will only ensure our strong record of research and innovation in Missouri continues to grow.”