Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5086, the Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act of 2018, a bill that I introduced to spur entrepreneurship and turn American innovation into jobs.

I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Webster) for being a lead cosponsor of this legislation.

This bill expands the National Science Foundation's highly successful Innovation Corps, or I-Corps, program, which, as my Science, Space, and Technology Committee colleagues know, I have been a major champion of since it was first created by NSF in 2011.

In 2016, I led the effort that officially authorized I-Corps. I-Corps teaches scientists and engineers how to turn their federally funded laboratory research into successful products and services. The program has educated more than 1,100 teams, including many women and underrepresented minorities, and has been linked to over 400 startup companies.

Since it was authorized in the last Congress, NSF has helped spread I-Corps to other agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and the Department of Energy.

The Federal Government invests billions of dollars in research and development annually, both at government facilities like National Labs and at universities and research institutions. I-Corps is a modest investment that leads to a much higher return on our federally funded research by significantly increasing rates of commercialization and job creation.

Our economy is driven by the ingenuity of our scientists and engineers, developing innovations today that become tomorrow's great products; and yet, still only a minority of federally funded research with commercial potential ever makes it to the marketplace. The I-Corps program helps change that.

But we can do even more, and this bill helps to do that. First, it helps more people participate in the program. Right now, unless you are a grantee of the NSF or another agency with an I-Corps program, the training can be difficult to access. This bill will give recipients of small business grants from any Federal agency the flexibility to pay for I-Corps with their grant funds. It will also let private citizens apply and pay out of pocket to participate.

Second, the bill directs NSF to establish a new course as part of the I-Corps program to teach scientist entrepreneurs how to start and grow a company. While the current I-Corps course does a great job of helping scientists develop innovation and determine whether or not it is suitable for commercialization, it offers only limited guidance for what to do after the decision is made to become an entrepreneur.

Skills such as how to write a business plan, hire a team, and attract investment are taught in business schools, but not in Ph.D. programs. NSF recognizes that need and has already begun a pilot program to test curricula for this new course. This bill will make sure the new course is fully developed and made available around the country.

Finally, this bill requires a GAO assessment of the I-Corps program, its first comprehensive, independent evaluation since it was created. Although the program's success to date speaks for itself, it is important to continuously improve it by developing metrics to measure its performance and to ensure that Federal funds are well spent.

This bill has been endorsed by a wide range of stakeholders, including the former NSF program officer who founded the program, Dr. Errol Arkilic; Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur who developed the curriculum that I-Corps is based on, Steve Blank; and directors of I- Corps Nodes around the country.

The bill is also endorsed by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the National Venture Capital Association, the Council on Governmental Relations, and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Johnson for their support of this legislation, and again I want to thank the lead cosponsor, Mr. Webster of Florida. I also want to thank Senator Coons, who is leading the Senate companion bill.

I ask my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation which will help spur greater American innovation and create more jobs, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Smith again for his support of this legislation.

We all know that helping our scientists, engineers, and academics not only advances our knowledge and understanding of the world, but it also creates jobs and products that fuel our economy, which is a goal that all of us can agree upon.

As a former university professor, I know that it is not something that we teach in Ph.D. programs. We have the greatest researchers in the world here in the United States. We invest so much in Federal dollars for research. This is a simple program, low cost, that helps get the biggest bang for our buck, helps create jobs, and keeps

America on the leading edge of innovation in the world. It is something that we need for today and for our future.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Lipinski for his leadership on this issue and for introducing this legislation.

Scientific research conducted at our nation's universities and national laboratories has had an undeniable impact on our daily lives. The societal impacts of research have been varied. Scientific advances have improved public health and safety, increased our national security, enhanced our quality of life, and advanced our economic competitiveness.

The societal benefit of research is only realized if the science successfully makes it out of the laboratory. This does not always happen, and in fact, the successful commercialization of scientific advances is largely the exception, rather than the rule.

The path from the laboratory to the market is difficult to navigate. Many promising ideas are never considered for commercialization, while some researchers invest significant time and money into launching a startup only to realize that there is no market for their innovation.

The commercialization of scientific research is an important driver of economic growth. Now, more than ever, global competition is pushing companies to innovate and incorporate new technologies into their business models. At the same time, researchers are generating innovative products, processes, and services with the potential to transform entire industries.

To maintain our position as the global leader in technological innovation, we must ensure that we are realizing the full economic potential of federal investment in research. Other countries have caught on to research as one of the secrets to our success, and they are nipping at our heels.

To accelerate and streamline the process of maximizing the impact of research beyond the laboratory, the National Science Foundation launched its Innovation Corps, or I-Corps, program in 2011. The NSF I- Corps program leverages existing curriculum, tools, and educational resources to prepare grantees to identify and pursue commercial opportunities with their NSF-funded research.

Since it was established, the I-Corps program has successfully provided entrepreneurship training to nearly 3,000 individuals at over 200 universities. Combined, I-Corps grantees have raised over $100 million, with $30 million coming from private investors. Grantees have used the skills and networks they gained from their I-Corps training to start over 360 companies.

The success of I-Corps has generated significant interest from individuals outside of academia. The Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act of 2018 expands the reach of I-Corps by extending eligibility to SBIR grantees and other outside entities. The bill also builds upon the existing I-Corps curriculum by adding a course to help research ventures that are ready to be brought to market.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5086) to require the Director of the National Science Foundation to develop an I-Corps course to support commercialization-ready innovation companies, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5086, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act, H.R. 5086.

I thank my friend Daniel Lipinski for introducing the legislation with me. He is a champion of the time-proven Innovation Corps program, better known as I-Corps.

This bipartisan piece of legislation is a result of the committee hearings on the I-Corps program. The Innovation Corps program was created by the National Science Foundation in 2011 to teach scientists and engineers how to

turn their laboratory innovations into successful commercial products and services.

This program assists scientists and engineers in the development of their academic research and equips them to bring that research into the private market. We have witnessed the wonderful successes of this program in my home State of Florida and across the Nation. H.R. 5086 expands the I-Corps program by creating a new course for commercialization-ready companies.

Following the completion of an I-Corps team course, individuals are eligible for this new course which will help them create, market, and eventually expand their private sector company. Through marketing, hiring, organizing, and attracting investors, these participants' success increases dramatically.

The bill breaks down the barriers experienced by current scientists when attempting to bring their product to market. Additionally, this bill expands the groups allowed to apply for the I-Corps program and offers new options for how to initially pay for the course.

Mr. Speaker, I would appreciate my colleagues' support in passing this commonsense piece of legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Space, Science, and Technology Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Lipinski, Chairman Smith, and the entire House Science, Space, and Technology Committee for their support of this legislation. It is a good bill, and it will spur the creation of new businesses and new jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Webster), a valued member of the Space, Science, and Technology Committee for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5086, the Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act. The bill extends the reach of the National Science Foundation's Innovative Corps, or I-Corps, program, which trains and prepares scientists and engineers to advance their research results into entrepreneurial opportunities.

H.R. 5086 expands who is eligible to participate in I-Corps courses, allowing a portion of small business innovation research grants and small business technology transfer grants to be used to cover I-Corps training expenses. The bill also allows any private citizen to apply to participate and pay out-of-pocket.

H.R. 5086 authorizes a new I-Corps course for commercial-ready research ventures that teaches skills involving company organization, attracting investors, and hiring.

In research labs today lie the seeds for breakthroughs in new fields like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and bioengineering. These breakthroughs will continue to transform our lives and the world we live in.

Many scientists and engineers are not trained for commercializing those ideas and did not go to business school or take any business development classes. I-Corps gives researchers tools to maximize the taxpayer investment in basic research and to spur innovation. H.R. 5086 builds on the success of the I-Corps program in building connections between academia and the private sector to create more startups and more jobs.

We thank the Research and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Dan Lipinski and Representative Daniel Webster for taking the lead on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5086, the ``Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act.'' Congressman Lipinski's legislation makes crucial investments in business literacy by requiring the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop an I- Corps course to support commercialization-ready innovation companies.

The I-Corps program helps scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the

university laboratory and accelerates the economic and societal benefits of NSF-funded basic-research projects that are ready to move toward commercialization. Once a team completes an I-Corp course and wants to introduce their product to the markets, they're left to form and develop a business plan without any prior training or knowledge. However, not all scientists and engineers have the proper educational background to create and run a successful business and many fail in the early stages. In. response, the NSF created ``I-Corp Go'' to teach business skills that are essential and fundamental to a company's success. After the program's initial success, H.R. 5086 was introduced to make it a permanent addition to the I-Corp program.

As a representative of Atlanta, a place where hundreds of small businesses seek to compete with large corporations, this legislation is near and dear to my heart. H.R. 5086 will provide constituents in my district and new innovators with access to high quality educational opportunities and I support this legislation.