Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. and others letter to John Whitmore, July 19, 2001

309 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON. DC 20510 PAUL S. SARBANES MARYLAND c United States Senate WASHINGTON, DC 20510-2002 July 19, 2001 Mr. John D. Whitmore, Jr. Acting Administrator U.S. Small Business Administration 409 3rd Street, SW Washington, DC 20416 Dear Mr. Whitmore: We are writing in support of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation's (TEDCO) Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (FAST-01- R-0001) proposal. We believe that this proposal will enable us to take a major step toward addressing the unmet needs of Maryland's disadvantaged minority small businessmen and businesswomen while providing realistic uses for theoretical and tangible technologies under development at Maryland's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). We particularly support the technology transfer between HBCUs and minority small businesses because it is a successful combination that has long existed. Currently, there, are two programs that are designed to enhance technical and business development for Black-American firms and research institutions in Maryland, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Although SBER and STTR have made some inroads in assisting Maryland minority small businessmen, national statistics reveal the underperformance of disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) in the SBIR program, and the low profile of HBCUs in the STTR program. In our view these programs should work closely together to increase DBE performance and raise the profile of HBCUs. This proposal will foster such collaboration and promotion. Indeed, the FAST proposal would increase participation of disadvantaged technology concerned businesses and the probability of success of deprived technology oriented businesses in Maryland. C