The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) recently published a new study on the innovation and economic benefits of DOE’s Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grants, entitled Analysis of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy and Fossil Energy SBIR Programs.

Professor Sabrina Howell, from NYU's Stern School of Business, authored the study commissioned by EERE, which analyzes the impact of the DOE's EERE and Fossil Energy SBIR programs using a rigorous quantitative analysis (with data from over 4,500 small businesses) to establish a causal relationship between the SBIR grants and outcomes. Below is a list of the top three beneficial outcomes associated with an EERE SBIR Phase I grant in the report:

Receiving an EERE SBIR grant increases a firm’s patent potential by nearly 250 percent, and even more for startups.

SBIR grantees have a 19 percent increase in employees with an overall payroll increase of 29 percent.

SBIR grantees have 15 percent higher revenue than they would have had without the grant.