STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2311

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2904

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Economic Development, Tourism, and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 2904 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation for continuance of the Small Business Innovation Research Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation; Hawaii Food Industry Association; Experiad; Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc.; Oceanit Laboratories, Inc.; Navatek; Premier Solutions Hawaii, LLC; AlgorithmHub, Inc.; Kampachi Farms, LLC; MonsterWorks; HNu Photonics, LLC; NetEnterprise; RevaComm; Ag Matters; Nalu Scientific, LLC; Hawaii Evolutionary Development, LLC; DewPoint System, LLC; Spectrum Photonics; Studio Kinection, Inc.; Jun Innovations; Smart Yields; Referentia Systems Incorporated; Tea Hawaii and Company; Akabotics, LLC; Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Hawaii Biotech, Inc.; and five individuals.

Your Committee finds that since 1989, the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation has been providing phase I matching grants to companies that were awarded grants and began awarding phase II and phase III grants in fiscal year 2015-2016. Your Committee further finds that with the current amount of funds that is available this year, only five out of nine companies were funded. Every year, the Development Corporation sees more qualified applicants but not enough funding. Since the implementation of the phase II and phase III program, none of the applicants have received the full eligible amount. Your Committee finds that the support that the Small Business Innovation Research Program provides to businesses in Hawaii is imperative to creating more jobs and encouraging innovation in Hawaii and believes that it should be sufficiently funded to continue its efforts for small businesses to strive.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development, Tourism, and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2904 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development, Tourism, and Technology,

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GLENN WAKAI, Chair