According to the Baltimore Business Journal , new legislation qualified businesses majority-owned by VC firms as eligible for the Small Business Innovation Research award. However, debate continues as non-VC-owned small businesses fear the SBIR grants will focus funding to a few, big companies.

In other Washington, DC news, a recent release from the U.S. Senate Committee on small businesses and entrepreneurship called for action to help small businesses feeling squeezed by the credit crunch. According to the Fed's quarterly survey, American banks have been stricter when it comes to lending to small businesses. Senator John Kerry proposed more legislation to help keep small businesses running with hopes that they will help boost the ailing economy.--Whitney Chen