U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee visited Bothell-based Neah Power Systems in 2003 and presented a $2 million federal grant to help pay for cutting-edge research on small fuel cells.
Powered by methanol, the relatively long-lasting cells are designed to fit into laptop computers and other electronic devices.
Now the program that provided grants to Neah Power and other small technology companies across the country is threatened, Inslee said Tuesday.
“We have such a high-tech corridor developing in Snohomish County, and programs like this one are critical,” he said.
He and 16 other House members are urging their colleagues to continue the Commerce Department’s Advanced Technology Program. At present, the House appropriations bill for the Commerce Department contains no spending for the program. The White House did not request any allotment, either.
The Senate’s version of the spending bill, however, includes $203 million for the grant program.
“The impacts of this program also include job creation, a contribution to domestic economic growth and the retention of technology in the U.S.,” Inslee wrote in his letter, which was co-signed by 15 other Democrats and one Republican.
Getting grants from the program, which is overseen by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is not easy. Fewer than 10 percent of those who apply for grants receive them, Inslee said.
But the federal grants have been important to help many research-stage companies remain open between rounds of venture capital or securing other sources of cash, said Sean Murdock, executive director of the national NanoBusiness Alliance.
“We have a critical funding gap for companies, which we refer to as the ‘valley of death,’” Murdock said. “This is a critical source of funding.”
Neah Power hopes to have its first fuel cells for electronic devices ready for the commercial market by 2006.
Gregg Makush, Neah Power’s director of marketing, said his understanding is that the company’s grant is not endangered. But cutting the program would prevent the company from receiving possible follow-up grants.
Congress is trying to pass its final appropriation bills and wrap up this year’s session in the next few weeks, which doesn’t give supporters of the Advanced Technology Program much time.
“I don’t know how to feel yet,” Inslee said. “They’re meeting in the backrooms here, and this isn’t high on their priority list.”
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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