By Bianca Licitra
Last week, the Business for Federal Research Funding (BFRF) Coalition submitted a letter to leaders across federal agencies in support of research funding, which has been under significant attack since the current administration took office. The BFRF Coalition, which relaunched earlier this year, unites more than 75 local, regional, and state chambers of commerce and business organizations as a community voice to members of Congress and the administration.
“We are deeply concerned about proposed cuts to R&D [research and development], including vital support for both internal and external research across the federal agencies,” the coalition wrote. The letter provided action items to agency leaders, urging them to “release remaining paused grant funding for in-progress projects,” as well as to “support level funding for internal and external research,” and to “expeditiously consider in-coming research and development grant, contract and loan applications” for FY26.
The letter, signed by business executives and founders from a broad cross-section of American industry, called attention to the longstanding federal support for R&D and its impact on local businesses. Citing the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, it noted that federal research funding “is also a smart investment,” with recent studies showing “a rate of return to federally supported R&D of between 140 and 210 percent since World War II.”
The coalition identified federal research investments as “force multipliers” for the business community in the United States, explaining that the funds are directly supporting employment while also indirectly creating jobs as facilities are built and materials manufactured. The letter cited a study by the East Tennessee Economic Council for one of many clear examples of federal investment impact around the country. The council found that “the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation supports more than $7 billion in economic impact and over 40,000 jobs.”
Such investments at the local level ultimately contribute to U.S. innovation competitiveness on the global scale. As the administration issues funding cuts, however, the letter argued: “We are currently at risk of falling behind globally as other nations – especially China – out-compete us for the future of emerging technologies in defense, medicine, science, computing, and other fields.”
As business leaders, the coalition acknowledged the necessity of reevaluating spending priorities and investments, especially in times of economic precarity. “However,” they argued, “spending decisions should be made by considering the economic impact of federal investments and how federal funding in research and development consistently advances economic priorities.”
As an offer of partnership, the letter stated, “Federal research funding is a critical priority to businesses, large and small, across the country and we will engage in productive dialogue with policymakers moving forward to ensure that our local, regional, and state economies remain competitive on the world stage.”
Bianca Licitra is editorial and communications assistant at AAU.