An economy gets built a 16-person company at a time, Congressman Sam Graves said Wednesday. And Congress should take every step necessary to eliminate obstacles that choke small businesses.

The Northwest Missouri lawmaker made his remarks after touring just such a business in St. Joseph. Becker Underwood, located in the Mitchell Woods Business Park, employs 16 people and produces a biological fertilizer that provides an environmental alternative to nitrogen-based products.

While the facility’s expansion is actually being helped by state tax credits, Mr. Graves said federal incentives through the Small Business Innovation Research program can be a driving force in expanding biotech companies.

During the current session of Congress, Mr. Graves shepherded legislation that made it easier for companies to get SBIR grants. Under previous regulations, employees of venture capital firms were counted as part of the worker base of companies seeking the federal funds. It eliminated many applicants.

“It never made any sense,” Mr. Graves said of the rule, now changed. “In our area, we’ve got a great little niche in life sciences. And there’s a lot of venture capital involved.”

Gary Clapp, who presides over Missouri Western State University’s newly formed Institute for Industrial and Applied Sciences, said such an obstacle diluted efforts by small businesses to raise money for research.

“Any growth business is capital intensive,” Dr. Clapp told those on the tour. “(The new rule) is not a panacea, but it does give us another avenue that would have been eliminated from them in the past.”

Mr. Graves, a Tarkio Republican, serves on the Small Business Committee in the House.

Becker Underwood, based out of Ames, Iowa, was founded in 1982 and opened its facility in St. Joseph in 2002, said Chris Feiden, the plant manager.

Ken Newton can be reached

at kenn@npgco.com.