Regarding budget cuts, keep in mind that although we do not get our funding almost exclusively from grants when we work in industry, we do have budgets and funding to worry about. When a company funds a project, there are often times that the funding is not enough, and you will need to calculate your expenditures carefully. This is of course IF your project gets funded at all.

Also keep in mind that it is possible for corporations to get grants just like professors in academia do. Partnerships with the NIH or directly with universities happen all the time. There are small business grants of various kinds as well. The whole grant structure coming from government and private enterprise is a different subject, but people do make their careers in there.