Inventor’s Conference April 2008 Powell, WY Kelly Haigler Cornish Funding for Innovative Research-Based Small Businesses

Funding Challenges High Risk Funding Sources – Banks – Investor Friends and Family Angels Venture Capitalists

SBIR/STTR Grants & Contracts No Repayment No Debt Service No Equity Forfeiture No IP Forfeiture Support for Commercialization

SBIR/STTR Program Highlights SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) National competition sponsored by 11 federal agencies Provide federal agencies with innovative concepts and solutions to government needs Stimulate innovation & job creation in the nation’s small business sector (60%)

How Much Money? SBIR 2.5% R&D funding of the qualifying federal agencies Approximately 2.2 Billion STTR.3% R&D funding of the qualifying federal agencies Approximately 250 Million

Which Agencies Participate? Other is: DHS, USDA, EPA, DOC, ED, DOT

SBIR/STTR is a 3-Phase Program PHASE II Prototype Development Up to $750K and 2-year Award PHASE III  Commercialization Stage  Use of non-SBIR/STTR Funds PHASE I Feasibility Study Up to $100K and 6-month Award (12 months for STTR)

SBIR/STTR Program Eligibility Small business organized for profit At Least 51% U.S. owned & independently operated Located in the U.S. Fewer than 500 employees

Eligibility Continued Must partner with a university, federally-funded R&D center, or nonprofit research institution Small Business-40% of work; research institute-30% of work Small Business manages STTR funding agreement PI can be employed by either the Small Business or the Research Institute Principal investigator (PI) primarily employed with the small business During Phase I, a minimum of 2/3 of the effort must be performed by the proposing firm During Phase II a minimum of ½ of the effort SBIR Eligibility STTR Eligibility

Granting Agencies Investigator initiate approach Less-specific topics More flexibility Contracting Agencies Agency establishes plans, protocols, requirements Highly focused topics Procurement mechanism for DOD and NASA More fiscal requirements Agency Differences DOD HHS/NIH NASAED EPADOT DOC HHS/NIH NSF ED USDA DOE

More Agency Differences

How Do I Participate? Annually, each agency releases an electronic solicitation listing topics Small business selects topic best suited for their innovative concept Small business prepares a proposal following solicitation guidelines Submit proposal on or before due date.

very competitive… Depending on the agency, 8-15% of the Phase I proposals and 40-50% of the Phase II proposals are funded…

…and not for everyone Principal Investigator and team must be qualified Concept must be innovative and address a specific topic of interest to the federal agency Innovation must have commercial potential Only research and development - no sales, marketing or manufacturing costs Proposal preparation is a daunting task Computer literacy required Process is slow

Wyoming’s Performance During the first 17 years of this program Wyoming small businesses received a total of $5.5 million. During 2006/2007 of this program 13 Wyoming small businesses received 20 awards and a total of $7.4 million.

Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative WSSI is an economic diversification program funded by The Wyoming Business Council and administered by The University of Wyoming Office of Research and Economic Development

What Does WSSI Do? Provides state-wide outreach on an individual basis to encourage small business SBIR & STTR participation Conducts state-wide conferences and workshops providing opportunities to meet with federal agency program specialists and Wyoming award winners. Provides one-on-one guidance in the preparation of competitive proposals. Publishes a monthly e-newsletter with current information on agency solicitations, due dates, regional and national conferences and workshops, a listing of additional resources, and other SBIR/STTR news and topics of interest.

Phase 0 Program Up to $5,000 Contract 24 Contract Awards per year – 2/month Modeled after the federal program Competitive Process prepares you for the SBIR competition Reviewer feedback giving guidance for subsequent proposal preparation Proposals due on the first day of each month Award notification on the 10 th day Mentoring for Phase I proposal preparation from successful SBIR/STTR award winners

Pre-Phase 0 Workshop PrePhase 0/Phase I Workshop “Getting Ready To Write” The workshop will focus on preparing Phase 0 and Phase I SBIR proposals with an emphasis on the solicitations from NSF, DoD, EPA, USDA, NASA & NIH. Date: April 17 Time: 10:00 to Noon Cost: Free Registration Deadline: Thursday, April 10, 2008 (extended for conference attendees until Monday 14, 2008) Participants will need a phone and computer to fully participate in the workshop.

How to Keep Up-to-date WSSI Electronic Newsletter – Updates (award winners, etc.) – Agency openings/closings – Upcoming conferences, etc. Sign Up for the WSSI Electronic Newsletter by sending an to

Wyoming Business

Questions? Eugene (Gene) Watson Program Manager cell Kelly Haigler Cornish Outreach Coordinator toll-free Contact Information