Small Business Innovation Research Program SBIR

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Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR)

• Presented by
• Patricia Rice
• Market Development Center

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MAINE SBIR OUTREACH

• Maine Technology Institute-funding support for
  SBIR outreach proposal technical assistance.
• Seed Grants for SBIR/STTR proposal preparation
  assistance.
• Key Partners.

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KEY PARTNERS

• Market Development Center assistance to service
  providers, small business site visits, general
  information workshops, data base of companies and
  promotion
• C P Management Karen West, proposal
  preparation assistance.
• Burbank Planning Consulting James A. Burbank,
  proposal preparation assistance.
• Networking Partners front line contacts.

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Small Businesses the Entrepreneurial Economy

• 97.6 of Maines Businesses have less than 500
  employees.
• 61.0 of Maines non-farm employees work for
  small businesses.
• 21.2 have fewer than 5 employees---micro
  businesses.
• 24.0 of Maine businesses are women owned.

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Importance of Small Business

• Small businesses are the engine for economic
  growth and new job creation.
• Small firms play a crucial role in
  experimentation and innovation that leads to
  technological change.

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TYPES OF INNOVATION

• Incremental
• Continuous improvement of product features
• Continuous improvement of mfg. Process
• Typical setting Large Companies
• Revolutionary
• New Technologies, significant changes in industry
• Tend to come from firms outside the industry
• Typical setting Small Entrepreneurial Firms

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OVERVIEW SBIR PROGRAM

• Established in 1982
• Congress reauthorized until 2008
• 10 federal agencies participate
• Funds early stage R D at small technology-based
  companies
• 1.2 billion nationally, 3 million in Maine

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PARTICIPATING AGENCIES

• Department Of Agriculture (7)
• Department Of Commerce
• Department Of Defense (2)
• Department Of Education
• Department Of Energy
• Department Of Transportation (1)
• National Institute of Health (2)
• National Science Foundation
• NASA
• Environmental Protection Agency

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SBIR BENEFITS

• Not a loan-no repayment of award
• Intellectual property rights retained by small
  business
• Seed money to fund innovations
• Potential leveraging tool to attract venture
  capital
• Recognition and visibility

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QUALIFICATIONS

• American owned and operated
• For-profit company
• Small business-not more than 500 employees
• Principal investigator employed by the business
  (51)
• Phase I Business must perform 2/3 of work

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THREE PHASES

• Phase I 6 month feasibility study (no
  preliminary data needed) funded up to 100,000
• Phase II 2 year prototype development, funded up
  to 750,000 (only Phase I winners are considered
  for Phase II)
• Phase III-Commercialization of technology using
  non-SBIR funding

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PHASE I HURDLES

• SBIR needs to be integrated into business
  strengths/plan
• Find an appropriate agency solicitation
• Know the hot topics for the agency
• Build a credible team
• Network Resources Dont Work Alone
• Demonstrate Feasibility of your idea!

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PHASE II HURDLES

• Only Phase I Winners can Participate Proven
  feasibility in Phase I
• Need to develop prototype
• Need to show a quality product-deliverable
• Show a realistic market for innovation (Problem
  Technological Push vs. Market Pull)
• Viable Commercialization Plan
• (30-50 of Phase II proposals get funded)

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PHASE III HURDLES

• No further SBIR funding
• You are on your ownIntellectual Property,
  Patents, Licensing options, Manufacturing and
  Marketing???
• Viable market can be Private Sector or Government
  Procurement

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HOW SBIR WORKS

• Federal Agencies Issue Solicitation
  Bulletins---electronic, web-based, few hard copy
  now. Each agency will put out topics that they
  want to fund. These are the only topics that will
  be considered.

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Working with Solicitations

• Most agencies only put out one solicitation a
  year.
• Know the agency and know the schedule
• Schedule is posted/updated on MTI website
• Posted on www.zyn.com/sbir/

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Finding a Topic

• Go to www.zyn.com/sbir/
• Search open solicitations by keyword
• Try different key words
• Search archived solicitations---may give you an
  idea of what has been funded in past

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Example of Keyword Search

• Search of open solicitations
• Keyword paint
• Search of archived solicitations
• Keyword paint

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Example USDA TOPIC AREAS

• Forest and Related Resources
• Plant Production and Protection
• Animal Production and Protection
• Air, Water and Soils
• Food Science and Nutrition
• Rural and Community Development
• Aquaculture
• Industrial Applications
• Marketing and Trade

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OPEN SOLICITATIONS

• HHS (FDA,NIH,CDC)closes December 1
• Dept of Defense- closes Jan 16
• NSF(biotech electronics) closes Jan 17
• Dept of Energy--closes Feb 15

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TWO TYPES OF AGENCIES

• Grant (Mission) Agencies
• Want to support good ideas that support their
  mission.
• NIH, NSF, DOE, USDA.
• Contracting Agencies
• Have a specific problem or need.
• Changes from year to year.
• You must understand and respond to that need.
• DOD, DOC, EPA, NASA, DoED, some NIH.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GRANT CONTRACT

• GRANT
• Assistance mechanism
• Benefit a public purpose
• Government is partner/patron
• Investigator initiated research
• Purpose is to advance the technology
• Government is not customer

• CONTRACT
• Acquisition instrument
• For the direct benefit of the government
• Government is purchaser
• Government initiated
• Purpose is to acquire good or service
• Government is customer

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CONTRACTS

• Market Development Center PTAC -Procurement
  Technical Assistance Center.
• SBIR contracts ( DOD SBIRs are similar to
  regular government contracting.CCR registration,
  compliance etc) DOD SBIR is strongly integrated
  within acquisition offices.
• Phase III can lead to regular government
  contracting opportunities.

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AGENCY BUDGETS FOR SBIR
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Percentage of Total SBIR for 2001
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GETTING STARTED

• Obtain the complete solicitation
• Read it! Find out what the agency wants
• Dont work alone
• Prepare proposalhelp is available at no charge
  through the Maine SBIR outreach program
• www.mainetechnology.org

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PROPOSAL ELEMENTS

• PROPOSAL LIMITED TO 25 PAGES
• FIVE KEY SECTIONS
• Significance and Opportunity
• Related Research and Development
• Technical Objectives
• Work Plan
• Budget

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HOW IS THE PROPOSAL JUDGED?

• INNOVATION
• SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL MERIT
• KEY PARTICIPANTS QUALIFICATIONS
• SOUNDNESS OF WORKPLAN
• RESOURCES TO CARRY OUT PROJECT
• COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL

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WHO DOES THE REVIEW?

• Peer Review usually university professors,
  medical doctors or scientific professionals in
  the field.
• Line Management Review management professionals
  within the agency.
• Combination 1st Peer then Line Review.
• Administrative Reviewformat, directions.

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Common Problems with Applications

• Lack of innovation
• Unfocused research planlack of sufficient
  experimental detail
• Unconvincing case for commercial potential or
  societal impact
• Unfamiliar with field and published work
• Unrealistically large amount of proposed work

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SBIR IN MAINE

• Important source of funding for R D based
  companies
• FY 2001-awards totaled 3.2 million
• FY 2001-12 different awards
• Increasing the quality of proposals submitted
  leads to increase in awards

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TYPICAL AWARD WINNER

• Technology is innovative
• Topic is consistent with agency needs
• Technology has a commercial application
• Proposal well written
• Sensors, carbon composites, aquaculture,
  biotechnology

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MAINE SBIR AWARD WINNERS FY 2001
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MAINE SBIR WINNERS (CONT.)
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MAINE SBIR OUTREACH CAN HELP

• Be aware of potential candidate companies
• MTI web site www.mainetechnology.org
• Refer companies to MDC 942-6389 Pat Rice
• Free proposal preparation assistance is available

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OUTREACH EFFECTS
250 Increase
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THERE IS MORE TO BE DONE

• Increase the number of quality submittals
• Increase the number of awards
• Additional focus on Phase II (Commercialization)
• Expand our coverage
• Network state resources.We need you!

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