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                                                            NEW SBIR REAUTHORIZATION SECTION!

 

 

          SBIR/STTR   

             

                       U.S. Department of Education                                                                 

                                                                                        

 

 

 
 
What Are SBIR and STTR?
 
 

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and its sibling, the Small Business

Technology Transfer (STTR) program, are federal initiatives that provide over $2 billion in

grants and contracts each  year to small and start-up companies to develop new or enhanced

products and services based on  advanced technologies. About 40% of the SBIR Phase I awards

made each year go to firms with no prior  SBIR experience, so there are plenty of opportunities

for you to get a portion of this funding pie!

 

 

SBIR REAUTHORIZATION   

 

 

 

The SBIR program is unique in that it must be periodically “reauthorized” by Congress, or it will die.  The next reauthorization will be required in Federal fiscal year 2008.  If you think SBIR is an important Federal program, then we urge you to contact your Congressional representatives and ask them to support its reauthorization.  Click here for help and resources you can use in contacting your Congressman or woman. 

 

 

GCGI Role

 

We have been advocates of SBIR and STTR since their origination because we saw the value and 

opportunity for small and start-up companies to get much needed capital for technology-based

product development without the need to repay or give up equity for it.

Gail and Jim Greenwood have been active in SBIR/STTR since the programs’ inception, making firms aware of the opportunity, and teaching them how to write competitive technical and cost proposals for funding.  They have now taught thousands of entrepreneurs in 48 states and Puerto Rico . Sponsors of these workshops include Federal Laboratories, Universities and Colleges, and Small Business Development Centers . They also are regular instructors of Phase I and Phase II proposal preparation workshops at national and regional conferences.  An evaluation of the effectiveness of their training showed that over 90 percent of the workshop attendees indicated that the Greenwoods had improved their ability to compete for SBIR and STTR awards. One region surveyed its SBIR/STTR competitors after the Greenwoods had offered multiple workshops there, and learned that the SBIR/STTR proposal success rate was almost 50% (compared to about 17% nationally for Phase 1 proposers). Additionally, the Greenwoods have critiqued hundreds of SBIR and STTR proposals for firms throughout the United States .   

A directory that the Greenwoods developed of New Mexico firms winning SBIR and STTR awards earned them the Tech/Cellence Award from Project SBIR West in 1992.  In 1996, they received a prestigious Tibbetts Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration for their contributions in SBIR counseling and training.  They also have been acknowledged by Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories and Project SBIR West for their contributions to the SBIR program. They originated the “SBIR/STTR Matrix,” which shows at a glance how these programs differ among the 11 participating Federal agencies.   

The Greenwoods have served as reviewers for the U.S. Army’s Quality Awards, which recognize the SBIR/STTR projects with the greatest commercial (private and/or military) potential.  Jim Greenwood also has served as a commercialization reviewer for Phase II SBIR/STTR proposals at the National Science Foundation.  Gail Greenwood served as a statewide coordinator and board member on the Project SBIR West Regional Council.  The Greenwoods have provided briefings and training on the SBIR/STTR programs at two national conferences of the Association of Small Business Development Centers and the National Business Incubation Association; and at workshops for employees of Sandia, Lawrence Livermore, and Los Alamos National Laboratories considering spinning off technology companies.  They also facilitated, at the 1996 National SBIR conference in Anaheim , a dialog between SBIR agency directors and representatives of state and local SBIR assistance programs.   

 

Services

 

Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc. offers the following services related to the SBIR/STTR

        programs:

 

1. Training. In addition to customized workshops and seminars, GCGI offers the following

            one-day workshops.  Attendees of many GCGI's workshops receive a critique of one of

            their SBIR or STTR proposals at no charge.

                       

a. Phase I Overview and Proposal Preparation. Learn the basics of SBIR/STTR 

          and how the programs have changed recently, then prepare to discover a

         simple and logical 4-step process to preparing a competitive Phase I  

          SBIR/STTR proposal.

 
 

b. Phase II Proposal Preparation. Already have a Phase I award? Then you need 

           to get ready to submit your Phase II proposal! Learn how Phase II is different

          from Phase I, and how to put the Phase II proposal together. Special attention

          is paid to the all-important commercialization aspect of the Phase II plan and

          proposal.

 
 

c. Cost Proposal and Government Accounting. Prepare to wade through and 

          actually make sense out of the perplexing world of the SBIR/STTR cost

          proposal, and how to keep records to the government's satisfaction when you

          win an SBIR award. We show you how to develop an indirect rate, we talk

          about what to expect in the way of government audits, and help you with

          government accounting terminology.  While aimed at SBIR/STTR competitors,

          this is a one-of-a-kind workshop that has proven valuable for any recipient of

          government contracts and grants.

 

d.  The Business Side of SBIR.  This workshop helps the attendee to put an SBIR 

         project into the proper context of their business.  Does the project support the

         company's mission and goals?  Is the project priced to ensure full recovery of

         the company's cost in performing the work?  What is the most logical

         commercialization path for bringing the SBIR technology to the market place? 

         These and many similar issues are discussed in this, the newest addition to the

         GCGI SBIR workshop series.

 

Check out Conferences  for a list of places and dates where we are offering these

workshops in the near future.

 

2.  In House Training.  Some of our clients have discovered the value of hosting 

             customized training in house for the exclusive benefit of their employees and

             managers.  We custom tailor the training to your company to ensure maximum

             relevance to your interests and needs.  

 

3. Consulting & Proposal Reviews. We will not write your SBIR/STTR proposal for you, 

            but we can provide services ranging from initial proposal strategizing and brainstorming

            to critiquing your draft proposal.  Cost for a Phase I SBIR/STTR proposal review is

         $400 and a Phase II SBIR/STTR proposal review is $600.  If you are interested in 

            having us do a review of your SBIR/STTR proposal, please contact us using our Review Request

            form. To inquire about other consulting services, please contact us at g-jgreenwood@att.net. 

 

4.  Outreach Efforts. We have supported SBIR/STTR outreach  initiatives by state and 

              local governments, Federal labs, SBDC's, and others.  In addition to training and

              consulting, we have conducted topic searches for SBIR/STTR clients, and developed a

              user manual so companies can do their own searches.  If you want us to "train your

              trainers" regarding SBIR/STTR proposal preparation,  we've done that two.

 

5.  Helpful Literature. We have developed, thanks to support from Sandia and Los Alamos

             National Laboratories, an "SBIR/STTR Matrix" that summarizes in simple table form

             how each agency's SBIR and STTR program differs from the others. We also maintain

             list of sample agenda for the aforementioned training workshops  -  this is a nice guide if

             your organization is thinking of sponsoring an SBIR/STTR training event.  And of course

             we can provide an extensive list of references for whom we have done SBIR training

             and/or proposal reviews.  Just shoot us an e-mail at g-jgreenwood@att.net  if you are

             interested in receiving either of these documents.

 

Why Should Your Organization Sponsor SBIR/STTR Training?

If you provide training, encouragement,  or counseling to technology-based entrepreneurs and

small businesses, there are a number of reasons why your organization should consider hosting one

or more of our SBIR/STTR workshops:

 

Help R&D and manufacturing companies develop new technologies

Help existing SBIR and STTR winners become more successful in these programs, and

        therefore to build stable companies that diversify your economy and create high quality jobs

Help your organization identify technology companies for your future collaboration

        or assistance
Provide visible and concrete support for small technology-based companies

Identify opportunities for local universities or federal laboratories to collaborate with

         industry

Help train SBDC personnel, university technology transfer staff, and others to provide

          assistance to SBIR/STTR clients

Give local firms an opportunity to sell results of SBIR/STTR projects to federal agencies

         like Department of Defense and NASA.

          

SBIR/STTR Alerting Service

he SBIR/STTR Alerting Service is a great way to stay current on the world of SBIR/STTR. 

This service includes updates on agency solicitations, lists of upcoming training, and extensive 

lists of websites of value to SBIR/STTR competitors. To subscribe to the free SBIR/STTR

Alerting Service and its email newsletter,  please visit http://www.pnl.gov/edo/opportunities/sbir.stm. 

 

SBIR Proposal Writing Basics: Articles

GCGI is a contributing author to the SBIR/STTR Alerting Service provided by Pacific Northwest

National Laboratory.  Each month, we prepare a brief, two-page article on some aspect of preparing 

Phase I or II SBIR/STTR proposals.  To see the list of articles that we have written since 1999, 

check out our ARTICLES page.

    

Link to SBIR Websites

All 11 Federal agencies that participate in SBIR (and the 5 in STTR) have websites -- among

other goodies, you'll find lists of topics on which they would welcome your proposal.  Also, check

 out the website of the U.S. Small Business Administration for additional valuable information

 about SBIR and STTR.

 

AGENCY INTERNET ACCESS:

SBA: http://www.sba.gov/SBIR                                      DOE:   http://www.science.doe.gov/sbir   

DOA: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fuding/sbir/sbir.html    DHHS: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm

DOC: http://www.oar.noaa.gov/ORTA/SBIR                     DOT:    http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir      

         http://nist.gov/sbir                                                 EPA:   http://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir  

DOD: http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir                         NASA: http://sbir.nasa.gov/ 

DoEd:http://www.ed.gov/programs/sbir/applicant.html      NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/eng/oii/about.jsp 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  http://www.sbir.dhs.gov 

 
Getting on our E-mail Broadcast
 

Want to be on our E-mail broadcast list to be notified whenever we are offering one of our 

SBIR workshops?  Want a copy of the SBIR matrix or our brochure that summarizes the

 content of our SBIR and STTR workshops?  Want to ask about hosting an SBIR workshop

 in your area?  Drop us a quick email!

 

  

  Please send us mail with a quick message!

 

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Copyright © 2008 by Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc.
Last revised: September 16, 2008 .