The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was reauthorized in December of 2000 for a period of 8 years (September 30, 2008). The reauthorization legislation included some significant enhancements to the program, one of which will provide additional small business data rights protection, and more a balanced program overall for small business concerns and the federal government. Another significant enhancement to the program was the establishment of the Federal and State Technology Partnership program or FAST. The legislation states that the SBA shall establish FAST to strengthen the technological competitiveness of small business concerns in states. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and the American Samoa are eligible to participate in the FAST program. FAST will be a competitive grants program, that will allow each state to receive funding in the form of a grant to provide an array of services in support of the SBIR program. Any individual, organization, or entity in a state is eligible to participate in the FAST program.
The following list includes suggested services that can be offered by States who participate in the FAST program:
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Technology research and development by small business concerns
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Technology transfer from university research to technology-based small business concerns
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Technology deployment and diffusion benefiting small business concerns
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Enhance the technological capabilities of small business concerns through the establishment or operation of consortia comprised of entities, organizations or individuals
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Provide outreach, financial and technical assistance to technology based small business concerns participating in or interested in participating in the SBIR program
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Make grants or loans to companies to pay a portion or all of the cost of developing SBIR proposals
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Establish or operate a Mentoring Network within the FAST program to provide business advice and counseling that will assist small business concerns that have been identified by FAST program participants, SBIR program Managers, the Administration (SBA) or other entities that are knowledgeable about the SBIR and STTR programs as good candidates for the SBIR and STTR programs and that would benefit from mentoring
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Encourage the commercialization of technology developed through SBIR funding
The FAST legislation allows for only one proposal from each state to be submitted to the SBA for funding. Proposals must address at a minimum the following criteria:
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The Unmet Needs of the Small Innovative Business Community within their state.
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A Measure Demonstration that a Need Exists to increase number or success of small innovative firms in the State
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FAST Plan
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FAST Annual Performance Indicators
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Organization and Staff Qualifications
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Cost
Proposals will be evaluated by a committee consisting of small business owners, state level representatives, federal SBIR Program Managers and representatives of the business and academic communities. The SBA, the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation will jointly review the recommendations from the evaluation panel and make awards based on proposal merit. A non-Federal share of the cost of an activity ( or matching funds) shall be required from each participating state.
Matching funds requirements are as follows:
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50 cents for each Federal dollar from each state located in one of the 18 states receiving the fewest SBIR phase I awards.
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1 dollar for each Federal dollar from each state located in one of the 16 States receiving the greatest number of SBIR phase I awards.
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75 cents for each Federal dollar from States that are "not" identified in the two previous categories.
The SBA's latest statistics on SBIR awards to states shall be used to establish a States ranking. The state rankings will be an attachment within the FAST RFP. The legislation calls for the SBA to reevaluate the ranking of a State once every two fiscal years. Grants will be issued for a period not to exceed 5 years. The FAST program is authorized through Fiscal year 2005.
Rural Outreach Program
The SBA was prompted by Public Law 105-135. - 501(b(1)) to issue two program announcements in
FY 1999 and FY 2001 to provided federal financial assistance to eligible states to implement
the Rural Outreach Program, otherwise known as the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
and Small Business Technology Transfer Outreach Program (STTR). As a result of this competitive
process, SBA has issued SBIR/STTR Outreach grant awards to 25 entities within the states that
have been designated to participate in this initiative.
Historically, firms located in a relatively small number of States have been highly successful in securing awards under the SBIR Program. In accordance with the language contained in the Public Law, twenty-five states including the District of Columbia were designated to compete for federal financial assistance. This assistance is made available to facilitate the development and execution of marketing programs that will expand competition and stimulate greater participation from technology-based firms in the government-wide SBIR/STTR award process.
The SBIR and STTR programs are two powerful tools for harnessing the small business sector's technological creativity and ingenuity to meet government's research and development needs. Under the SBIR program, 10 federal agencies having annual external research and development requirements of more than $100 million, must reserve 2.5 percent of these requirements for award to small businesses. Under the STTR program, five agencies with annual external research and development budgets of more than $1 billion, must reserve .15 percent of these requirements for award to collaborative efforts between small businesses and non-profit research institutions. A state's eligibility to receive Federal Assistance under the SBIR/STTR Outreach Program is determined by the total value of contracts awarded to small businesses (by state) under the SBIR and STTR programs in FY 1995. The total value of contracts must be less than $5 million in order for a state to be eligible for funding under the SBIR/STTR Outreach Program.
Awards made under the two program announcements are helping states to establish or expand programs to assist small high technology businesses to increase their participation and success in SBIR and STTR programs through training, counseling and outreach. Services that can be funded with these awards include:
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Provision of information on the SBIR and STTR Programs and their operation, in training activities or in one-on-one counseling, through training activities and one-on-one counseling, identification and explanation of the roles of SBA, participating agencies, and program managers in SBIR and STTR Programs;
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Development and preparation of SBIR and STTR proposals in one-on-one counseling;
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Development and maintenance of a publicly accessible databases containing sources of technical assistance for small high technology firms, small high technology firms within the State, and Federal, State, local and commercial entities having research and development requirement for small high technology firms;
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Compilation, publication, and dissemination of newsletters in electronic and/or hard copy form;
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Expansion of the base of high-technology/economic development service providers, consistent with the intent of this Announcement; and
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Establishment of performance goals with respect to SBIR.
