Who will be there? Stephen Fleming, the new Vice Provost of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and many of ATDC’s staff will be on hand to discuss the new ATDC.
What’s the agenda?
While there will be a short introduction, the majority of this event will be us listening to you! Our goal is to hear your suggestions for how ATDC can best help Atlanta startup entrepreneurs see the most success.
Why should you come?
If you are running a technology startup in Georgia, you should definitely plan to attend this event because this is your opportunity to provide your ideas, thoughts, and feedback as to how we can best help you build a successful company.
How do you register and find more details?
In anticipation of the demand and to ensure as many can attend as possible this event will be run twice on August 20th. Feel free to register for whichever session best meets your schedule as Stephen Fleming and most of the ATDC staff will be on hand for each event. Click here for Open Forum 1 (3:00 to 5:00 p.m.) Click here for Open Forum 2 (7:00 to 9:00 p.m.)
Special thanks to Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs for allowing us to take over their next meetup! We’re holding Open Forum 2 during AWE’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting. Thanks!
Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) President, Tino Mantella, interviewed Connie Ruffner this week for his show "Tech Talk With Tino" on TAG Radio. Connie discussed SBIR and what it means for Georgia's technology community.
Topics included:
What is SBIR and who qualifies?
Trends in Georgia for SBIR funding
SBIR Reauthorization
Changes in the economy and how that’s affected SBIR
SBIR and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
As previous
reported both the Senate and House have passed bills reauthorizing both the
SBIR and STTR programs.However, there
are significant differences in the two bills. Unlike last year, the House appears more willing to compromise with the
Senate.Reports are that “good faith”
negotiations are ongoing.Due to
procedural rules, a deal must be reached by next Tuesday, July 28th,
for the bill to obtain final approval by both the House and the Senate before
the July 31st expiration of the current Continuing Resolution.So we are down to the wire again, but hopeful
that a reasonable bill will be passed and everyone will know what the rules are
going forward.Stay tuned for the final
results!
The Senate passed S.1233 today. With the House bill that passed last week, we now have two possible bills with three possible solutions:
The House and Senate reach a compromise and then send the bill onto the President for his signature into law
The House and Senate do not reach a compromise before the July 31st deadline but decide to temporarily continue through a Continuing Resolution. In this case, we would start the process all over again at a future date
The House and Senate do not reach a compromise, there is no provision for a continuing resolution, and thus, the SBIR program dies.
Let's think positive and hope that the first option happens. If not, the second option would not be ideal, but it would be a better than the 3rd option.
The senate bill was passed with some amendments, including a requirement for better metrics and reauthorizing both programs for an eight-year period.
Hopefully, in the next week or two the House and Senate will reach a compromise and with the addition of President Obama's signature, we will have a reauthorized program.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal this afternoon the House Committee on Small Business unanimously passed a bill that would reauthorize the SBIR/STTR program until 2011. The bill is controversial as it allows venture backed companies to once again participate in the program. The eligibility rules are written to allow firms owned and operated by venture operated companies to receive awards as long as the venture operated company does not employ more than 500 people or own more than 50% of the applicant organization.
Last week the Senate Committee for Small Business and Entrepreneurship also unanimously passed a bill reauthorizing the program until 2020 and allowing venture backed companies greater access to the SBIR/STTR program but to a lesser extent. Importantly it limits the total amount of SBIR funds awarded to majority owned venture operated firms to 8%. The NIH is the exception to this rule and allowed to use 18% of SBIR funds on awards to venture operated firms. Both the Senate and House bills increase the award amount for Phase I and Phase II.
If both bills are passed by the House and Senate they will be sent to a conference committee and hopefully common ground will be found.
Congress is working hard on legislation to reauthorize the SBIR and STTR programs. However, with the program now set to expire on July 31,
2009, it seems that we are right where we were a year ago. The House Small Business Committee is working on several bills, all addressing a different aspect of the program and one that greatly expands Venture Capital (VC) access to the program. The Senate has started work on a bill that would update the program and increase VC eligibility but to a limited extent.
So the question is will the House pass a bill that expands VC access to the SBIR program and to what extent? The Biotechnology Industry Organization is still lobbying for such an expansion. And how will the House and Senate compromise? If they cannot agree on a compromise will another continuing resolution be instated? One opinion on the current process is posted at SBIR Gateway
Whatever your view, now is the time to express it. You may contact any of your Congressional Representatives or Senator Johnny Isakson as he is a member of the Senate Committee
on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
The House Small Business Subcommittee met yesterday to discuss proposals to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs.Watch (via YouTube) as Representatives meet to discuss "Legislative Initiatives to Strengthen and Modernize the SBIR and STTR Programs". Chairman Glenn Nye (D-VA) and Ranking Member Aaron Schock (R-IL) provided opening statements followed by a list of witnesses:
Mr. Mark B. Leahey, President & CEO, Medical Device Manufacturers Association
Mr. Jack Biddle, Founding Partner of Novak Biddle Venture Partners (on behalf of the National Venture Capital Association)
Mr. Joe Hernandez, President & CEO, Innovative Biosensors Inc (on behalf of the Biotechnology Industry Organization)
Ms. Marion C. Blakey, President & CEO, Aerospace Industries Association
Mr. Brett Loper, SVP & Director Government Affairs, AdvaMed
In response to the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) the NIH has designated at least $200 M in FY 09-10 for a new initiative: NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research (RCI grants). These funds will support research in both the biomedical and behavioral fields that address specific scientific and health research challenges. The funds will be awarded to projects that will benefit from a jumpstart in funds over the next two years.
These funds are not subject to the SBIR/STTR set-aside requirement. However, small businesses ARE eligible and encouraged to apply.
Key Dates
Release/Post Date:March 4, 2009
Opening Date:March 27, 2009
Application Due Date:April 27, 2009, 5:00 PM
No letter of intent required
To receive emails from the NIH concerning the Recovery Act please go to:
Georgia’s Top 40 Innovative companies were announced today and ATDC is proud to boast that five ATDC member companies made the Top 10! A total of 7 ATDC member companies and 4 ATDC graduate companies are included in the Top 40. Now that these companies have the prestigious honor of winning a spot on the Top 10, they are busy preparing for a presentation at the Georgia Technology Summit.
The ATDC Companies in the Top 10 are:
Asankya – enabling cloud services to be fast, secure, and globally consistent
PlayON Sports – offers a comprehensive broadcast solution for untelevised live events
Pramana – developing a solution to help secure the Internet for meaningful human interactions
Purewire – delivers a multi-tenant, high-speed Web security Software-as-a-Service that protects business users from malicious people, places and things
Suniva – focuses on the development, manufacturing and delivery of low-cost, high-efficiency silicon solar cells for clean power generation
Additional ATDC companies and graduates in the Top 40 are:
FTRANS
Neurotic Media
Oversight Systems
Simatra Modeling Technologies
Vendormate
WorthPoint Corporation
Please join us in congratulating our innovative companies!
Update: Let’s congratulate all the companies. Here is a complete list.
Charles Ross Says Need More Capital Residing in Georgia Last week, TechDrawl featured Charles Ross, general manager of the ATDC, giving his take on the entrepreneur community in Georgia. After the video, the post goes on to describe the great location ATDC has in the center of the Atlanta tech community. The remainder of the post highlights the mission of the incubator and bio for Charles.