As mentioned in an earlier post, when we conducted half-day SBIR workshops out in the state this winter, there were questions about when it would be held in Atlanta. OK, so the date is May 14th from 8:00 am to noon. I know you have heard this line before, but enrollment really is limited and if we get the response that was received in Athens and Savannah, registration will be cut off.
So, why should you attend? Even in the best of times (which is not now) it is difficult for a small high-tech company and particularly a start-up to obtain the initial funding to move a great idea from basic technology towards a product. At over $2 billion annually, the largest seed capital fund in the United States for doing this is the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and its parallel Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program.
This short workshop will first give an overview of how the SBIR and STTR programs work and will help you decide if this is something you should get involved with. This includes who qualifies, what the participating federal agencies are looking for, what the intellectual property issues are, what the funding limits are, and what the timeline is.