U.S. Small Business Administration’s National SBIR Road Tour is coming to Durham, NC

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Durham, NC – The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) National SBIR Road Tour is coming to Durham, NC on June 22 giving small businesses the coveted opportunity to learn firsthand about America’s largest seed fund. SBA leads the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, where the Federal Government awards over $2.5 billion annually to small businesses developing groundbreaking, high-risk technologies while taking no equity.   On June 21, the NC Small Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC) will be offering a pre-event SBIR proposal training session.

First Flight Venture Center (FFVC) was selected to host the Road Tour and has won multiple SBA accelerator awards. FFVC is a leader in supporting high science high impact early stage companies in the Triangle.

“We were honored to be asked by the SBA to host this important event and appreciate our partners who are joining with us to enable North Carolina start-ups to succeed.” says Andy Schwab, President of FFVC.

The SBIR June 22 Road Tour plays an important role in increasing engagement with entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country and building out a greater network to support the creation of small businesses focusing on high-impact research.  The SBIR Road Tour also advances several goals of the SBIR/STTR programs, including outreach to increase the participation by women, individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged, as well as small business owners who reside in underrepresented states.

“We are dedicated to supporting America’s entrepreneurs wherever they are. American innovation is not restricted by geographic or cultural boundaries,” SBA Administrator Linda McMahon said.  “This tour reflects our commitment to ensuring that these innovators are aware of the resources that can help them turn a big idea into another great American innovation story.”

The Durham, NC stop will be hosted by First Flight Venture Center, in partnership with The North Carolina SBTDC, LaunchBio, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, NC Idea and Council for Entrepreneurial Development and NC Biosciences Organization.  Title Sponsor, NK Patent Law and June 22 Lunch Sponsor, Eva Garland Consulting are happy to provide their support to this event to give entrepreneurs invaluable information about SBIR/STTR programs.

Program managers from over 11 Federal agencies will conduct one-on-one meetings with attendees, participate in targeted panels, and share insights into how their agencies make funding decisions. The SBIR/STTR programs fund a wide variety of technology areas including unmanned systems, advanced materials, health, cyber security, defense, and more.

The pre-event proposal training session, delivered by the NCSBTDC, will be held on June 21st.  This session aims to help attendees understand the content of a Phase 1 proposal and the importance of the commercial potential of the technology being funded.  Awardees, proposal reviewers and ecosystem partners will be present to share valuable information on their experiences.  Also covered will be how to make the best use of your pre-scheduled one-on-one sessions with Federal agency program managers at the Road Show.

“We look forward to getting everyone up to speed on the SBIR program, the proposal process and the SBTDC’s no-cost consultative services to small businesses in North Carolina” says John Ujvari, SBIR Program Specialist with the SBTDC. He adds, “Since the SBTDC became North Carolina’s resource for SBIR counseling and training 20 years ago, the small tech companies in the state have been awarded close to $1B in SBIR funding.”

The SBIR/STTR programs execute over 4,000 new awards per year across the country. These awards have helped U.S. innovators advance new technologies and have contributed to the creation of thousands of jobs.

More Information and Registration is available at:  http://www.sbtdc.org/events/sbir/roadtour/