Earlier this week, 22 states and Puerto Rico were named recipients of more than $2.2 million in combined fiscal year 2004 Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) and Rural Outreach Program (ROP) awards. All but one of the 21 FAST awards distributed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) were worth $95,000 -- they totaled nearly $1.98 million. Five ROP awards of $49,470 also were made by SBA.

Within the past hour, SSTI has learned that Congress zeroed out the $3.5 million for two programs that supported state SBIR/STTR technical assistance efforts. The omission of any mention in the FY 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Conference Report of funding for the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) and Rural Outreach Program (ROP) was not a mistake in the draft as originally thought by the programs' proponents.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently named 27 states winners of the second Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) awards. At $100,000 each, the awards totaled $2.7 million. Created in December 2000 legislation that reauthorized the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, FAST provides matching funds to enable states to augment or expand their tech business assistance and SBIR outreach efforts. The FY 2002 winners are:

SSTI has learned the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) reauthorization language the Senate Small Business Committee (SBC) will be marking up on Tuesday, March 21 is substantially different than HR 2392, passed by the House last fall. While HR 2392 basically makes housekeeping revisions to the $1.1 billion SBIR program, the SBC version includes several components addressing issues a majority of states identified as problems for their own SBIR outreach and assistance efforts.

Through the 2002 Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) solicitation, the Small Business Administration (SBA) anticipates making up to 27 awards to state efforts to stimulate and encourage broader participation in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has selected 10 states to receive continuation awards of up to $47,000 for the SBIR/STTR Rural Outreach Program. The three-year-old program provides matching grants to 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.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced plans to accept applications for funding to support selected local Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) assistance efforts. The program announcement will be available by mail beginning Monday March 22, according to Maurice Swinton, SBA point of contact.

The most common component of state tech-based economic development efforts -- technical and financial assistance to small, technology firms competing for federal research funding -- got a much needed boost last Friday with Congressional approval of legislation creating the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST). Equally important for proponents of better state outreach for the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) was a $3.5 million initial appropriation for FAST.

This week, 30 states were named recipients of the first Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) awards administered by the Small Business Association (SBA). The awards range from $100,000 to $150,000, totaling almost $3.5 million. FAST, included in December 2000 legislation reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, provides matching funds to enable states to augment or expand their tech business assistance and SBIR outreach efforts.

The House Small Business Committee approved H.R. 1860 this week, legislation that amends and reauthorizes the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. STTR funds cooperative research and development projects between small companies and research institutions such as universities or federally funded R&D laboratories. H.R.

The Small Business Administration has extended the deadline for states to submit proposals in response to program announcement no. FAST-01-R-001 for the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST). FAST will support state efforts to foster economic development among small high technology businesses through federally funded innovation and research and development programs. According to the website for the SBA Office of Science & Technology, the deadline for proposals has been extended to June 28, 2001.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) will distribute up to $3.4 million for small technology business development efforts across as many as 30 states through the first Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) request for proposals, released online Tuesday. Proposals are due Thursday, June 7, 2001. Individual state awards will range from $100,000 - $150,000.

Release of the first solicitation of proposals for the new $3.5 million Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) has been delayed until the end of March, according to attendees of the National Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Conference held in Tulsa this past week. SSTI's March 1 presentation regarding FAST (a 16-slide Powerpoint file) is available by email request to skinner@ssti.org

Starting in the spring, a new Small Business Association (SBA) loan program — the Community Advantage loan program— will increase the availability of loans (up to $250,000) to: 1) small businesses, 2) firms that are less than two-years old or 3) those owned by veterans. The program specifically will target businesses in low- to moderate-income communities. Currently, small businesses face difficulty receiving loans of this size due to perceived risk involved (historically high default rates).

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a new pilot program that will to support more than 1,000 startup and earlystage firms across the country. The goal of the Entrepreneurial Mentor Corps' (EMC) is to mobilize members of the current generation of successful business owners to mentor and support startups and entrepreneurs to help them become the next generation of great American companies. In February, SBA Administrator Karen Mills announced one of the EMC's first initiatives to match approximately 100 clean energy startups with mentors.

Regular readers of the Digest know that over the last year, SBA has launched a set of new programs and initiatives, including support for cluster development, changes to the SBIC application process, the revival of the FAST program, and a request for information on mentoring and entrepreneurship education for high-growth companies.

Twenty universities and organizations received $100,000 grants to support R&D and small business innovation under the U.S. Small Business Administration's FAST program. The program is designed to stimulate economic development among small, high-tech businesses through federally-funded innovation and R&D programs such as the SBIR and STTR programs. The project and budget periods are for 12 months beginning Sept. 30, 2010, according to a press release.

A brief two-year reauthorization, bigger award sizes, VC eligibility clarification, and a $10 million grant program for state/local outreach assistance are included in the draft SBIR reauthorization bill circulated by the House Committee on Small Business Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez during the third hearing on the topic, held March 13.
 
The SBIR program will sunset Sept. 30, 2008, if reauthorization legislation is not passed by Congress and signed by the president before then.
 
Bigger Awards, Fewer Winners

SBA and the Department of Commerce launched Startup University in response to a series of roundtables with accelerators and universities that highlighted the need for a forum to share best practices and build connections between universities and startups. Users can post and comment on specific programs or general ideas that foster these positive relationships. Many programs listed in the forum will be presented at this week's NCET2 Conference. Explore the online forum here...

Each year, SSTI provides Digest readers with a comprehensive review of technology-based economic development spending in the the president's federal budget request. The year's edition includes proposed FY14 spending on R&D, STEM education, manufacturing, broadband, small business support, technology transfer, entrepreneurship, innovation workforce initiatives and more.

The full report is available for download in pdf format (626 kb).

The Small Business Administration (SBA) released a new funding announcement for the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) Program — FAST awards are intended to fund projects that provide outreach, financial support and/or technical assistance to technology-based small business concerns participating in, or interested in participating in, the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program. Proposed projects may serve a single or multiple states. SBA intends to commit approximately $1.9 million to support up to 20 awards to eligible applications.

The Small Business Administration released two Requests for Information (RFIs) on amendments to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. In compliance with the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011, SBA has made several key changes to the SBIR/STTR programs relating to eligibility, the award process, program administration and fraud, waste and abuse. Although the SBA has already published the final changes, it is requesting comments on the various amendments made.

The U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) debenture program provided $2.95 billion in financing to small businesses in FY12, according to a recent SBA release. SBICs around the country help small businesses to expand by providing them with access to long-term capital. For the third year in a row, SBIC activity reached an all-time high, growing 14 percent over FY11 and 85 percent over FY10. Read the announcement...

Two small grant programs and a minor reorganization of related functions within the U.S. Small Business Administration are the aims of a bill introduced Nov 26 by Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu and John Kerry. "Today's Entrepreneurs are Advancing Mentorship Act of 2012," or the TEAM Act (S. 3638) for short, would create an Office of Entrepreneurial Support within SBA to administer the grant programs, oversee online entrepreneurship education and resources, coordinate programs targeting youth entrepreneurship, and host international groups interested in U.S. entrepreneurship.

The White House announced two initiatives intended to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and create jobs by increasing their access to capital and resources. The first initiative focuses on providing up to $1 billion in new capital to help early-stage small businesses. The other will attempt to provide entrepreneurs with free resources and services needed to help startups grow their businesses and create jobs. Read the press release...