The Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC) announces availability of scholarships, on a first-come-first serve basis, to small technology businesses located in the Appalachia region enabling them to attend the Spring National Small Business Innovation Research Conference. These scholarships are provided by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) through a grant to KSTC. A scholarship of $325 value will cover the conference registration fee but will not cover travel and accommodations. The scholarship will also not cover the pre- and post-conference workshops, which are available at an additional fee.

Kentucky will host the 2006 Spring National SBIR Conference on May 15 - 18, 2006 in Louisville, KY. The event will take place at the Louisville Marriott Downtown. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR), two competitively awarded, federal government grant programs, are designed to stimulate technological innovation and provide opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Annually, the SBIR and STTR programs provide over $2 billion to small businesses through federal programs to help entrepreneurs take their ideas from conception to reality. The theme for the Louisville conference is "Taking Ideas from the Bench to the Boardroom".

The conference will bring some of the nation's 700+ top innovators, researchers, cutting edge entrepreneurs and the federal government's small business grant makers.

This conference will provide each participant with multiple opportunities to meet and network with federal SBIR and STTR program managers, fellow attendees including SBIR/STTR award winners, and speakers and experts from businesses and the government. This national SBIR conference is being held for the first time in Kentucky. It is a great opportunity for existing and new start-up technology businesses and university faculty entrepreneurs in Appalachia to attend the conference and the Small Business Tech Expo (SBTE), which will be co-located with the conference.

Go to http://www.kstc.com.?587 to obtain the application form to apply for a scholarship. The deadline for application submissions is April 13, 2006. All applications must be received by Vicki Carothers via fax (859-259-0986) or email (vcarothers@kstc.com) on or before that date. Detailed information on the conference program and accommodation is available at http://www.sbirworld.com/ky.

For further information about the conference and scholarships contact Mahendra Jain (mjain@kstc.com) at (859) 255-3613 x 230.