"As many as half of Phase II awardees are able to convert their SBIR funding R&D into products that are sold." "Many companies feel that the commercialization process is unfamiliar, outside their skill set and daunting." Comments from Jon Baron, former counsel to the House Small Business Committee Technology Commercialization Seminar December 5th: RTP, NC Registration Open! Commercialization is NOT the last step in R&D. Think about it FIRST! Seminar Website www.sbtdc.org/events/sbir/techcomm Most SBIR/STTR stage companies approach things from a technology perspective. But technology is only half of the story. In fact, without commercialization, there is no story - and ultimately no company! This session will address the issue of commercialization and its importance early in the development of tech-based companies. We will explore what entrepreneurs need to consider at the early stages of company development when SBIR/STTR awards play a key role in funding R&D. The session will provide: Overview of commercialization concepts Commercialization Plan requirements for Phase II SBIR/STTR proposals Information on how to write a commercialization plan Strategic planning related to commercialization Commercialization considerations from a tactical perspective The program is open to participants from all technology sectors and will be applicable across SBIR/STTR funding agencies. Whether new to the SBIR/STTR program or successful in receiving previous SBIR/STTR funding, learn why the agencies continue to increase their focus and attention on commercialization and how you can better address this key component to SBIR/STTR funding and successful company development.

NC SBTDC Honored in DC for SBIR Efforts

Washington, D.C. - The SBTDC and John Ujvari of Chapel Hill, NC were selected as one of the winners of the 2007 Tibbetts Awards. They received the award on Oct. 10 at the Westin Washington, located at 1400 M Street NW in Washington, D.C.

Named for Roland Tibbetts—the person acknowledged as the father of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program—these prestigious, national awards are made annually to those small firms, projects, organizations and individuals judged to exemplify the very best in SBIR achievement. John Ujvari is one of 17 individuals in the U.S. to receive this award.

John has been an advocate for North Carolina small businesses to participate in SBIR projects for numerous years, including:

• Successfully planning and carrying out the very successful 4 day Spring 2007 National SBIR Conference in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina with over 550 attendees from 48 states
• Coordinating and managing many SBIR proposal writing workshops that have been attended by hundreds of representatives of North Carolina small technology-based businesses and entrepreneurs,
• Encouraging the involvement of North Carolina universities with small businesses conducting SBIR-sponsored research, and
• Providing coaching and counseling to small businesses participating in SBIR projects.

The complete list of winners can be found at tibbettsawards.org.
For more information contact or Jere Glover with the Small Business Technology Council at 202-662-9700.

Since its inception in 1995, SBTC has played a crucial role in promoting congressional legislation and federal regulations that aid small, technology-based companies-including re-authorization of the SBIR program.

SBIR Solicitations

NIH (Contracts): Closes 11/7
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm

DOE: Closes 11/27
http://www.science.doe.gov/sbir/

NSF: Closed 12/4
http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/

NIH (Grants): Closes 12/5
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm

Future Solicitations: http://www.zyn.com/sbir/scomp.htm#future

House and Senate Pass Legislation

1) The Senate passed the Department of Defense Authorization Bill that includes an SBIR reauthorization to extend the program through FY-2010 as well as a provision to extend the DoD's Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) through FY-2012. Rick Shindell, President of Zyn Systems, has reported that the provisions are "basically a stop gap measure, leaving the SBIR program 'as is' while Congress buys time to do a comprehensive reauthorization of the program in the near future."

To read the entire text of the Bill (H.R.1585) and to keep track of the status, visit the Library of Congress THOMAS website at http://thomas.loc.gov and enter SBIR in the search box.

2) The House passed H.R. 3567, Small Business Investment Expansion Act of 2007 which includes several amendments to the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, the most significant being the removal of the affiliation size eligibility standard from a venture capital (VC) investment program ownership and control of small business.

There are several resources available that outline how the passage of this bill could impact the SBIR community:

An article titled "Bill could open door for venture capital firms" was published in the September 27, 2007 issue of the LA Times and is available for review at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smallbiz27sep27,1,1337238.
story?track=rss.

An article titled "Small-business bill not without opponents" was published in the September 27, 2007 issue of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and is available for review at http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/
nation/s_529573.html.

The SBIR-Gateway and the Small Business Technology Council have been following both the SBIR Reauthorization and the VC participation issues extensively over the last several months, and offer numerous resources on their websites for more information. In addition, the Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc. outlines steps you can take to contact Congress to express your opinions on these issues in the SBIR Reauthorization page on their website.

Reprinted from: SBIR Alert Newsletter.

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