NC Board of Science and Technology SBIR/STTR Incentive and Matching Funds Programs for NC Small Businesses Starting with this 2007-08 State fiscal year, North Carolina small businesses participating in the Federal SBIR and STTR programs are eligible to receive a grant reimbursement for a portion of the costs they incur in preparing and submitting their Federal Phase I SBIR/STTR proposals. Under the One North Carolina Small Business Incentive Funds Program, new this year, the State issues qualified applicants a grant in the amount equal to 50% of their approved Phase I Proposal preparation costs, up to $3,000. The average grant award during the program's first six months was more than $2,900. These grants are awarded to qualified applicants on a first-come, first-served basis, up to the limits of available funding. All eligible businesses are encouraged to apply. The FY 2007-08 solicitation for this program, covering the period July 2, 2007 through June 30, 2008, as well as information about the program, application instructions, and supporting materials, is available the Board's website at www.ncscienceandtechnology.com. Information about the SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program is also available at that website. Under this program, operational since 2006, the State issues a grant of 100% of the amount a NC-based small business receives in a Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I award up to a maximum of $100,000, based upon the availability of program funds. These grants are disbursed in two stages: 75% of the total goes to the company upon proof of Phase I award, and the remaining 25% goes to the company upon submission of the Phase II application and acceptance of the Phase I report by the federal SBIR/STTR program agency. Since its inception in 2006, the Matching Funds Program has issued more than 100 Phase I matching grants to North Carolina small businesses, totaling in excess of $8 million. The average grant award in FY 2006-07 was more than $89,000.

Homeland Security Phase 1 Awardee Secures $1.8 in Federal Funding

WASHINGTON - Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) recently announced that Mariner Container Corporation will receive $1.8 million in federal funding to build "Smart Containers."

The funding comes as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (HR 3222), which was signed into law by the President today. Congressman McHenry requested the funding for Mariner Container Corp because of its important contribution to national security and economic development in Western North Carolina.

"This is great news for Caldwell County," said Congressman McHenry. "Not only does this project make America safer by significantly improving port security, it will also create hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs." Read more...

2007 Wraps Up

The SBTDC's SBIR education program schedule for 2007 wrapped up on December 5th at the NC Biotechnology Center. The full-day seminar, presented by Lisa Kurek of Biotechnolgy Business Consultants from Michigan attracted 115 attendees. The topic of this seminar was "commercialization of SBIR funded technologies".

Commercialization, defined as moving a technology from R&D to the market place, is the process that will ultimately groom R&D-centric businesses into profitable, job-generating machines in NC. Data shows that as many as half of Phase II awardees are unable to convert their SBIR funding R&D into products that are sold and that many companies feel that the commercialization process is unfamiliar, outside their skill set and daunting.

2007 proved to be a productive year on the SBIR outreach front attracting in total over 900 attendees to 7 local seminars, one full-day Commercialization seminar and the SBIR National Conference.

Wet Lab LaunchPad™ Space Available at Piedmont Triad Research Park

Locate your developing high tech firm "where innovation lives" at Piedmont Triad Research Park in Winston-Salem. New affordable Class A wet lab space is now available and features:

• Short term full-service lease.
• 3 individual furnished lab suites with wet lab area, prep and storage rooms, plus 2 offices.
• Shared conference room and break area.
• 24/7 secured access.
• PTRP Association benefits including connectivity with Wake Forest University Health Sciences.

For inquiries, call (336) 716-8672 or visit www.ptrp.com today.

About Piedmont Triad Research Park: Piedmont Triad Research Park (PTRP) is a highly interactive, master-planned urban-based park located in downtown Winston-Salem, that provides office and laboratory facilities to biomedical and information technology tenants. Currently the PTRP community encompasses six buildings, providing over 554,000 square feet of wet lab, office, meeting and residential space, and is home to 15 life science, 11 information technology and 10 business services tenants. Collectively these 36 tenants employ 832 university and corporate personnel. PTRP expansion, led by Wake Forest University Health Sciences, is under way to create a total 5.7 million gross square feet of mixed-use research park space, reclaiming 230 acres of the city's downtown area over the next 20-30 years.

About Wake Forest University Health Sciences: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university's School of Medicine and its other related enterprises including the Piedmont Triad Research Park. The Medical School is ranked 4th in the Southeastern United States in revenues from its licensed intellectual property.

Southeast Venture Conference - February 27-28, 2008 Tysons Corner , Virginia

Network with over $50 billion in investment capital at the 2008 Southeast Venture Conference (SEVC) taking place on February 27-28, 2008 at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner , Virginia . Hear from industry leaders such as Craigslist founder: Craig Newmark, Former Apple & Pepsi CEO: John Sculley, NEA's founder: Frank Bonsal, Salesforce.com's President and dozens of other top speakers and panelists. Opportunity and collaboration will take center stage at the 2008 Southeast Venture Conference with exclusive networking opportunities, featured speakers, investor/executive panels and 40 of the region's most innovative private technology firms presenting to a national audience of venture capitalists, investment bankers and private equity investors. Use this special code to receive a $250 discount off of registration: SBTDC250M. Register today at http://www.seventure.org.