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| Hot Summer SBIR News |
| Congress is working on SBIR reauthorization, NIH proposals are due August 5th (there's one more opportunity to submit proposals in 2008 to NIH), DoD solicitation has been released, DOT released another solicitation... There's a lot going on in the SBIR world! Read all about it right here! |
| SBIR Reauthorization Update |
The SBIR/STTR (Small Business Innovative Research; Small Business Technology Transfer) legislation is up for reauthorization. The house passed a version (H.R. 5819) that included opening the program up to venture capital (VC) owned companies, increased the size of the award, and reauthorized SBIR for two years and STTR for one year. The house increased Phase I awards to $300,000 and Phase II awards to $2.2 million.
The senate committee on Small Business released it's version of the bill on July 30, 2008. The senate version increases Phase I awards to $150,000 and Phase II to $1 million. No agency will be allowed to exceed the award amount by more than 50 percent. Reauthorization of SBIR was extended through September 30, 2022 and STTR through September 30, 2023.
The senate version allows for small businesses that are majority-owned and controlled by multiple VC companies to compete for up to 18 percent of NIH SBIR funds. For all other agencies, majority-backed VC companies can compete for up to 8 percent of SBIR funds. Companies with more than 49 percent ownership by a single VC remain ineligible for participation in the SBIR program.
The Senate version increases the total amount of money into the program to 3.5 percent of the agency's research funds for SBIR over the course of 10 years (at the rate of 0.1 percent per year) for all agencies except Department of Health and Human Services (home to National Institutes of Health). Funding for STTR was increased to 0.6 percent over the course of six years for all agencies.
The senate bill also attempts to increase geographic participation, particularly in rural states, by reauthorizing and enhancing through 2014 the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) program and the Rural Outreach Program. The bill also provides oversight and reporting on VC firms participating.
Now is the time to contact your congressional delegate to make your views known on this legislation. Congressmen should be in Nebraska for most of August, so you may be able to schedule a time to meet with them or have them visit your company and let them know how SBIR has been important to you. Links to both senators and all three representatives can be found at http://bennelson.senate.gov/explore/delegation.cfm. |
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| DoD SBIR Solicitation "Prerelease" Available |
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The Department of Defense (DoD) "prerelease" of their third solicitation for 2008 is now available. Proposals will be accepted beginning August 24, and are due by September 24. The solicitation includes offerings from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Each agency has slightly different requirements, so be sure to follow the instructions.
DoD releases it's solicitation for SBIR proposals one month before they accept proposals (and two months before the proposal deadline). The prerelease period is important because this is the time you can talk to the topic authors and get technical questions answered, plus more information about what they're looking for. If you are going to make a proposal to DoD, you want to find out as much about the specific need (solicitation) as possible. Remember, DoD asks for things they need. They or one of their prime contractors may be your customer.
There is a time delay from when the topic description is written until it's published in the solicitation, so conditions may have changed. Also, descriptions are often edited, so the topic author can provide you more information than may be available on the written solicitation.
Before you contact the author, however, do your homework. Look at the references and prepare a list of questions. Find out what they're looking for before you explain what your idea is. Contact information for the topic authors is included with the topic.
To view the entire solicitation or search for topics, go to the DoD SBIR website, http://www.dodsbir.net/solicitation/default.htm.
Remember that proposals must be submitted electronically. Also, you need to have a Company Commercialization Report and there are other requirements. There is a tutorial you may want to take to help you, http://www.dodsbir.net/tutorial/ Start working on your proposal today!
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Solicitation Calendar
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Open Open Solicitations
Future Solicitations (expected dates)
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| Department of Transportation (DOT) Solicitation is Open |
The DOT has opened a second phase I solicitation on July 18, 2008. There are two topics from the highway administration and one from the railroad administration. Proposals are due September 5, 2008.
View the entire solicitation at http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir/sol08_2/index.html. There is extensive background information available on all three topics. DOT looks for solutions to their specific problems, so be sure to understand their needs and show in your proposal how your research could lead to an effective solution. |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) Contracts Solicitation Release Expected August 8, 2008 |
The NIH pre-release announcement on their contracts solicitation is expected to be released August 8, 2008 and close November 3, 2008. The contracts solicitation is separate from the 2008-2 Omnibus SBIR/STTR Grants solicitation which is currently open. Contract proposals must respond specifically to a research topic within the Contract Solicitation. The topics can be viewed in an easy-to-read format at http://www.zyn.com/sbir/reference/NIH_PHS_2009c.pdf.
The contracts solicitation is listed as the Public Health Service's PHS-2009-1 SBIR Contracts Solicitation on Grants.gov. |
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