Taking Research to the Marketplace

Event Hosted by the Small Business Development Center Shared Best Practices on Landing Federal Grants

The SBIR hosts four information sessions per year on accessing SBIR, STTR and other programs.

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 19, 2018) – The University’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), an affiliate of the School of Business, hosted an information session to help small businesses and researchers engaged in federally funded research to land competitive grants.

The event, “Technology Development Grants: Accessing the SBIR, STTR and Other Programs,” took place on the Health Sciences Campus on April 12.

Representatives from Amala Consulting, a company that works in conjunction with the SBDC to provide expertise in grant writing and other research-related services, were present to provide overviews of the

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, as well as best practices for writing grant proposals.

Bill Brigham, director of the SBDC, said the events and workshops can help showcase resources available to members of the University community who are interested in technology commercialization.

“The SBIR and STTR programs are so underutilized at most colleges and universities, and it really is the gap that the researcher hits between commercialization and development,” he said. “The next level of funding might mean an angel investor or venture capital, but getting involved with the program through the SBDC helps fund that period of time between when a small business gets a solid commercialization plan together and finding partner companies from the industry.”

He said the SBDC offers no-cost counseling for any small business owners or entrepreneurs within the Capital Region. Other on-campus resources for innovation and entrepreneurship include the Blackstone LaunchPad and Innovate 518, both of which also provide free consultation services.

SBDC Tech Plus Pilot

As part of the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program, the SBDC’s Tech Plus pilot program hosts four events per year designed to expand New York’s participation in SBIR and STTR programs, according to Brigham.

He said the primary objective of Tech Plus is to increase awareness of technology grant programs, as well as provide direct grant development services, like those provided by Amala Consulting.

The partnership between the SBDC, Blackstone LaunchPad and Innovate 518 can serve to engender venture capitalist funding without compromising a small business’s equity initially, as well as help drive economic development throughout the region, according to James Dias, vice president for research at the University.

“One of the things that the innovation centers and entrepreneurship programs on campus do is bring all of the universities in the region together, which strengthens our ability to commercialize in our life sciences and advance manufacturing research,” he said.

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