Oklahoma wins bid to host
SBIR National Conference
Oklahoma City will be host city in November for the SBIR National Conference designed to help researchers and small businesses secure development capital from a long-standing federal program.
November 8-10 are the dates and Cox Convention Center is the site where 500 individuals from around the nation will attend the three-day event titled Making Connections.
Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry challenged governors from other states to send representatives to the conference where small business men and women can learn more about accessing the $2 billion annual program.
“We want to help Oklahomans win their fair share of $2 billion of federal funds available through Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer. I am certain other governors want that for their states. Small business owners from around the country stand to gain a much better understanding for securing SBIR program funding at this national conference. We intend for them to enjoy their visit to Oklahoma and its capitol city,” said Governor Henry.
Event sponsors include the Greater OKC Chamber, Presbyterian Health Foundation, i2E Inc., the University of Central Oklahoma Small Business Development Center, OG&E, the U.S. Small Business Administration office in Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
Edsel M. Brown Jr., assistant director, Office of Technology, U.S. Small Business Administration, said, “SBA and the other federal agencies participating in the SBIR and STTR programs look forward to convening in Oklahoma City in November for the 2010 SBIR Fall National Conference. We are happy to come to Oklahoma and the southwest to share cutting edge technologies, meet and network with innovative companies and share recent developments in the program.”
The first step on the road to development capital is to understand both the state and federal components of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a set-aside program (2.5 percent of a federal agency’s extramural budget) for domestic small business concerns to engage in research and development that has the potential for commercialization. The SBIR program was established under the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-219).
The federal programs, SBIR and STTR, are highly specialized forms of funding for small advanced technology firms to perform cutting-edge R&D that addresses the nation’s most critical scientific and engineering needs. Funding is available from 11 federal agencies. To learn more about the conference, go to www.SBIROK.org.