D

Appendix D

Small Business Innovation Research Program

The Small Business Innovation Research Program is a highly-competitive program designed to encourage small businesses to explore their technological potential and provide incentives to profit from technology commercialization. The program is based on the belief that including small businesses in the nation’s research and development arena will stimulate high-technology innovation and entrepreneurship, as the United States meets its research and development needs.

SBIR targets entrepreneurial firms because innovation and innovators seem to thrive in these organizations. The risk and expense of conducting serious R&D efforts, however, are often beyond the means of small businesses. By reserving a specific percentage of federal R&D funds for small business, SBIR protects the small business and enables it to compete on the same level as larger businesses. SBIR funds the critical startup and development stages; and it encourages the commercialization of the technology, products, or service.

Since its enactment in 1982, as part of the Small Businesses Innovation Development Act, SBIR has helped thousands of small businesses compete for federal R&D awards. Their contributions have enhanced the nation’s defense, protected our environment, advanced health care, and improved our ability to manage information and manipulate data.

Small businesses must meet certain eligibility criteria to participate in the SBIR program:

• American-owned and independently operated
• For-profit
• Principal researcher must be employed by the business
• Company size is limited to 500 employees

Each year, ten federal departments and agencies are required to reserve a portion of their R&D funds for award to small businesses through the SBIR program:

• U.S. Department of Agriculture
• U.S. Department of Commerce
• U.S. Department of Defense
• U.S. Department of Education
• U.S. Department of Energy
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• U.S. Department of Transportation
• Environmental Protection Agency
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• National Science Foundation

These agencies designate R&D topics and accept proposals.

Three-Phase Program

Following submission of proposals, agencies make SBIR awards based on small business qualification, degree of innovation, technical merit, and future market potential. Small businesses that receive awards or grants then begin a three-phase program:

• Phase I is the startup phase. Awards of up to $100,000 for approximately 6 months support exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology.
• Phase II awards expand Phase I results, with awards of up to $750,000. During this time, the R&D work is performed and the developer evaluates the commercialization potential of the technology. Only Phase I award winners are considered for Phase II.
• During Phase III, Phase II innovation moves from the laboratory to the marketplace. No SBIR funds support this phase. The small business must find funding in the private sector or other non-SBIR federal agency funding.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) directs the 10 agencies’ implementation of the SBIR, reviews their progress, and reports annually to Congress on its operation. SBA also is responsible for collecting solicitation information from all participating agencies and publishing a quarterly Pre-Solicitation Announcement, outlining the topics and anticipated release and closing dates for each agency’s solicitations.

For more information, visit www.sba.gov/SBIR.