WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) today announced it will launch an 11-state, 15-stop road tour led by the SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, with participation from 11 other federal agencies. This will be the third year of the SBA-led National Innovation Road Tour.
“The last two years of the SBA Road Tour have been a huge success and we’ve engaged thousands of small innovative firms across the nation, so we are excited to bring back the tour for a third year,” said John Williams, SBA Director of Innovation and Technology.
“American innovation is not restricted by geographic or cultural boundaries, and we are dedicated to supporting America’s entrepreneurs wherever they are. This tour reflects our commitment to ensuring that these innovators are aware of the resources that can help them turn a big idea into another great American success story,” Williams continued.
This year’s SBIR Road Tour, “Seeding America’s Future Innovations,” is a national outreach effort targeting advanced technology communities. Annually, the SBIR and STTR programs provide $2.5 billion in early stage funding to small businesses primarily in the STEM fields.
Each SBIR Road Tour stop will be hosted by a local organization involved in supporting technology-based entrepreneurship, and will give attendees a face-to-face opportunity to talk directly to federal agency program managers and decision makers. Federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Institutes of Health are participating in the tour.
SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION NATIONAL ROAD TOUR SCHEDULE:
The first tour will run from May 2-5, 2017. The SBA and 11 other federal agencies will travel to Boise, Idaho; Sandy, Utah; Las Vegas and Phoenix.
The tour continues the week of July 17, with stops in Minneapolis; Madison, Wisconsin; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky.
During the week of September 11, the tour goes to California, making stops in San Diego, Irvine, Los Angeles, Mountain View and Berkeley. The final SBIR Road Tour stop will be in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sept. 18.
The highly competitive SBIR/STTR programs together account for more than 150,000 awards totaling approximately $40 billion. These awards have helped U.S. innovators advance new technologies that help make the U.S. more globally competitive. The SBIR/STTR programs have provided seed funding to companies including Qualcomm, iRobot, Symantec and Genzyme.
Small technology firms, innovators, scientists or researchers seeking more information on the SBIR Road Tour, including a schedule of states for the road tour and participating agencies, should visit: www.sbirroadtour.com.
For more information about SBIR/STTR programs, please visit www.sbir.gov.