Do you have any free money? As Director of the Kaua‘i Small Business Development Center, I’m often approached by individuals that ask about grant opportunities for small business (the closest thing to free money). With few exceptions, the answer that
Do you have any free money?
As Director of the Kaua‘i Small Business Development Center, I’m often approached by individuals that ask about grant opportunities for small business (the closest thing to free money).
With few exceptions, the answer that I unfortunately have to give is that the grant opportunities are very limited for for-profit businesses especially as it relates to for federal and state dollars. One exception is the Small Business Innovation Research program.
The Small Business Innovation Research and its sister program, Small Business Technology Transfer provide funding for “early-stage technologies and innovations leading to commercialization.” These programs represent two of the few grant opportunities available to for-profit companies. SBIR has proven to be one of the most successful federal programs for technological advancement in U.S. history, delivering more than 60,000 patents and hundreds of valuable innovations in agriculture, defense, energy, health sciences, homeland security, space, transportation, and other fields.
Over $2.2 billion is set aside for small businesses each year. Seventy-four Hawai‘i companies have won 325 SBIR & STTR awards totaling $78 million and have brought in another $58 million in commercialization dollars. HTDC supported the 74 companies by investing over $5 million in SBIR state matching grants to assist their success in SBIR and further their commercialization activities. Two examples of Kaua‘i/Hawai‘i firm that have accessed and used SBIR/STTR funding include Trex Hawai‘i which recently won a $100,000 SBIR award from DoD to develop advanced materials for optics to be used in space; and WT Haraguchi Farm was a past SBIR awardee that received nearly $70,000 to explore a novel approach to dealing with apple snails that infested their taro fields. Additional benefits of the program are:
— Provides seed money for high-risk projects
— Provides credibility and leverage to attract venture capital and other sources of funding
— Intellectual property (almost always) resides with small business.
As it so happens, the High Technology Development Corporation will be hosting workshops on the following dates to familiarize innovators and company representatives with the program.
— 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., November 16 at the Hale Koa Hotel, Waikiki, O‘ahu
— 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., November 17 at the Maui Research and Technology Center, Kihei
— 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., November 19 at the King Kam Hotel, Kona, Hawai‘i
One of the key benefits of the conference is face time with the government agencies.
An additional workshop “Training Day” will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., November 20, 2009 on O‘ahu at Honolulu Community College. Training Day will also be web-cast and available from your computer. Go to www.htdc.org/sbir-conference-2009 for more details on the agendas for these conferences and Training Day.
Although the High Tech Development Corporation does not have the resources to offer the program on Kaua‘i, they are making a limited number of “scholarships” available. These scholarships will cover the cost of airfare to participate in one of the conferences (up to $250), ground transportation (up to $60) and the cost of registration for the conference ($95). That’s where the Small Business Development Center comes in.
If you’re interested in the scholarship, please contact John Latkiewicz, Kaua‘i SBDC Director, at 241-3148 on the Kaua’i Community College Campus. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you will be asked to complete an application for the scholarship. These applications will be evaluated by the HDTC and individuals notified as to whether or not they will be awarded a scholarship.
Note that scholarship applications must be in to the Kaua‘i SBDC by October 1.
By the way, there are a limited number of other grant opportunities (several through the US Department of Agriculture) that the SBDC can discuss with you. As always, the SBDC is available to provide free business consulting and technical assistance to new entrepreneurs, start-up businesses and existing business. Please contact us at 241-3148 for an appointment.
• John Latkiewicz is the director for the Kaua’i Small Business Development Center and can be reached at john.latkiewicz@hawaii-sbdc.org
