Re-inventing SBIR?

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They've been meeting for almost a year with good intent: make SBIR more "effective and efficient". They're calling it SBIR 2.0 - borrowing on the Web 2.0 lexicon that heralded the shift from passive viewing of web content to active interaction among all elements of the web community (from content creators to content users) in a collaborative fashion.

Don't be fooled. It's not the same thing. Not even close. They're talking the talk. But not walking the walk.

Collaboration? Among newbie Agency SBIR Directors (the content creators) - maybe. Are SBIR funded companies (the content users) involved? Nope. Were past and retired SBIR Program Directors consulted? Nope. Were SBIR's founders consulted? Nope. (I'm certainly not in the loop -- not that I should be, although I do have ideas that could have merit -- so if some of the "Nopes" are erroneous, I apologize. But I bet the Nopes are pretty accurate.)

The SBIR 2.0 effort is being spearheaded by Sean Greene, the SBA's Associate Administrator for Investment and Special Advisor for Innovation. (Don'tcha just love government titles?) He's a good guy, a true friend to SBIR, and, as I said, well intentioned. But the naivete here is disturbing.

Here's a quick outline of what's included in the SBA's SBIR 2.0 initiative:

Simplification and Streamlining
- Shortening the contract/grant initiation period after award
- Building a web portal to search for available open topics
- Clarify and simplify SBIR Data Rights
Shared Best Practices
- Expanding bridge financing programs (between Phases)
- Expanding SBIR to facilitate tech transfer (ala NIST)
- Issuing joint agency solicitations
Better Performance Management
- Implement common performance metrics across agencies
- Share performance data publicly

Ambitious for sure! It would be marvelous to get all of that to work. But, folks, it ain't gonna happen quickly. Some aspects may not happen at all. The challenges are daunting. Some of the issues have been debated for years without consensus!

Every one of the agencies can improve the efficiency of project initiation after award. All it takes is money allocated to pay for administration. They haven't got any for this. Current SBIR law doesn't allow use of SBIR apportioned funds for admin. Unfortunately, last I knew, SBIR reauthorization which may fix that provision, hasn't happened yet.

And, at least for DOD, the SBIR Program Managers have NO CLOUT WHATEVER with component contracting authorities, who completely control the contract initiation process. I've seen contracting delays of as much as two YEARS! And, if they did have some clout, the current Army default of Phase I payments every two or three months (instead of monthly) wouldn't be the practice. Can you spell "cash flow"?

A "one-stop-shop" portal with a topic search feature? Gee, don't we already have one? It's called The SBIR Gateway. Not a penny of government money funds it, by the way. The "official" SBIR website (SBIR.gov) certainly could use some work - and a topic search engine - but why waste taxpayer money re-creating something that already works? Or is it simply a control issue?

Getting agencies to work together for improved SBIR efficiency? Don't make me laugh. The agencies are too different and too bureaucratically rigid to make any "one style fits all" approach work. Just the difference in competition compliance requirements between contracting and granting agencies alone makes the whole effort quite unlikely.

Clarifying SBIR Data Rights? PLEASE DO! But this involves getting lawyers to agree. Good luck with that. Ron Cooper, another good guy from the SBA, is at the point for this. If you have ideas, he'd like to hear them.

They're trying a working-together experiment - a five-agency (NIH, DARPA, DHS, NSF, and USDA) joint solicitation on Robotics. Just announced. Here's the info: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-279.html. Warning: Take two aspirin before reading, and call me in the morning. Heaven help us, the NIH SBIR application system will be used to collect all five agencies' Robotics proposals!

The NIH's system? Yikes! Y'all know what I think about it: It Sucks! For those of you who are used to doing DOD SBIR proposals, be prepared for EXTREME frustration! I've even put out an SBIR Coach's Newsletter issue about what to expect.

Regarding expanding bridge and commercialization funding, Kristina Johnson, the person at DOE who got their first of its kind Phase III funding initiatives in place, is apparently and suddenly leaving the agency. And the NIST "SBIR TT" program cited as the example for innovative SBIR tech transfer just lost it's creator, Cara Asmail, who's moved on to another NIST post. We have a leadership gap.

The turnover issue also extends to agency SBIR Program Director/Manager roles, as many newcomers are sitting in those chairs this year. I wonder how many of them have actually read the SBIR Policy Directive? Probably about as many as our legislators who actually read the bills they vote for.

Finally, common performance metrics? Oh, please! The agencies don't currently have ANY meaningful SBIR performance metrics. At the Beyond Phase II Conference last week, we were shown some (I thought suspicious) statistics on alleged SBIR performance, but there's no consensus on what constitutes SBIR success and no data gathering that has integrity or accuracy. I'm sure the SBIR funded companies have quite a different view of "success metrics" than do the agencies. Who provides the data? Who collects it? Who is to analyze it? What's to be done with the results? All still undefined.

I'm not usually pessimistic, but it's hard to have optimism about SBIR 2.0. Just being well intentioned doesn't cut the mustard. Maybe I'm jaded. Maybe I'm tired of being told to "trust" and "have hope" for "change" we can count on.

Change huh? This Administration's idea of "change" makes me shudder. (And make no mistake about it, the SBA is an arm of this Administration.) Will "simplification" mean adoption of the NIH's horribly complex SBIR collection and evaluation system? Will "best practices" for laying SBIR eggs (and making them into omelets) be defined by the eggs rather than the chickens? Will "performance metrics" have anything to do with creating jobs and producing innovative technology by giving small businesses access to Federal R&D opportunities?

Until SBIR is reauthorized, much of this is moot. Any efficiency changes will be limited and intra-agency. And, Lord knows, intra-agency efficiency changes are sorely needed! Effectiveness changes? Who knows what that even means?

I do applaud what Sean Greene and the Agency SBIR Program Directors (with a special nod to Chris Rinaldi at DOD) are trying to do with SBIR 2.0. They're sincere and trying hard to do what's best for SBIR. I just entreat them to do it smart and not ignore the user community and what's been tried in the past. Involve Roland Tibbetts, Ann Eskesen, and Jere Glover in the dialog and listen to what they have to say. Involve small business and their advocacy arm, the SBTC, too. Make SBIR 2.0 truly collaborative.

If you're going to talk the talk, please walk the walk.
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SBIR Reauthorization? Hit the Reset Button.

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It ain't gonna happen this year folks. The 111th Congress will be remembered for many things. Reauthorizing SBIR won't be among them.

But, don't worry, they won't let it die. No one wants to be accused of killing a small business program. So it'll be extended as is, with yet another Continuing Resolution, and the 112th will have to start over. With a clean slate. All unresolved legislation is trashed, ya' know.

Hit the Reset Button. It'll be a brand new game.

If the polls are even close to being accurate, there will be a lot of new faces in both the House and Senate. Many of these new legislators are likely to have never even heard of SBIR. So we must start over again with educating, persuading, persisting.

And we'll have new Congressional leadership, both at the top and on Committees. In the case of the House Small Business Committee, that's a good thing. Nydia needs a vacation. She works so hard on behalf of her constituents and supporters' pet projects. Too bad SBIR has never been one of them.

Those of you from Missouri -- get ready to "show me" some style. If the Republicans gain control of the House, Sam Graves is likely to be the new SBC Chair. At least his district of north Kansas City and St. Joseph may actually have some SBIR funded companies in it! Make sure he knows how you feel.

It's also a brand new game at many of the SBIR Agencies. The three biggest in terms of SBIR budgets, DOD, NIH and DOE, all have new leadership at the Program Director level.

Defense, the Big Gorilla with over $1 Billion of SBIR and STTR projects annually, has had Chris Rinaldi at the DOD SBIR helm for just a few months. He's still getting his feet wet. And he's got a bunch of new faces at the twelve DOD component desks as well, as DOD's had a bunch of recent SBIR office retirements including Connie Jacobs (DARPA) and Steve Guilfoos (AF). New game here for sure.

Energy still hasn't officially settled on the replacement for Larry James and has Vince Dattoria serving as Acting SBIR Program Director. No telling what's going to evolve there. But, DOE has done more than any other agency to use their Stimulus Funds for small business R&D projects, so there's hope.

But the biggest new game is at the NIH, where Jo Anne Goodnight recently announced that she is retiring from government service this month. No announcement yet as to who will be replacing her as NIH SBIR Program Director, but Kay Etzler is certainly qualified and capable of handling that job! Heck, she did it most of last year when Jo Anne was on temporary assignment to the Senate. I haven't asked her if she's even put her hat in the ring, but if they don't give Kay the job, watch out. That could very likely portend a significant shift in NIH SBIR policy.

Jo Anne will really be missed, especially by me. She and I haven't always agreed on SBIR policy implementation, but she's been a respected friend. SBIR Conferences just won't be the same without her. Her "SBIR 101" presentations are classic and legendary. She and Joe Hennebury from DOT (also recently retired) were mainstays as the primary cheerleaders for the Program. Now who's going to pick up that slack?

Another SBIR office that's lost a star is NIST. Clara Asmail, in my opinion the most creative thinker among the SBIR Directors, has moved to another NIST post. Hopefully what she started at NIST (see my column on this: Clever Clara...) won't be allowed to fade away.

So, it's pretty much a brand new game. On all fronts. Hit the Reset Button.

I predict this eighth SBIR CR will likely be for seven months, taking us to April 30th of 2011.

We'll have a few months of nothing doing while Congress re-boots and the 112th gets started. New SBIR Reauthorization bills will be introduced by the House and Senate Small Business Committees. Probably similar to the current ones, but hopefully a bit closer together in concept.

Here we go again. Monitor www.SBIRreauthorization.com for updates.

Meanwhile, there are three important events coming up this fall that The SBIR Coach will be participating in as a sponsor or speaker:

• The DOD's Beyond Phase II SBIR Conference in San Antonio (Sep 13-17),
• The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) Annual Conference in Baltimore (Oct 13-15), and
• The Fall 2010 SBIR National Conference in Oklahoma City (Nov 8-10).

If you're attending be sure to look me up and we can talk about your SBIR commercialization game plan. You'd better have one. Companies don't get the luxury of having Reset Buttons!
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Senate Calls for FAST SBIR Action

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Well, not exactly. But it's a wonderful idea! We've only got a week before SBIR fades away or gets extended -- again.

What the Senate did do this week is call upon the SBA to swiftly implement the allocated funds for the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership that provides funding for SBIR outreach support for the States. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) co-signed a letter from the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee to Karen Mills, SBA Administrator, requesting a schedule by February 12th for the implementation of FAST. View the official Press Release about the letter HERE.

Now, why push for FAST implementation when SBIR's Reauthorization hangs undone? Is this a signal that we can expect some action next week before it expires? I think so. I hope so.

There is the argument that the DOD has independently extended SBIR through the end of FY2010 and this FAST allocation is for FY2010 as well. With DOD having half of the SBIR pot, some FAST funding to support it would surely be put to good use. So, it's being pushed by folks behind the scenes. I support the push and the Senate's advice to the SBA.

But I do see this as a bigger signal. We have ten federal agencies whose SBIR programs will fade away on January 31st without some legislative action. Lack of action would represent a congressional and Obama administration failure.

After the Miracle in Massachusetts this week, our shell-shocked congress and the Obama administration needs something positive to accomplish. They don't need another failure.

Why not make SBIR Reauthorization a shining example of bi-partisan accomplishment?

Best of all worlds? The House accepts the Senate's SBIR Reauthorization Bill and passes it. There was talk of this sort of action for the Health Care Bill, but they didn't have the votes. Nydia Velazquez' expected opposition notwithstanding, they just might have the House votes to do this!

But the alleged compromise (whatever it is) would work too. Just PLEASE get something done by next Friday! Another Continuing Resolution would be better than nothing, but EVERYONE is tired of this.

FAST action..... what a wonderful idea! Call/email/fax your Senators and Representatives today. Give them something productive to work on.
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Small Business Funding Gets Fashionable - SBIR Benefits

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It's been a week of good news for a change. Congress is actually allocating money for small businesses instead of just talking about it. SBIR is benefiting. The DOD SBIR Program will get another year of life as soon as President Obama signs the National Defense Authorization Act into law. And the NIH soon will be required to pony up a big chunk of the ARRA Stimulus money they tried to keep away from the SBIR community.

We'll come back to the NDAA in a moment. This NIH news is what's really exciting for me.

You'll recall back in February shortly after the ARRA Stimulus was signed, this column broke the big story: Hidden in the Fine Print - SBIR Explicitly Excluded from NIH Stimulus Money. Turns out this dastardly deed was done in secret while the bill (H.R.1) was in Conference, bypassing the House and Senate Small Business Committees.

I personally sent faxes to every member of both Committees, cluing them in. I called for legislative action to repeal the exclusion and give small business back the $230 Million in projects stolen from them. Reaction was swift from the Senate (I got calls), but the House was strangely silent. Hmmm. The NIH refused to budge, effectively thumbing their nose at the Senate by responding to letters with bureaucratic gobbledygook and not even showing up at a special hearing called to discuss the situation.

It took ten months, but the Senate has finally taken steps to repeal the exclusion. Senate SBE Committee Chair Mary Landrieu introduced a bill (S.1832) this week that, in addition to enhancing small business loan provisions, requires the NIH to provide $150 million out of their ARRA funds for new small business projects during GFY2010. Seven other Senators (Kerry, Harkin, Cardin, Shaheen, Boxer, Pryor and Casey) have immediately joined her in co-sponsoring it. The Press Releases are flowing (Landrieu's, Cardin's, Shaheen's, Boxer's, Casey's). Other may also join -- how about asking your Senators to co-sponsor!

Why only $150 million? Seems that's what the NIH said they could do in a negotiated settlement. Other than having admitted behind the scenes that they did instigate the skulduggery, they're still not revealing who on the Conference Committee slipped the wording into ARRA. Did they really think we wouldn't notice it?

Now this has to get through the sausage grinder that is our legislative process, but with the co-sponsorships and Obama's recent small business support proclamation, it's a cinch to get passed.

Now, back to the NDAA. The NDAA's inclusion of SBIR was reported in last week's "Big Dog Barks" column. Not much more to say about that here, other than to again thank those responsible. Rick Shindell does a great job of that in his SBIR Insider column he sent out last night.

What about the other ten Agencies? Their SBIR and STTR programs will expire at the Witching Hour on Halloween unless another Reauthorization CR is passed. Watch for it in your trick-or-treat basket. No one in the Congress wants to be caught not supporting small business just now. It's suddenly become fashionable.
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SBIR's Big Dog Barks - Is the House listening?

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The Big Dog in the SBIR world is the Department of Defense. After being silent for a long time regarding SBIR reauthorization, the Big Dog barked last week. Loudly.

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees (ASC), evidently fed up with the inability of the Small Business Committees in the House and Senate to agree on SBIR reauthorization, decided to preempt them and simply do it as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. They effectively incorporated the Senate's version of SBIR reauthorization into the NDAA. It almost worked. [Read the whole story HERE and keep informed at SBIRreauthorization.com.]

Maybe it should have. After all, DOD has over half of the total SBIR and STTR budget. They deserve a seat at the table -- maybe at the head of the table. NIH has gotten most of Congress's SBIR attention as of late, and not in a very good light either. If it were up to some of the NIH's supporters, the SBIR Program would likely die -- they've as much as said so. Clearly the DOD's supporters won't let that happen.

When the House Small Business Committee cried foul, claiming jurisdictional authority (Stay in your own yard, Big Dog!) the ASCs agreed to withdraw the reauthorization language and give Congress another year to get it done -- but the DOD's SBIR, STTR and CPP programs are to be unilaterally extended (as is) to September 30, 2010. Essentially the NDAA provides a continuing resolution just for DOD.

Big Dog has barked. Big Dog has agreed to sit and stay, but only for a year. But it will provide innovative technology project funding for its small business community for that year - NO MATTER WHAT.

It couldn't be clearer. The Senate's SBIR reauthorization bill is the one that DOD supports. Hello! Is the House listening?

We've another deadline looming. Halloween. October 31st. The DOD's SBIR program will continue (assuming the NDAA is signed), but the other Agency SBIR programs will expire at the stroke of midnight on Halloween unless something happens.

Will they get it done by then? Unlikely. My bet - another CR. The fifth in this long, drawn out drama. Why should Big Dog wait alone in the yard?

Appropriate this is happening around Halloween. Time for costumes, parties, and trick-or-treaters. Trick-or-treaters are totally self serving. Grabbing goodies while masquerading in an assumed persona. Threatening consequences if not indulged.

Hmmm... do I sense a metaphor here? Our Congresspersons as self serving trick-or-treaters? Most wearing donkey and elephant costumes? Staying in character or be banished from the Party? Instead of candy, they want our money (taxes) and power? If they don't get it, we're all going to suffer some dire consequence? Naw....it couldn't be that simple! Or could it? Now that's scary!

Will SBIR be invited to the legislative Halloween Party? We're not bringing much in the way of treats. Only $2 Billion or so. And it's not even new money. Boring. Sort of pales into insignificance in the big picture. So maybe more tricks.

I wonder what costumes HSBC Chairwoman Velazquez and HS&T Subcommittee Chairman Wu are wearing to the Party? Hopefully their hearing won't be muffled and they'll heed Big Dog's barks. Please.
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SBIR Reauthorization Redux? No Such Luck.

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Here we are -- just a few days from expiration of the third SBIR Reauthorization Continuing Resolution. Is there any hope for resolution by the end of the month? Nope.

Word from behind the scenes is that discussions are pretty much at a standstill. Staffers on the various Committees are standing firm on their bosses' positions. Provisions to significantly open up eligibility, provide special preferences having nothing to do with technology, eliminate the Phase I vetting process, have multiple Phase II awards possible, and increase funding caps without increasing the funding base just aren't going away. There's as much spirit of compromise here as there is on the health care debate. Nada. Zilch.

The University lobby has been pushing hard for just plain letting the SBIR program expire. They've been consistent over the years on this. They want "their" $2B back! Research is "their" game. Tech Transfer royalties from commercialization of innovations is "their" reward -- never mind that they, for the most part, can't figure out how to do it!

The VC/BIO lobby has been keeping up the drumbeat too. BIO had a press conference yesterday where they expressed how they were "very pleased with the result of the vote on the reauthorization bill in the House." They repeated the "Big Lie" that the bill was "an attempt to overturn "fairly arbitrary" administrative agency decisions that prevented venture capital-funded companies from participating." Arbitrary? Participating? Sheesh! Perception management at its best.

There are actually provisions in the House bill that move SBIR administration out of the SBA and into the Department of Commerce with oversight controlled by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. If this happens, SBIR becomes a politicized innovation economy program, with true small businesses frozen out of participation.

Some will argue that this is a good thing; that it will improve the Government's ROI on R&D investment. Perhaps it will. But, the vision of Arthur Obermayer, Roland Tibbetts, the late Ted Kennedy, and many others, for fostering innovation from true entrepreneurs, will be lost. That would be a shame.

The SBA is in trouble folks. SBIR isn't the only SBA administered program that is languishing in Committee and facing expiration. Will they survive as an independent agency? I fear not. SBIR being moved out is, in my opinion, an omen.

My prediction, shared by many in the SBIR Advocacy: we'll get another SBIR Continuing Resolution. How long? I say six months -- taking us to next March.

Some of the Agencies aren't waiting for Congress to act. Some are independently increasing funding caps. DOE and NSF, for example, are now providing $150K for Phase I, and DOE is doing $1M for Phase II. Others, like DOD and NASA, are standing pat. NIH generally ignores caps anyhow. It's really getting confusing -- helps justify the need for a coach! (smile)

So, the SBIR game is still being played, although the rule book is being very liberally interpreted. Check out the Gateway for proposal opportunities, and monitor www.SBIRreauthorization.com for updates on what Congress is (or isn't) doing.

The SBIR Coach will be at the NASVF Conference next week, and at the DOD sponsored Beyond Phase II Conference the week after that. My columns will report on what I learn there. Stay tuned.
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Aaargh! Two more months of SBIR Reauthorization torture!

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You'd think they already had enough time to do this. But no such luck.

We're talking about SBIR Reauthorization, of course. It's not going to happen by the end of the month. Surprise! Hah.

Word is that we'll have another Continuing Resolution that will extend the deadline one more time to September 30th. So we've got two more months of torture to endure.

The SBTC put out this notice on Monday:

The Senate passed a continuing resolution on Friday that would extend the SBIR program another two months. That would make the new expiration date for the SBIR program September 30th, 2009. This CR also needs to pass the House of Representatives to be enacted, and we expect it to pass the House on Tuesday.

Currently, the staff from the House Small Business and Science Committees are in negotiations in conference with the staff from the Senate Small Business Committee to produce a compromise SBIR reauthorization bill that will incorporate elements from both the House and the Senate Reauthorization Bills. We have heard and have reason to believe that both sides are negotiating in good faith, and that no party is acting unreasonably or otherwise sabotaging the process. Because there is an agreement between the staffers in the conference, we won't know what's in the compromise bill until it is finished and released to the public.

The SBTC will be hosting a conference call on Thursday to discuss these developments. Contact Alec Orban if you'd like the call-in number and code.

Thankfully, it appears that our Committee Staffers are not following the Conyers model and are taking time to actually read and analyze the provisions of the two bills.

We'll stay on top of the continuing madness, both with updates here, and on www.SBIRreauthorization.com.

As a side note, one of my clients has been following the DOD's history of topic offerings and has made the following startling observations: "There are 15.6% fewer DoD topics in FY09 than the average over the two previous years. Air Force had a staggering 44% reduction in topic count, MDA had a 23% reduction, and DARPA had a 17% reduction." Anybody have any ideas as to what's driving this? Might it be the uncertainty over reauthorization?

And finally, I'm pleased to report that two Texas editions of the Business Journal featured articles about the SBIR Reauthorization struggle last week. The SBIR Coach was interviewed and quoted in a front page article by the Austin Business Journal, and was featured on the Editorial page in the San Antonio Business Journal.
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Fast Funding for Forensics from our friends at the DOD

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Ever watch CSI? Bones? NCIS? Cold Case? Probably, as these are some of today's most popular TV shows. What do they have in common? Forensics. Playing detective. Analyzing evidence. Establishing facts. Solving crimes. Prosecuting bad guys. Cool stuff! But what does this have to do with getting money for technology development? According to the DOD -- a lot!

Yes, that’s right. The Department of Defense wants to pay you for being a forensic technologist. They have money to spend on this, and are ready to write the checks. All you need is a good idea and the capability for developing some new techniques for establishing facts in DOD's battlefield environments -- "Battlefield Forensics".

Not only that, but you don't have to write a detailed and lengthy proposal, use a complicated submission web site, nor wait a long time for an answer. Can you say "fast funding"?

Wow! This isn't your typical SBIR project! No submission deadline to meet. Fast response. Pays more right at the start. And they say you won't need special "government accounting compliant" systems either!

Sounds almost too good to be true. But the DOD says it isn't fooling around. Terrorism is the current high priority target. They want good ideas to gather facts to bring terrorists and war criminals to justice. And they want to implement them fast.

The guy in charge of this is Dave Edwards. He works in the DOD's Rapid Reaction Technology Office. I met Dave at the World's Best Technologies Showcase Conference last month, and had a chance to ask him some questions about this new initiative they call the "Open Business Cell"...

Q: What's this all about, Dave?

A: Well Fred, it’s a small pilot program in DOD that seeks to find and engage new or “non-traditional” companies, engineers, innovators, and scientists. We want them to provide their best ideas and build prototypes to help DOD resolve some high priority needs.

Q: How will you do that?

A: Two ways. First we have a helpful website called DefenseSolutions.gov that identifies the needs. Our current priority need is for Battlefield Forensics. After the best ideas are selected, we will use a funding mechanism called Other Transactions, the government's version of a commercial contract (no special accounting needed), to get people working on these “best” ideas quickly. We will be funding them to rapidly produce functioning prototypes to turn their ideas into reality.

Q: Battlefield Forensics? Is that anything like what we see on CSI?

A: Sorry, but it's not the high-tech laboratory drama you see on television. Battlefield Forensics is the rough and ready business of quickly collecting evidence or indicators of the activities of terrorists and war criminals so we can identify and pursue them. On the battlefield, we may not have the luxury of extended time at the scene, exhaustive coverage of an entire site, or the trained personnel and specialized equipment we need to collect evidence. We need to develop simple and effective equipment and methodologies to gather data and establish facts. So while it's not CSI, it is applied forensic science and engineering.

Q: If I submit an idea, how is it evaluated?

A: When your idea is received it is forwarded to our subject matter experts for analysis. Those who offer really good “on target” ideas will be asked to send in more detailed information about how they would produce their prototype, what it would cost, when it can be delivered, how it will be tested, etc. From among this select handful, the most promising will be funded immediately.

Q: What's a typical project's budget and schedule?

A: There's no set limits. But we expect the funding for a project to be in the $300-500K range for 1-2 years, with a preferred short-term completion schedule. The faster the better.

Q: What about non-disclosure agreements?

A: Not to worry. When you submit an idea using the form at DefenseSolutions.gov, your idea is protected from disclosure. No competitors will see it and only government personnel will evaluate it. By law, it cannot be disclosed even under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The website has information about this.

Q. OK, I'm ready to submit my idea. How do I do that?

A. Easy. Find the "Submit Your Idea" button on the website. Fill in the web form. That's all it takes. We'll get back to you in less than 30-days.

Q. When will you be posting other areas of interest?

A. Soon. We call them "themes". Subscribe to our ListServ, and we'll let you know when a new theme is posted. Signup is on the website.

This is really cool, Dave. Fast response, not a lot of paperwork, and minimal accounting needed? I hope this works, and serves as a model for other programs to follow.

So, go look at Dave's website (http://www.DefenseSolutions.gov/) and see what Battlefield Forensics is all about. (For ideas, do Google searches on the term too.) If you have questions, email Dave at Idea@DefenseSolutions.gov.
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Small Business/University Tech-Transfer Matchmaking - Just in time for Valentine's Day!

This idea could produce a match made in heaven -- well at least in Tech-Transfer heaven! Small technology businesses who are looking to win Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants now have a way to solve a heretofore tough problem -- how to find universities or other research institutions with the appropriate capabilities to partner with.

Thanks to some innovative thinking from Rick Shindell, publisher of The SBIR Gateway, there's now a way for both research institutions and small businesses to register their capabilities and STTR topic interest in a Gateway database, and then use the Gateway's search engine to find that elusive partner.

Starting February 12th, appropriately evolving on Darwin Day, small businesses in search of a DOD STTR research partner are able to query the database and see which research organizations may be interested in partnering on selected topics. It also works the other way - small business can register their interests and research institutions can find them via this matchmaking service.

In announcing this new Gateway service, Rick said:

"Most of us have had some negative consequences due to the economy and/or the investment community. Many universities and colleges have incurred major losses to their endowment funds, and that includes their Science & Technology sector. Entities that previously thought STTR was too small to bother with are now interested in becoming involved.

I've talked with many small and medium sized universities that have said it is hard to find interested and qualified small businesses for partnering in STTR. I also hear from small businesses that they have a hard time finding an interested university or federally funded R&D center (including DOD and DOE National Laboratories) in an STTR project.

As with all of our SBIR Gateway projects, this service is free and is offered in the hope that it will stimulate interest in the STTR program, promote strong partnerships, create and/or preserve jobs, and be of benefit to the sponsoring agency and their mission."

Rick told me that the response he's gotten to this has been exceptionally strong. He's hopeful that this experiment will prove to be a winner. My bet is that we'll see an upsurge in STTR proposals as a result of this initiative. I know for a fact that several of my clients abandoned plans to submit STTR proposals in the past because they just could not find the right university research partner.

See the STTR Matchmaking facility on the SBIR Gateway at: STTR PARTNERING. Proposals in the current DOD STTR round are due March 25th. There's still time to talk to TPOCs, so don't delay in finding that perfect partner!

SBIR Reauthorization Update

The SBIR Coach got back from Washington DC after the Reauthorization Fly-In earlier this week energized to do what it takes to ensure continuance of the SBIR opportunity as the best small business stimulus that this nation has ever implemented. We talked to many House and Senate staffers to carry forth the primary message: PLEASE DON'T LET THE SBIR PROGRAM DIE ON MARCH 20TH.

Thanks to hard work by Jere Glover of the SBTC and Alec Orban of NSBA, we were organized and armed with compelling data, and everyone I talked to seemed to get the message. In a nutshell, it doesn't appear possible that the House and Senate will be able to reach agreement on the issues in the few weeks between now and March 20th, so another Continuing Resolution must be passed to further extend the SBIR expiration deadline and allow us to continue the debate.

This weekend I will compose my letter that I will be sending to our legislators and will post it on my website. You will be able to copy and paste it onto your own letterhead for editing and sending. I'll be sending a FLASH Newsletter to my clients when it's ready. If you'd like to be included in that notice, please subscribe to my Newsletter. We need to alert as many legislators as possible as soon as they return from the Presidents' Day congressional recess.

UPDATE: 2/15/09. The Legislator Letter is posted on my website, and the FLASH Newsletter has been emailed to my clients. Click the links to see them. Please send some letters!
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The story behind the DOD's 6AM SBIR proposal submission deadline

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Well, I'm sitting here in my LaZ-Boy recliner, my laptop in my lap, sipping my coffee in the pre-dawn darkness, and reminiscing about what happened six years ago this week. The DOD's winter SBIR proposal cycle just closed an hour or so ago, and I successfully accomplished the final upload of a client's 3rd version of the final draft of their proposal just a few minutes before the 6AM EST deadline. (The things I do for my clients!) Ever wonder why the DOD has a 6AM deadline? It's quite a story...

Back in 2003 the DOD had a 5PM EST deadline for SBIR proposal submissions. The DOD's electronic submission website had been enabled just a year or so earlier, thankfully eliminating those dreadful red-form paper cover pages (remember those?). Of course, everyone always worked right up to the deadline, causing intense pressure on the DOD's network resources and slowdowns as the deadline approached were common. The DOD's instructions included a warning that early submission was recommended. They thought that covered them.

I was working with a client on an Air Force proposal that January afternoon in 2003 as the 5PM deadline loomed. We finished around 3PM and tried to upload the proposal. No response. The site had crashed. The help-line was ringing busy. Talk about frustration! In desperation, as 5PM was just a few minutes away and the site was still down, we finally emailed the proposal to the Air Force's Topic Group Program Manager to time-stamp it, but that wasn't an official way to do it, and we knew that the proposal would probably not be accepted that way.

The next morning I called Ivory Fisher, then the DOD's SBIR Program Director, to ask what they were going to do about the situation, and was informed that their warning advising early submission was sufficient. Nothing needed to be done. Tough luck. Sadly, I predicted that he'd soon be in the middle of a storm of protest. I was right. The firestorm eventually drew Senator Ted Kennedy into it, and the DOD was forced by Congress to re-open the solicitation for three weeks in March to allow the submissions that were prevented by the site crash. Unfortunately that delayed the evaluations and awards, punishing those who had submitted early! Ivory retired soon after, for health reasons unrelated to the angst created by the problem.

My friend Jeff Bond (he had directed the BMDO's SBIR program previously) was appointed to succeed him as the DOD SBIR chief, and he was charged with fixing the system. In addition to increasing the submission site's network resources (I call it enlarging the funnel), he implemented the absolutely brilliant idea of moving the deadline from 5PM to 6AM! That effectively ensured that everyone wouldn't be clogging the funnel at the same time. It works! In the past six years I've only helped a client work to the 6AM deadline twice. Most of the time we finish by the end of business the previous day (or even earlier) without any pressure at all. Thank you Jeff!

By the way, Jeff retired from government service a few years ago and is now Grant & Proposals Director for the Association For Manufacturing Technology (www.amtonline.org). Any of you who are in the manufacturing arena should join this organization and enlist Jeff's counsel if you're desirous of learning about relevant funding opportunities. Give him my regards when you call him.

Time for another cup of coffee.....
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NOTE: The January Issue of the SBIR Coach's Newsletter will be available by clicking on the following link: SBIR Coach's Newsletter - Jan-2009.
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Successful SBIR technology transition may require deviating from the norm

Back in the "old days" when I was helping guide my own companies through the SBIR process, I discovered that all DOD SBIR program managers and administrators did not think alike. Most were very competent at what they did, which was to make sure that proposals turned into contracts, that the proper documents were in the proper places at the proper times, and that the contractual interests of the DOD were being met. Only very occasionally did we encounter an exceptional individual in the SBIR PM role who actually felt it was his or her job to motivate us to thinking about Phase III - the transition to commercialization. One such person was Linda Whittington in her role as a Navy SBIR Program Manager. We quickly became good friends and I learned to listen to her advice.

Linda retired from government service earlier this year and decided to launch her own SBIR-related consulting practice to utilize her vast knowledge of the DOD's technology transition process to help SBIR companies succeed in ensuring Phase III success. She sought me out for advice on some consultancy issues, and to open discussions about collaboration with SBIR Coach clients who were seeking to deploy their technology within the DOD.

We met up at the National SBIR Conference last month, and I took the opportunity to conduct an impromptu interview for the edification of my readers:

FP: Give me a capsule summary of your Navy SBIR Program Management experience.

LW: I started as an SBIR Program Manager at the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) in 1985 and finished my government career as the SBIR PM at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in May of this year.

FP: You saw many SBIR companies over the years. What characteristic did the successful ones share?

LW: The most successful companies were open to new ways of doing business, had a business focus and a well articulated commercialization strategy. After winning an award, they kept the lines of communication open with their technical points of contact and SBIR Program offices and were proactive in the transitioning effort of the technology.

FP: Getting to Phase III (commercialization) is the goal. How did you view your role in that?

LW: I felt it was my duty to spend the tax payers’ dollars wisely and give our war fighters the technology they required. Therefore, I made it my responsibility to make other potential users inside DOD aware of technical efforts that we had funded and encourage them to leverage this technology into deployment. To make the offer even more appealing, I also offered procurement assistance to facilitate the Phase III effort for multiple users. This saved both time and money.

FP: What did you do differently from other Navy and DOD SBIR Program Managers?

LW: My goal for successful SBIR efforts was to create a win-win solution for all players. When faced with challenges that threatened that result I was tenacious in finding a solution that allowed us to move forward. More often than not, this meant taking risks, thinking out of the box and overcoming internal DOD cultural barriers. As an example, there was a requirement for an anti-terrorism effort that clearly would require more than one technology to resolve. I took the novel approach of putting together a consortium of five SBIR companies that, working together, successfully responded to the anti-terrorism requirement. DOD doesn't normally operate this way and we had significant management and procurement challenges to overcome.

FP: What advice would you give to SBIR awardees for them to be more likely to succeed at commercialization?

LW: Make your presentations high level, clear and concise. Be proactive and tenacious. Follow through and be open to new ways of doing business.

Linda recently gave me a T-Shirt that proclaims: "Without deviation from the norm ... Progress is not possible." (A quote from, of all people, Frank Zappa!) Linda's SBIR philosophy was, and continues to be, exactly this. You can see what Linda's consulting business is all about on her website: www.WhittingtonSolutions.com.

Rick Shindell sent out a new SBIR Insider Update yesterday. Here are a few of the highlights in headline form:
> Mary Landrieu (D-LA) to succeed John Kerry as Chair of the SBE Committee in the Senate
> SBIR Program Directors Vinny Schaper (DHS) and Steve Guilfoos (USAF) to retire soon
> SBA posts "Affiliation and Size Standard Rules" discussion on their website
> NIST TIP Program call for White Papers on areas of "critical national need"
> New Air Force BAA released
See the details of these items, and others, at The SBIR Gateway's Insider Newsletter page, or email me for a copy.

SBIR Coach Newsletters are now archived on the Web and available for download from my website. Subscribe for email delivery by clicking the button on the left.

Please permit me to wish everyone a very warm and fulfilling Christmas or Hanukkah celebration, and may all of us successfully withstand the the current economic turmoil and experience a prosperous New Year.
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More SBIR Tidbits: Upcoming Deadlines, Boeing interest, SITIS, and other stuff

Everyone's taking a deep breath after last week's flurry of activity to get the NSF and NIH SBIR proposals submitted on time. I hope that everyone was able to jump through the FastLane and Grants.gov/eRA Commons hoops without hassle, although I've only rarely heard of anyone getting through the NIH submission process without having to do a corrected submission -- it's always something!

The NIH did put on a webinar with representatives from the NIH SBIR Office, Grants.gov, and the eRA Commons on-line to ostensibly allow applicants with questions to get them answered. They did a good job. I listened in and did learn some things. Evidently hundreds of questions were submitted via the on-line mechanism, but unfortunately only a very small number of them were able to be answered in the time allotted. It's clear that the NIH proposal submission system has evolved to be so complex that many find it too formidable to deal with. That's a shame. It shouldn't have to be so tough! Anyhow, the PowerPoint presentations the webinar speakers made are available for download from the NIH SBIR web page. Click HERE for a quick link to them.

Now we're into the post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas push to get DOD, NIST, NOAA,and DHS SBIR proposals written for submission by mid-January, although my experience in dealing with proposal writers says that most will procrastinate until just before the deadline anyhow....Sigh..... DHS proposals are due Jan 5th, DOD and NOAA on Jan 14th, and NIST on Jan 22nd. NIST and NOAA require paper copies delivered by specific deadlines, while DHS and DOD have proprietary submission portal websites. All four of these agencies issue contracts or purchase orders for the work, not grants, so none of them use Grants.gov (hooray!). You should, however, have a DUNS Number and be registered in the CCR. [Remember, the SBIR Coach provides support for start-to-finish Proposal Preparation Coaching or just for Proposal Draft Reviews. Contact me if you'd like to discuss.]

Boeing has released its interest list for SBIR participation and support for the DOD 2009.1 topics. Write me if you'd like a copy. Kudos to Boeing's Rich Hendel for being the most proactive big-company SBIR supporter in the country! According to the information that Rich presented at the SBIR National Conference last month in Hartford, it's paying dividends for Boeing. Are the rest of you big-dogs paying attention?

The DOD officially opened their SBIR submission website for the 2009.1 round on December 8th, so no more communication with Topic Authors (aka TPOCs) is permitted, other than through SITIS, the official on-line system for asking questions and getting answers on the topics. My December SBIR Coach's Newsletter discusses how to use the SITIS system effectively. Write me for a copy of this one, and subscribe to future issues by clicking the "Join" button in the margin on the left of this Blog post.

Not much is happening on the SBIR re-authorization front. The current economic turmoil has everything else on hold. But, we'll turn on the heat as soon as the new Congress convenes.
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New Help for Transitioning SBIR-Funded Technology to Commercialization (Phase III)

Companies that win SBIR awards, and get funding for demonstrating feasibility (Phase I) and developing the proof-of-concept prototype (Phase II) often find themselves stymied to take the technology further. Funding for commercialization (Phase III) is very hard to arrange and obtain -- it isn't provided via the required agency R&D budget set-aside as is Phase I and II. The "normal" processes for getting such projects funded are just too daunting and competitive for most small businesses to undertake. But there's actually many sources of help, some new, and some not so new.

About seven years ago I received the distinct honor of being invited to join a distinguished national Panel of experts on small business technology development and commercialization. This Panel is convened several times a year by the Washington Office of the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) for the purpose of advising businesses (both large and small) and research institutions (both universities and Federal labs) who are conducting research and development funded by the DOD's Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The advice is specifically focused on issues relating to the transitioning of their technology to end use, and, hopefully, eventual insertion into MDA systems.

MDA has sponsored and NTTC has administered this enlightened Technology Applications Review (TAR) program for over twenty years (I'm still one of the newbies). The invited companies present the status of their MDA funded technology development progress, their plans for transitioning it to commercialization, and their assessment of the resources they'll need to accomplish the plans. History shows that the majority of these TAR participants have been SBIR-funded small businesses, usually at the level of Phase II. The Panel provides critical feedback on their plans, and offers suggestions for new strategic business positioning, tactical approaches for implementing the plans, new ideas for applications of the technology, and referrals to individuals to contact for further guidance and help.

Well, the NTTC convened our third TAR meeting of 2008 last week in San Diego. Four very interesting SBIR companies made their presentations, and we on the Panel provided much spirited feedback. The company executives all went away with "to do" lists of actions to be taken, some strategic, some tactical. Two of the companies were actually making a repeat TAR appearance, having been so impressed with the quality of the advice they had received in their prior visit that they were back for another dose of reality. We'll have another session next week in Washington DC with five more SBIR companies making presentations. I can hardly wait!

While the NTTC/MDA sponsored TAR is, in my opinion, the most focused and, arguably, the best support mechanism out there for promoting transitioning of an SBIR company to commercialization success, there are other initiatives for companies who are not MDA funded to take advantage of. The DOD began what's known as the Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) back in 2006. It's evolving and still pretty "new". It's been implemented by the Army, Navy, and Air Force, to provide direct support to smooth the way for SBIR companies to obtain Phase III funding for commercialization. Support is available via the CPP for a variety of business functions, as well as for removing roadblocks to working with Defense Prime Contractors.

The Army, Navy, Air Force, and the MDA, themselves hold regular events designed to promote commercialization of small business developed technologies, many of which focus on SBIR. Just today I received notice of a conference on transitioning "disruptive" technologies from "non-traditional" sources (e.g., small SBIR companies) to the Army's ARDEC. The event will be held next January. Click HERE for more information. In future Blog posts I'll take a close look at what each of the Federal agencies (all of them - not just DOD) are doing (or, in some cases, not doing) to promote Phase III.

And, finally, the SBIR re-authorization legislation will very likely provide some funding for more Phase III support for all of the agencies, as well as the requirement to actively support the transition of SBIR technology to commercialization. All the more reason for us to get behind the effort to convince our legislators to do this right.
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PS: 11/3/08. I sent out an SBIR Coach's Newsletter issue today that answers the question: What is Phase III? If you're at all confused about that, you'll want to read this. If you'd like a copy, please write to me. To get on the Newsletter mailing list, click the button on the margin at the left (be sure to answer the confirming email you'll get). Every issue has opt-out buttons, and your email address privacy is strictly guaranteed.
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Promoting paths to SBIR technology commercialization

The SBIR Coach is at the DOD sponsored "Beyond Phase II" SBIR technology commercialization conference in Palm Desert CA this week. In addition to hearing excellent "technology transition" presentations from NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense, I'm enjoying meeting and chatting with the key SBIR liaisons at some of the country's biggest Prime contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. I'm representing the interests of several clients who can't be here, and have made some very promising contacts for them.

The Agencies and the Prime contractors are actively working together to encourage integration of SBIR funded technologies into systems produced by the larger companies and ultimately deployed into end use. For the SBIR companies it's the follow-on funding (called Phase III) that turns prototypes into products. For the big companies it's the opportunity to integrate innovative bits of technology that improve performance into their systems. For the Agencies, it's solving problems and fulfilling missions. Everybody wins.

The Conference organizers, led by my friend Andy Talbert, have provided all of the presentations on a USB drive given to each attendee -- the welcome replacement to the big books of presentations we used to get! Click HERE (and then click "Agenda") to see the Conference Agenda. If there's a particular presentation you'd like to see and chat about, send me an email and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Today, among other things, we hear much more about the DOD's Commercialization Pilot Program and what the States are doing to support SBIR technology transition into commercialization. More on this in tommorow's post.

Boeing wants to help you win DOD SBIRs and STTRs

The Boeing Corporation continues its support of entrepreneurial technology development by providing a list of Boeing people who are interested in collaborative support of SBIR and STTR projects sponsored by the Department of Defense's 2008.3 SBIR and STTR solicitation. It's very rare that the DOD will offer new STTR topics this late in the year. Typically all STTR opportunities are open only in the Spring.

If the topic you're planning to respond to appears on Boeing's list, it would be a productive strategy to seek collaborative support for your application from Boeing. They'll provide letters of support (when appropriate) with the objective of participating in development (Phases I and II) leading to the ultimate commercialization of the developed technology (Phase III) by integrating it into Boeing solutions.

The DOD will begin accepting proposals on August 25th and proposals are due by September 24th. You have one more week (effectively until August 22nd) to contact the DOD Technical Point of Contact on the topic for clarification of the requirements. All serious applicants are strongly encouraged to do so.

If you'd like a copy of the Boeing list, please send me an email request. My website has my email address.