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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SBIR Tidbits

The week after a National Conference is usually quiet, as everyone's in recovery mode from the intensity of three-days of SBIR information overload. With only time to take a few deep breaths, however, we do have a number of opportunities to pounce upon.

The DOD released new SBIR topics on the 12th, and until December 7th you can talk to the Technical Point of Contact (called the TPOC) for clarification of what the DOD is really looking for. The SBIR Coach strongly recommends that you take advantage of this opportunity if you're planning to submit a proposal. Find the topics that you're interested via the search facility on the DOD SBIR website or on the SBIR Gateway's search engine.

Homeland Security has released its new SBIR topics. There are only seven of them, but they're quite interesting -- especially the one looking for techniques to break password protection and unlock hard drives on computers. See them on their Website or on the Gateway.

The NIH is holding a free Webinar next Tuesday (Nov 25th) on how to deal with their electronic submission process in anticipation of the iminent arrival of the December 5th proposal collection date. As if Grants.gov wasn't enough to deal with, they also have their eRA Commons. The two of them together are enough to make a PI cry! Sign up for the Webinar at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/307017968.

And speaking of Grants.gov, the DOE has been forced to extend the due date for its Phase I SBIR submissions to Monday the 24th, as Grants.gov was brought to its knees and refused to allow uploads for hours yesterday, causing many, including yours truly, to not make the DOE upload deadline. Something is going to have to be done to make this system work better. It's a huge distraction to the process, one that demeans the importance of what's being accomplished.

Just want to wish everyone a pleasant Thanksgiving break. But for those of us working on NIH and NSF proposals due the following week, I betcha there won't be a lot of rest!
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SBIR National Conference Focuses on Technology Transition and Reauthorization

The SBIR Coach attended the National SBIR Conference in Hartford, CT, this week. The theme of the conference was "The Future is Innovation...The Future is Now!" Deb Santy, the SBIR Director of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, and her committee put on a great show for we ~850 attendees. In addition to the standard presentations from sponsoring companies and Federal agencies who offer SBIR projects, we were treated to a special presentation, loaded with fascinating historical SBIR data, by one of the icons of the SBIR world, Ann Eskesen, President of The Innovation Development Institute. Ann was one of the creators of the SBIR Program back in the early 1980s. Her presentations are fast paced and intensive, and always leave me dizzy! Thank goodness she provided a copy for we attendees to study at our own speed!

We also had a presentation by Dr. Henry Lee, the renowned Forensic Scientist, who entertained us with his accounts of how powers of observation and thinking "outside the box" solved crimes and is actually the basis for Innovation. Very inspiring. Dr. Lee is an incredibly talented scientist and a fantastic speaker. He spoke to us right after lunch and no one dozed off! If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, jump on it!

The Department of Defense (specifically the Navy and the Air Force), The National Institutes of Health, NASA, and The Department of Energy all did extensive presentations on what they are doing to help guide the transition of SBIR-funded technology to commercialization. Highlighting their stories were representatives of most of the nation's prime contractors, companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, United Technologies, Sikorsky, Pratt & Whitney, Bell Helicopter, Battelle, et.al.

One of the highlights for everyone was a two-hour networking session patterned on the "speed dating" concept, where you exchanged business cards and information with someone across the table for 5 minutes, and then shifted to a new partner. I talked to two dozen very interesting people in that short time and expect that several of them will become clients. Everyone who participated was hoarse and worn out at the end of the session, but all were energized with the opportunities that arose in the discussions! A great concept, Deb! Thanks!

We also heard from Jere Glover, Executive Director of the Small Business Technology Council (SBTC), on the current status of the SBIR reauthorization battle in the Congress. Ann Eskesen and Rick Shindell, owner of The SBIR Gateway, also provided comments and perspective. In a small gathering after the conference day officially ended on Thursday, Jere, Ann and Rick also presided over a strategic planning session on how to mobilize support for guiding our legislators to do the right thing. The most important thing that we can do is inform our Congressional Representatives and Senators on how important the innovation enabled by SBIR is to the economic health of the nation. Jere promised to post some guidance for this communication on the SBTC website (www.SBTC.org), and Ann has extensive support data and information on her website (www.iknowvation.com). Watch this Blog for updates and further guidance.

It is somewhat distressing that there is nothing yet scheduled for a 2009 SBIR Conference. One of the States has to step up and host this important event, and they need to start the planning for it now! Any volunteers?
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NASA and the NTTC Join Forces to Support SBIR Technology Commercialization

In my last Blog posting (on Oct 29th) I talked about things that the DOD is doing to support Phase III commercialization of SBIR-funded technologies. Today it's NASA's turn.

I had lunch today with two very interesting people: Carl Ray, the SBIR Program Manager for NASA, and Darwin Molnar, the VP for SBIR and NASA Tech Transfer for the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC). We talked about the difficulties that small businesses face when attempting to transition technology being developed under NASA SBIRs to the commercial marketplace, and what's being done to aid that process.

Carl and I have been friends ever since he became NASA's SBIR chief back in the early 90s. NASA has always been focused on funding those SBIR projects that have the greatest likelihood of eventually being deployed into NASA systems. We've disagreed on some of NASA's communication policies, but have always agreed on one thing: Getting an SBIR project to Phase III must be actively supported. Companies need guidance in the culture change in moving out of R&D mode into commercialization, and they need the funding to get there.

NASA first turned to the NTTC for support to effect transferring space program technology to general marketplace utilization back in 1989. Some of the NTTC/NASA partnership successes include smoke detectors, CT scanners, GPS, and the cordless drill. Just a couple of years ago the NASA/NTTC team created the Small Business Innovative Partnerships Program (SBIPP) to provide direct support to "help small companies develop [SBIR-funded] research into technologies that both fit the needs of NASA’s mission systems and contribute to American quality of life through commercialization."

The SBIPP has been steadily improved as information has been added to the set of "portfolios" -- actually a CD highlighting relevant SBIR-funded technologies -- that are sent out to interested technology integrators, which include NASA Centers as well as interests outside of NASA. The most recent version of the portfolios actually includes applicable DoD SBIR technologies along with the NASA projects. Good stuff! To inquire about availability of the CD, contact Darwin Molnar. His contact information is on the SBIPP website (www.SBIPP.com) which also contains a sample of what's on the CD. Check it out.

I asked Carl what was special about this effort from the NASA perspective, and he stressed the effort that's been made to express the technology's taxonomy in terms that avoid using NASA jargon. The commercial world should have a much easier time understanding what's being offered.

Carl and I did chat briefly about what the Obama victory might mean for the SBIR reauthorization process in the Congress. One thing seems certain -- Senator Kerry will probably be assuming a more prominent role in the new administration, and his Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will be headed by someone else who might not have his same passion for SBIR support. (See Rick Shindell's analysis on his new Insider Report on the SBIR Gateway.) Carl did tell me that he'd prefer to not see the SBIR funding base raised (his NASA responsibilities are actually much broader than just SBIR and he doesn't want the SBIR percentage of his budget changed), but he'd not object to a raising of the funding caps -- so long as his Agency had the option to fund at a lower level.

Next week is the National SBIR Conference in Hartford, CT. The SBIR Coach will be there, and I'll report on "what's new" in next week's Blog.
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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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NOAA Announces New "Water and Wind" SBIR Topics with Surprising Subjects

The big dogs in the SBIR Program are the Department of Defense and The National Institutes of Health, together accounting for over $1.5 Billion of the $2.2+ Billion worth of SBIR projects funded each year. The next tier of agencies, NSF, DOE, NASA and Homeland Security, together fund another $450 Million worth of projects. The remaining five participating agencies (Commerce, Education, Transportation, Agriculture, and the EPA) don't have a lot of SBIR money to spend (do the math), and sometimes get lost in the SBIR shuffle. That's unfortunate, as they do fund interesting projects in worthwhile technologies. (To see the SBIR priorities of all of these agencies, go to the SBIR Gateway's Agency Program Links page, and click on the agency you'd like to explore.)

A case in point is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a branch of the Department of Commerce. NOAA announced their new SBIR Topics today, with a Jan 14, 2009, proposal due date. NOAA's SBIR budget is very small -- they anticipate awarding only ten Phase I grants of $95K each in this round -- but the projects are fascinating. Their four Topic Areas are Ecosystems, Climate, Weather and Water, and Commerce and Transportation. Don't think you can predict what they're looking for, as the variety of technologies being sought is quite broad. To see the Topics and Sub-Topics, surf to NOAA's SBIR web-page and click on the download link for the 2009 NOAA SBIR Solicitation.

Having just ducked the worst of Hurricane Ike, and watched while my favorite vacation places were destroyed, I was especially taken by NOAA's Topic 8.1.9SG: "NOAA is looking for proposals to develop new building methods and materials that can be utilized in both the retrofitting and new construction of structures in coastal areas to reduce the wind and water damage sustained during severe weather events."

There's something for everyone here, with other technologies involving biology, meteorology, chemistry, electronics, sensors, physics, and mathematics. Even SCUBA technology is involved!

NOAA doesn't get the attention that the big dogs get, so the number of SBIR proposals they receive is a lot smaller. Competition is about on par, however, with approximately 10% of the applications getting funded. But, they tend to get overlooked by the companies who are experts in technologies that aren't obviously NOAA-centric. So, overcome your skepticism, take a good look, and call the SBIR Coach if you'd like some help in improving the odds.

SBIR and other technology funding in the current crisis.

The current economic crisis certainly caught most of us by surprise. Crooks manipulating the credit markets suddenly found themselves without the reserves to cover their subprime loan losses, and their house of cards began to collapse. We trusted the watchdogs to keep us safe, but the crooks were tossing them goodies, and they didn't bark the alarm. The result is a plummeting of the stock market and a virtual freezing of the credit market. The losses are staggering.

Will this crisis affect our ability to get money for our businesses? Sure, at least for a while. Family and friends funding will be harder to tie down as people, even those who love you, feel the need to be more cautious with their financial reserves. Bootstrapping will be more difficult as your customers stretch their accounts payable timelines out to well beyond 30 days. Lines of credit may be withdrawn, and surely difficult to get expanded, as banks find their money sources restricted. Equity investors will tighten up on their governance and look for risk reduction wherever they can find it. New Angel or VC investment will be even harder to secure, and valuations are certain to be even further reduced. It will be tougher to find sources of debt or equity money for a while. Tighten your belts, it's going to get rough.

So what about Grant funding? Will SBIR be affected? Probably not in the availability of funds, but it will most certainly get more competitive. The SBIR budget is a fixed percentage (2.5%) of the largest Agency R&D budgets, and if those budgets are reduced, the SBIR pot will be proportionately smaller. My sense says that we'll see even more applications and it will become even harder to win funding. That's what happened following 9-11 when the economy dipped. As belts get tightened, smart people get "downsized". Many of them have entrepreneurial spirits and small businesses get born. SBIR is a way many of them actually get started.

Entrepreneurial spirit is innovative in nature. Unfortunately, Wall Street's penchant for "financial innovation" is taking the hit with a big share of the blame for this crisis, and whenever innovation is attacked, SBIR ducks for cover. SBIR is up for reauthorization, now with a deadline in March, 2009, for Congressional action to improve and expand it, or at least, continue it. There's always the danger that it could be eliminated, and that would be a crushing blow to American innovation and entrepreneurship.

We'll need to be involved as a small business community to educate and inform our legislators in the new Congress of the value of SBIR, to ensure that the program continues to foster the creation of innovative technology.

The SBIR Coach will be involved. Hopefully you will too. Stay tuned....

SBIR Coach to speak at Dallas Nanotech event this week

I've neglected my Blog this month. No excuses, other than having been exceptionally busy helping clients prepare DOD Phase I and Phase II proposals and dodging Hurricane Ike. I promise to be more prolific in October.

I'll be a speaker at the NanoTX'08 Conference and Expo to be held this week in Dallas. My talk will highlight (surprise!) SBIR opportunities for nanotechnology development. I'll also be on two Panels, one for Nanotech Investment Issues and another on Nanotech Workforce Issues. If you'd like copies of any of my presentations, just send me an email.

With the Wall Street turmoil of the past couple of weeks, it's a darned good thing that the extention of the SBIR Program to next March was accomplished. There's no way that our esteemed Congressional officials would have paid any attention to what small businesses needed when big businesses were teetering on the brink!

I'll get back to SBIR technology transition to commercialization issues soon. Promise. If any of you who read this have some questions or issues you'd like me to address, let me hear about them, either in a comment here, or an email to me.

Fred

FLASH: SBIR given reprieve to March 2009

I had intended to continue discussion of the goings on at the "Beyond Phase II" SBIR technology commercialization conference I attended this week (see yesterday's post), but that will have to wait until another day, as I want to tell you about the behind-the-scenes action that apparently has given the SBIR Program a temporary reprieve until March 20, 2009.

According to Rick Shindell of The SBIR Gateway in his SBIR Insider report dated today (9/05/08): "Earlier this year, Senate Small Business Committee Chair, John Kerry (D-MA) wrote a short bill, S.3029, 'To provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes.' It was cosponsored by his ranking member, Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and was passed in the Senate by Unanimous Consent on May 15, and by voice vote in the House on May 20. President Bush signed the bill into Public Law 10-235 on May 23, 2008. Its potential applicability to SBIR was kept low keyed in order to not interfere with reauthorization efforts that were underway in both the House and Senate. "

While not mentioning the SBIR program by name, this bill is interpreted by most legal eagles in the Government as applying to the SBIR situation, and steps have been taken to make sure that all of the participating agencies recognize the application of this law to SBIR and do not shut down their programs at the end of this month.

So, the SBIR reauthorization fight is temporarily delayed for a while, but it will be rejoined in the Spring, and there will be a lot of work to do to reconcile the differences of opinion that exist between the House and the Senate. You can bet that the The SBIR Coach will be in the middle of the fray!

Keep your pencils sharpened [talk about an out-of-date metaphor!] as, when the debate resumes, we'll be writing letters to our elected officials in the new Congress to encourage them to do the right thing for SBIR. Stay tuned for further developments, and thank you for your support.