SBA Announces Intent to Raise SBIR Award Limits - They Want Your Comments

The SBA has announced the intent to raise SBIR award limits to $150K for Phase I and $1M for Phase II. See the announcement on the Federal Register by clicking here.

In their announcement, they say: "SBA is authorized by statute to adjust the award amounts once every 5 years to reflect economic adjustments and programmatic considerations." Note that the SBA has never before chosen to take such action.

Your comments are being solicited. Here's the information you'll need:

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 15, 2008. SBA intends to make these comments available to the public.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by "RIN 3245-AF61" by any of the following methods: (1) Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, follow the instructions for submitting comments; (2) Mail: Office of Technology, 409 Third Street, SW., Washington, DC 20416; or (3) Hand Delivery/Courier: Edsel Brown, Assistant Director, Office of Technology, 409 Third Street, SW., Washington, DC 20416.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edsel Brown, Assistant Director, Office of Technology, at (202) 205-7343. You may also e-mail questions to technology@sba.gov.

Thanks to my friend Rick Shindell at The SBIR Gateway for having provided this information via his SBIR Insider Newsletter. Before you provide your comments, you might want to read his August 20th issue for an analysis of why the SBA chose to take this action now with the reauthorization bill being considered by the Senate (S.3362) having the same new limits.