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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Do you have a Playbook?

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What's a Playbook? Ask any coach and you'll get a quick answer. It's a collection of things the team will do in various situations. Things designed to give your team an advantage over the competition and score points. The more points you score, the more likely you'll win the game. Should SBIR companies have a Playbook?

You betcha! Every company should have a written down collection of things to do in various situations. Is that a Strategic Plan? A Business Plan? A Marketing Plan? Yes. Yes. And yes. But it's more besides. Plans usually limit their focus to what is intended to be done (offense). That's not enough.

You need to have scenarios of alternative plays to execute (paths to take) in both offensive and defensive situations. You must have goals for how many points to score (revenues to bring in). And you must have winning the game (building wealth via an exit event) clearly in your sights.

Whatever pops up you should have a play in mind. Handle surprises by designing new plays. The more practice you've had in doing it (conducting planning sessions) the quicker you'll be able to respond and run the new play. Remember, the clock is always ticking. There are no "time-outs" in business.

Only the best reach the "Playoffs". For SBIR companies that means playing with the "big boys" and selling your technology to the end user.

If you've got a good Playbook you'll know what to do no matter what you encounter along the way.

Don't keep the Playbook in your head. Write it down. If you've written down the Plays then everyone on your team will be executing the moves necessary to score points. The more points you score, the more likely you'll reach the Playoffs and win the game.

It's a good metaphor. I first put "SBIR Playbook" under registered trademark protection several years ago, and have used it on my website as a metaphor there. Just this week I realized it applies here as well. I do this column to help guide productive utilization of the SBIR program. So I've renamed it "The SBIR Coach's Playbook."

I hope it motivates you to create your own company's Playbook. And, of course, if you need an experienced Coach to help you put it together, you know where to find me.
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Another month of SBIR Reauthorization agony - Is Dr. Dolittle running the show?

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The quick news is the informal conference committee hasn't done its job and no SBIR Reauthorization compromise was produced. SBIR (this time along with STTR and the DOD's CPP) has been extended again -- a mere month to October 31st. Gee. Is anybody surprised? We have a do-little-but-argue-and-sling-mud Congress. Maybe Dr. Dolittle is in charge.

Remember the Dr. Dolittle story? In the charming Hugh Lofting series of children's stories he was a doctor who eschewed human patients for animals, and he spoke their language. He lived in a fantasy world. Sort of like our Congress. But that's not why I'm raising this metaphor.

I have two reasons, actually. The first is his name -- irresistible!

The second is one of the animals he encounters -- the Pushmepullyou. It had two heads, was conflicted as to which direction to go, so had trouble going anywhere. Sort of like SBIR companies.

I was at the DOD's "Beyond Phase Two" (BP2) Conference this week. It was all about how to transition the technology created via SBIR funding into end use. I had a revelation. It finally dawned on me why SBIR commercialization is so hard to do.

SBIR has always been a technology push game. Techies rule. With some SBIR funding, create some whiz-bang technology and then try and find some applications for it.

I'm a Business Coach. I help companies focus on what it takes to be successful. A basic tenet I stress is "be selling something to a market pull". Find a market with a pain that is begging for a cure. Develop the cure. Sell the cure. It's so much easier than pushing a new technology on a resistant market.

Market pull vs. technology push. It's so basic. Think Pushmepullyou. The pull side should dominate. But it doesn't.

Where do SBIR topics come from? From my observation, in the DOD it's largely from their R&D shops. Techies. Looking for new technologies, to be developed by other techies. Yes, there are applications in mind. Certainly that's true. But the ultimate customer isn't involved. Projects are not market driven.

The DOD's Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) is supposed to connect the SBIR company that's finished Phase II with the customer. That's probably the first time that the light of a market perspective is shined on this effort. For the most part, it's too late. It's still technology push.

There were several companies at the BP2 Conference who talked about their commercialization successes. I was struck with a common thread. In each case the companies had approached the process from the beginning with a marketing perspective. I was very proud. I had actually coached two of them.

If the DOD is to make the CPP (or whatever it evolves to) a success, it must offer more product-focused end user generated topics. Clearly identify market pull early on. Trying to push the technologies into possible applications after development just doesn't work very well. Pushmepullyou.

It comes down to this -- it's not about being funded to develop the technology, it's about selling something to a customer who will use it. Strategic planning focusing on that user customer from the start is the key.

My friend, and fellow SBIR consultant, Russ Farmer of PBC, summed this up well in his excellent presentation on the last morning of the Conference. Russ emphasized that SBIR commercialization success is "all about marketing!!" and "if we are real lucky" is not a business strategy.

Russ's presentation on Business Models of SBIR Funded Companies is a must read. Every SBIR company will see their stage of development profiled - and they probably won't much like what they see. A copy of it will be available for download from the BP2 Conference website by mid next week.

Will Congress get SBIR reauthorized by the end of October? I doubt it. Watch for yet a fifth CR extending the agony to next March.

I heard that a certain Congressperson was upset that I've been criticizing the Committee for being unwilling to compromise. There's a cure for that. Stop futzing around, reach a compromise and I'll stop criticizing! In the meantime, I'm pleased that someone from the Hill is actually reading this column!
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The Seed Investment Landscape - Interpreting a Picasso

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It's like Picasso painting landscapes. All the pieces are out there but the picture is confusing. Making sense of it is very much up to individual interpretation. So where should an entrepreneur look for finding seed investment? The answer may lie in understanding what investors are looking for.

The NASVF conference this week presented a wide array of options and opinions on seed and early stage funding. Representatives of federal, regional, state, and both public and private sector economic development and investment organizations participated on panels. Most felt that their approaches would be successful, but the only things they truly agreed upon was that such investment was both necessary to our future economic growth and harder to get in this economy.

One of the more interesting panels was on "Hot Markets and Sizzling Sectors". Each of the three panelists said something I felt profound.

Tom Pickens (Astrotech Corp) said that he firmly believed that it takes a team of at least four people to make an entrepreneurial company succeed. It stems from a Psychology Today article he read years ago. Take any four people and let them take an IQ test pooling their answers, and they'd rate at the genius level. Think about that a while.

Richard Helfrich (Alameda Advisors) said that scientific discipline collaboration is the key. We need to combine chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and engineering disciplines to evolve new ideas for applications. This may mean that our academic departments may actually have to talk to one another! Fits with the "team of four" premise too.

Bill Reichert (Garage Technology Ventures) cautioned against pre-determining likelihood of success based on the type of technology. His premise: The most important technologies are the ones we can't categorize yet! Cast a broad net and keep your mind open to novelty. And don't be constrained by your biases.

And then, reinforcing all of this was a conversation I had recently with Laurence Briggs, CEO of the InvestIN Forum, a Dallas area private investor network, which has joined with other Angel groups around the country and internationally in a syndicated manner. This effectively forms a "Band of Angels" over 420 strong, looking to make deals.

And make deals they do. At about the rate of one a month currently. They'll put in up to $7 million for the right deal. Angel investing isn't what it used to be!

I asked Laurence what they look for. He said that no particular technology is preferred. What they look for is a proved-out concept for a product or solution addressing a significant market with scalability, and a good coachable team appropriate for their stage of development. Proved-out product. Significant market. Scalability. Appropriate team. Coachable. (Hmmm.... sure sounds just like what the NASVF panel said was important.)

A featured speaker at the NASVF conference was Rick Wade, the Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff at the US Department of Commerce. He made the point of saying that the DOC was reinventing itself, and, that short of actually being renamed, wanted to become known as the "Department of Innovation".

I couldn't resist. When the session was opened to questions from the floor, I asked him what the Commerce Department would do to support SBIR if the provision in the current House bill (HR2965) that would put NIST in charge of formulating SBIR policy becomes law. He replied that he had recently participated in a discussion in the White House on that very subject, and "the Department of Commerce would do everything it could to see that SBIR is appropriately supported". (I'm in Missouri as I write this, so I'll just say "Oh yeah? Show me!") In a private conversation later that morning, he asked me to provide him with some briefing materials, and I promised to do so.

So, let's sit back and gaze at this Picasso-like picture. SBIR companies should listen to this guidance, and think beyond the grant to the business that they'd like to evolve. Create a masterpiece by paying attention to what works in today's economy.
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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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Reflections on the Birth of the SBIR Program

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SBIR lost perhaps its greatest champion on August 25th with the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. Relatively few know how much he did to ensure the SBIR Program became reality.

There were many back in the late 1970s and early 80s who worked tirelessly to get the legislation crafted and passed. Among them was my friend Ann Eskesen. Ann recently shared an email letter she had received that shed much light on that early process, including Ted Kennedy's behind-the-scenes role, and I'd like to give it wider exposure here.

To the SBIR Community:

Whether strong supporter or ardent foe of his political stance, the recent passing of Senator Ted Kennedy has generated among those on both sides of the aisle extensive discussion of, and comment on, the extraordinary diversity of his legislative impact.

Few are aware that the creation of SBIR is high on that list.

This weekend I was in receipt of an email from an old friend who in the early-mid seventies was the original source of the idea of a special federal R&D access by small firms - an idea that later became the SBIR program - and with whom a few of us then worked to get to the enabling legislation which took that program government-wide in 1982. My friend's email is printed below in its entirety along with, from my own files, some photographs from the Rose Garden of the White House on that very hot and humid day in July 1982 when President Reagan signed that very controversial legislation.

It is useful, I think, first also to tell you a little about Dr. Arthur Obermayer - the essence of the dignified gentleman and creative talent - who is now well into his eighties and still active in the technology development space.

Arthur was/is a highly regarded MIT PhD and his wife - Judy - also a published PhD from Carnegie Mellon, had run a very successful, research-based small firm for a long time through the sixties and seventies. Publicly traded when few small firms were, Moleculon Research was founded, I think I recall, on the research that had been Arthur's doctoral dissertation.

Their work had important medical application. However, despite a solid, research-based track record, when Arthur approached NIH for potential R&D support, he was summarily turned away. At that time NIH did not fund anyone who came from a for-profit entity - a condition that actually remained in effect until only months before passage of SBIR.

Knowing that they were probably missing out on something important, however, a few senior NIH players advised Arthur to set up a non-profit arm which they told him they would be delighted to fund. He saw that as manipulating the system - effective for his firm but not an option for many others - and he refused. Instead he had a discussion with his Senator and his friend - Ted Kennedy.

At that time, the Senator controlled the NSF budget to some extent so the decision was obviously to go with that agency, not NIH. Arthur's idea was simply that there be established a place in a federal agency where small firm applicant's research work could be considered. The Phase I-Phase II classic SBIR design was Roland Tibbetts - subsequently hired by NSF as the first SBIR program Manager - and came much later.

It is classic Kennedy that he knew how to work the system. However, I have to admit, I had not previously known that was actually a two-step process until I read Arthur's accounting of the NSF effort to avoid the Kennedy original directive and his out-maneuvering them - see below. It is also classic Kennedy that when, with two NSF SBIR offerings and one DOD under our belts, we subsequently shifted the political effort to making SBIR a government wide program, rather than being at the head of what was to become a highly contentious and, at times, downright nasty fight, the Senator opted for a behind-the-scenes role - out of the frame but very clearly, not out of the picture. Instead, that leadership role was assumed by Warren Rudman (NH.R) - a brand new Senator and a Republican.

It was also Arthur Obermayer, BTW who met with Horace Crouch in DOD in about 1979-1980. Crouch was a retired Army General working in the Pentagon but open to the interesting challenge of enabling an effort that would bring within reach of DOD, the leading-edge capabilities of small firms. It happened that Horace Crouch was Strom Thurmond's brother in law - already then a senior player on the Senate Armed Service committee. Arthur persuaded them to the idea of having a version of the NSF program in DOD. They found a spare $5M and DESAT was launched as a small-scale effort in DOD in 1981.

With the NSF and DOD experience in place and a record of achievement already becoming evident, under the able direction of the late Milt Stewart, to include Arthur and Judy and a few others some like Jere Glover and Dave Metzger - being still prominent in the SBIR space - in 1980 we all worked the halls (big time) at the White House Conference on Small Business to get SBIR and the precursor to Bayh-Dole among other things onto the agenda of that convening. I am still somewhat incredulous, when you consider how few we were, that we got that assembly of 2000 small business people - most of whom were in retail, services etc (nary a high tech firm among them) - to vote that issue (as I recall) Number 5 of the 60 top recommendations to come out of that Conference. As further testament what can happen when small firms speak together, of those 60 recommendations - well over 40 are now implemented.

Ann Eskesen, President
The Innovation Development Institute
Swampscott, MA
www.inknowvation.com

See Dr. Obermayer's letter
"The Role of Ted Kennedy in the Birth of the SBIR Program"
by clicking HERE.

L to R: The Obermayers, Senator Kennedy, and Ann Eskesen (7/22/82)

President Reagan signing the SBIR Program into law on July 22, 1982.

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SBIR National Conference coming to Reno in November

Shrinking angel fund investments. Decreasing venture capital support. Limited family and friends savings to draw on. How is one to ramp up a start up company with innovative but unproven technologies?

Why, with SBIR of course! This year's National SBIR Conference will be held on November 2-5 in Reno, Nevada. I'm going to ask my friend Fritz Grupe, the General Conference Chairman to tell you all about it:

Each year more than $2.3 billion in grants and contracts are awarded by eleven federal agencies participating in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs.

Through these competitive programs, small businesses can receive up to $100,000 for feasibility research in Phase I and up to $750,000 for prototype development in Phase II. Some of the participating agencies provide additional financial and management assistance subsequent to Phase II.

Although the competition for this support is stiff – approximately 1 in 10 proposals are funded in Phase I, SBIR and STTR remain as the largest startup fund in the United States.

In order to compete effectively, many entrepreneurs need help in learning about this important program. How can companies find out about the priorities, the varying deadlines and the guidelines for getting into the fray?

The Nevada Small Business Development Center is hosting the 2009 National SBIR / Small Business Technology Transfer Program Conference from November 2 through 5, 2009 in Sparks, Nevada, a Reno suburb. The conference is supported by the 11 federal agencies, all of which will have representatives available to talk to innovators about their product ideas in one-on-one sessions and in general sessions.

In addition, it is expected that another 30 or more prime contractors, SBIR consultants, and other companies will be exhibiting and providing attendees with information on how to proceed.

Separate speed networking sessions enable attendees to interact with other innovative people in three areas of interest: medicine and agriculture, science and defense, and energy and the environment. This enables innovators to meet potential customers and business partners.

The conference includes numerous sessions on related topics including intellectual property protection, proposal writing hints, commercialization, business planning and other sources of funding than these two programs.

Further information on the conference is available at www.unr.edu/sbir-sttr2009.

The SBIR Coach will be speaking and exhibiting at this event. I'd love to see y'all there!

By the way, there are some other SBIR-related events coming up in September:
Federal Lab Consortium Open House - Sept 1-2, San Francisco, CA
NASVF National Conference, Sept 14-16, Oklahoma City, OK
Beyond Phase II - Sept 21-24, Orlando, FL

Rick Shindell published a lengthy SBIR Insider report earlier this week. See it HERE. In addition to the latest news on SBIR Reauthorization, it includes a very nice tribute to the late Senator Edward Kennedy, who was one of SBIR's earliest and greatest champions.
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Whither Goest Seed Funding?

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SBIR's future is uncertain. The VC industry is hunkering down and tightening the screws on their portfolio companies. They even look to SBIR's "reform" as a way to "prop up portfolio valuations".

So what is the future of seed funding? We're about find out what those who are in the forefront of the seed funding world think about that.

The National Association of Seed Venture Funds (NASVF) international conference, which brings together hundreds of the most prominent seed and angel investors with technology transfer and economic development professionals, takes place September 14-16th in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Here is a partial list of some of the world class experts that will be speaking:

-Honorable Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, will talk about his department's big investments in research and development to improve the food industry.

-Rick G. Wade, deputy chief of staff for the US Department of Commerce, will talk about the various programs and ways his department supports entrepreneurship.

-Wendy Kennedy, founder of WendyKennedy.com, Inc., will explain how to turn ideas into financial opportunities.

The SBIR Coach (a member of NASVF) is an invited speaker, and will be on a panel with Wendy Kennedy. Our topic is:

Translating Science into Business When Funding is Tight

History has proven that during times of economic stress is when we see a garden of opportunities – ideas that have the ability to transform markets – witness the Ipod, Google and Amazon during the recession of early 2000. Spotting winning ideas and business models in these uncertain times takes a disciplined, yet creative approach. Savvy investors are even more rigorous in their assessment of risk and return. But what else is needed besides a sound technology and business plan? What types of technologies are being funded at the state and federal levels? This panel will address some key issues funders should consider before they invest in a technology venture in the near future.

For information on the NASVF Conference, go HERE.

There are a whole bunch of SBIR opportunities out there at the moment:

• USDA SBIR (due Sept 3rd)
• NASA SBIR/STTR (due Sept 4th)
• DOE SBIR/STTR (due Sept 4th)
• NIH SBIR/STTR AIDS related (due Sept 7th)
• DOD SBIR/STTR (due Sept 23rd)
• NSF SBIR/STTR (due Nov 17th)
• NIH SBIR/STTR (due Dec 5th)

See the details on The SBIR Gateway, including a matching service for DOD and NASA STTR partnerships.

By the way, Boeing has issued its Interest List for the current DOD SBIR and STTR rounds. If you'd like a copy, send me an email.

I had the opportunity to meet Karen Mills, the new SBA Administrator, at the SCORE National Leadership Conference in Salt Lake City this week. We were both speakers. Her message: DON'T STOP TALKING TO LEGISLATORS ABOUT SBIR!

So, keep on educating House and Senate members. SBIR reauthorization isn't over until it's over.
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Need an Antidote to SBIR Malaise?

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I've about had it with our Congress. This current health care turmoil has everyone in a frenzy. And it's all so familiar. Partisan politics is more important than anything else. It's OK to selectively stifle dissent. Special interests rule. Sigh.... The problem is the health care stakes are so high SBIR is fixin' to get lost in the shuffle again. I'm beginning to not care. Isn't that sad? Maybe I've got SBIR Malaise.

Yes, they'll probably arrive at some sort of SBIR Reauthorization compromise, arranged at the last minute by overworked and harried staffers, who are truly doing their best. But will what results be in the best interest of small business? Sure! And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

So it's time to move on and talk about something useful. Deal flow that moves technology to commercialization. An antidote to the malaise.

There's an annual event called the World's Best Technologies Showcase. It's been held in Arlington, Texas since 2004. WBT2010 will be held on March 16-17, 2010. The Center for Innovation at Arlington (CIA) serves as the host organization for it now. I proudly serve as the CIA's Business Coach (can you see that quoted out of context?).

Arizona based Development Capital Networks (DCN) organizes and puts on the event. Here's what they're saying about it...

While the WBT has evolved from its beginnings in 2002 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, the mission has remained clear - the WBT is the premier event to see the world's best vetted and mentored deal flow ready for the marketplace. In the past seven years the WBTshowcase has worked with over 470 emerging companies and technologies transitioning from the lab, the university, and yes even the garage, to the marketplace. If you are ready to expose your research or technology to investors, licensees, and commercialization partners the WBT is the must attend event.

We are often asked, "What is the WBT difference?" Simple, the WBT serves as a partner on your path to commercialization. The competitive selection process is designed to give each applicant feedback on their commercialization opportunity from investors and licensees. Each selected presenter works with a two person mentor team in the weeks leading up to the event walking away with a concise 6-minute investor/licensee oriented presentation and perhaps meets a strategic partner or two along the way. The two day event provides each pre-prepped selected presenter with a forum to showcase their emerging research or company directly to investors, licensees, and strategic partners.

The WBT is not designed to showcase technology for technology's sake but to offer a path to the marketplace. The Showcase represents the best vetted emerging technology from around the globe, prepped and ready for business. There is no cost to apply and receive feedback on your commercialization opportunity from investors and licensees. Apply before September 14th and you will receive feedback on your application, which you can then resubmit before the final review by the screening panelists.

Want to learn more about the WBT? Visit www.wbtshowcase.com or contact DCN's Event Director Amanda Radovic (aradovic@wbtshowcase.com; 480.477.6408).

This is a first class event with international participation. Any SBIR funded company should consider being showcased at WBT2010 for moving to commercialization.

So check it out. www.wbtshowcase.com

SBIR isn't the only game in town. Good thing.
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DOE Announces Stimulus Funding for new SBIRs

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The Department of Energy gets it. On several levels. Stimulus means creating opportunities for creating jobs. Clean Energy is currently a cool technology to support. R&D without commercialization is just, well, academic.

So, the DOE is putting a nice chunk of their ARRA Stimulus money ($8.5 million) into new Phase I SBIR and STTR projects that place an emphasis on near-term, clean energy technology commercialization. Sixty six-month Phase I projects will be funded in amounts up to $150,000.

The Funding Opportunity Number is DE-PS02-09ER09-27. (CFDA 81.049)

Here's the complete topic list (For details: technical topic descriptions)

Topic 1: Advanced Building Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, Thermal Load Shifting, and Cool Roofs
a. Air Conditioning and Refrigeration in Buildings
b. Thermal Load Shifting
c. Advanced Materials for Roofing that Provides High IR Reflectivity, and is Architecturally Acceptable, Including Cool Roofs

Topic 2: Water Usage in Electric Power Production and Industrial Processes
a. Water Desalination for Use in Power Plants, Industrial Processes, etc.
b. Water Cleanup, Recycle and Reuse from Use in Power Plants, Industrial Processes, etc., Before Discharge
c. Desalination Using Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)

Topic 3: Power Plant Cooling
a. Advanced Dry or Hybrid Wet/dry Cooling Systems
b. Advanced Heat Exchangers for Super-critical Water Cycle Based Power Plants
c. Advanced Heat Exchangers for High Temperature, High Pressure Applications

Topic 4: Advanced Gas Turbines and Materials
a. Advanced Turbine Technology for IGCC Power Plants
b. High Performance Materials for Nuclear Application
c. Advanced Industrial Materials
d. Novel Modular Designs for High-efficiency Low-cost Distributed Power Applications

Topic 5: Sensors, Controls, and Wireless Networks
a. Sensors and Wireless Networks for Buildings Applications
b. Sensors and Wireless Networks for Industry Applications
c. Sensors and Wireless Networks for Nuclear Power Applications
d. Integrated Power Line Sensor Systems for the Smart Grid

Topic 6: Advanced Water Power Technology Development
a. Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH)
b. Advanced Hydropower Systems
c. Wave and Current Energy Technologies
d. Advanced Component Designs for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Systems (OTEC)

Topic 7: Smart Controllers for Smart Grid Applications
a. Smart Controller for Household
b. Smart Controllers for PEV
c. Smart Controller to Enable the Dispatch of Distributed Energy Generators

Topic 8: Advanced Solar Technologies
a. Hybrid Solar Energy Systems: Combination of Photovoltaic, Solar Heat, and/or Solar Cooling
b. Innovative Applications of Solar Energy for Fuels
c. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Systems for Distributed Applications
d. Organic Photovoltaic and Nanotech/Photonics

Topic 9: Advanced Industrial Technologies Development
a. Novel Approaches that Significantly Reduce Energy Consumption and Emissions in Cement Pyroprocessing
b. Scale-Up of Nano-Material Production
c. Novel Technologies that Utilize Waste Heat from Industrial Processes
d. Industrial Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction

Topic 10: Advanced Manufacturing Processes
a. Mitigation of Heat Losses, Fouling, and Scaling in Manufacturing Unit Operations
b. Advanced Distillation and Non-Distillation Processes
c. Advanced Dewatering

You can see the complete solicitation on the DOE SBIR website (http://www.science.doe.gov/sbir/) or on Grants.gov.

These projects can be styled as SBIR or STTR projects. Applications are due by September 4th.

You have to use Grants.gov (oh goodie!) to submit the proposal so better get started NOW to get the CCR and Grants.gov registrations done in time.

Thanks for this opportunity, DOE! Now, how about the rest of you Agencies?
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