filename: "README" contents: a little about the NSF's SBIR program, generic, un-official; icreated: thu 25 nov 93; source01: article posted to sci.& newsgroups; source02: -------- (the following general information piece on the sbir program is courtesy of posted to several newsgroups in the sci.* newsgroup hierarchy. for the complete posting see the file "doe_sollicitation" in this directory. (there are numerous government agencies besides the doe which publish annual sollicitations. as others' info pieces are posted abstracts shall appear here as examples of researchers' and entrepreneurs' info summaries and pointers to the appropriate agency. note that joe's writing from the perspective of a research laboratory, not a small business which will actually write sbir proposals. read the following, and the "doe_sollicitation" file, and others as they are archive here, for a wide range of viewpoints and ideas for as many small businesses interested in proposing projects in response to the various agency sollicitations. (in the boston area, and including mit and vicinity, there are a few real sbir mavens. when there are sufficient genuinely-interested-_and_-qualified mit small-business persons who would like to participate in a free workshop, the e-club can help organise and host one. send e-mail for details) - richard shyduroff -------- From: JTCHEW@lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera) Newsgroups: sci.research (and others) Subject: DOE SBIR solicitation is out Date: 20 Nov 1993 00:55:12 GMT Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (stuff deleted) SBIR Basics ----------- SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) is a program, authorized by an act of Congress, in which small businesses are given money to conduct R&D on highly specific topics related to agency needs. The money comes in two phases. Phase 1, a half-fiscal-year program, brings up to $75k. Projects that make the grade for Phase II can get up to $750k (up from $500k) in a full FY. (The otherwise-funded epilogue is called Phase III; a report is required on how it all came out.) The money comes from a few-percent tax on programs. Eleven different agencies participate independent of each other; the total pot is about $1.1 billion this year. The canonical source of SBIR information is the Small Business Administration Office of Innovation, Research, and Technology Mail Code 6470 409 Third Street SW Washington, DC 20416 800/8-ASK-SBA (fax 202/205-7064; something, presumably a TTY, for the hearing impaired 202/205-7333) Ask for the proposal preparation guide (currently publication number SBIR T1, as far as I know) and the current Pre-Solicitation Announcement and any current Solicitation (currently DOE/ER-0598 in the case of DOE). Individual agencies also publish SBIR-related information. The proposer must be a US-owned small business, "small" being defined as <500 employees without regard to revenue or income. Unlike in some governmental programs, there is no preference for woman- or minority-owned businesses in SBIR; this is strictly a merit-based competition. It is OK to submit proposals to multiple agencies, even on similar topics, if this is acknowledged in each proposal. Each agency does things somewhat differently. The rest of this message is specific to DOE. (stuff deleted ... see the file "doe_sollicitations" in this directory) -------- eof; .