The Pennsylvania Small Business
Development Center’s Technology Commercialization Assistance
services are designed to assist technology entrepreneurs with the
necessary skills to develop a corporate strategy that will help them
to take their technologies to market. SBDC technology consultants
assist high growth and technology firms with sophisticated business
management issues including alternative financing, human resources,
patents and trade marking, intellectual property, and product
commercialization. Cooperating with host institutions the SBDCs also
help struggling U.S. Department of Defense contractors locate
markets outside of the Department of Defense.
The Pennsylvania Small Business
Development Centers are part of the
Innovation Partnership, a consortium of economic development and
business assistance organizations located throughout the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania designed to increase both the quantity
and the quality of the statewide Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) proposals through marketing, proposal preparation and
proposal assistance. For more information, visit
www.innovationpartnership.net.
Technology Commercialization
Resources
Click on the resources below for more
information on developing and commercializing your company's
technologies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What specific
technology commercialization services do the SBDCs offer?
What is "SBIR" and "STTR"?
What is
the Innovation Partnership?
What is a technology company?
What specific technology commercialization services do the
SBDCs offer?
The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center’s Technology
Commercialization Assistance services are designed to assist
technology entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to develop a
corporate strategy that will assist them in taking their
technologies to market. Specific services offered to entrepreneurs
include:
- Providing a full range of
business consulting services including:
- business planning;
- consulting on conventional
and non-conventional financing opportunities;
- market strategy development;
- locating resources on
protecting intellectual property rights;
- assisting in trade marking
and copyrighting;
- conducting preliminary
patent searches.
- Identifying appropriate
partnerships with state, federal, and local economic development
organizations to ensure businesses have access to a full array
of resources and services.
- Identifying target markets and
assisting firms in bringing new products to market.
- Developing processes and design
strategies for commercializing technologies.
- Identifying alternate sources of
financing, including SBIR/STTR and other federally funded
research opportunities, to help in the commercialization the
process.
Back to FAQs
What is "SBIR" and "STTR"?
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program was created
when Congress mandated that all federal agencies with an extramural
research budget of $100 million or more must set aside a percentage
of their research dollars for awards to small businesses and
individuals. Consequently ten agencies participate in the SBIR
program that allows for-profit small businesses to submit
competitive proposals to address various solicitation topics that
are unique to each agency. The SBIR program is administered under a
three-phase concept. Phase I is designed to allow a recipient to
prove the overall feasibility of a proposed concept. Depending on
the agency, these awards can be up to $100,000 for work that
typically spans a 6-month study period ($200,000 and two years for
certain projects sponsored by the National Institutes of Health). If
the agency deems the small business has satisfactorily completed the
work they will consider a follow-on Phase II award. These awards,
again depending on the agency, can be for up to $750,000 for two
years of effort (in some cases more for NIH). All Phase II winners
are then expected to enter Phase III and commercialize their
technology. No additional awards are provided to support this work;
rather, the agency intends for the small business to self-finance or
line up an investor. In no case can a Phase II award be received
without a preceding Phase I, but not all Phase I projects are
successful in earning a Phase II.
The Small Business Technology
Transfer (STTR) Program is a sister program to the SBIR, with
virtually the same structure and application process. However, only
5 agencies currently participate. The most significant difference
between the two programs is that, while qualified non-profit
research institutions or universities may cooperate in an SBIR
project, they must collaborate on STTR projects.
As you would expect, each federal
agency has their own rules for doing things, with different topics
for bidding, different competition deadlines, different methods of
preparing and accepting proposals, etc. Just because one agency does
it one way, don’t assume others will do it the same way.
To learn more about the SBIR and STTR
programs, go to
www.sba.gov/sbir. Included in the helpful information on this
site is a link to the SBIR Handbook for Proposal Preparation. The
Pennsylvania SBDCs can also provide you with additional
tips on writing an SBIR proposal.
Back to FAQs
What is a technology company?
Many small companies are working in areas of technology and
conducting research but do not view themselves as being part of the
high technology industry. The Pennsylvania Small Business
Development Centers have developed a definition of technology, along
with a listing of North American Industrial Classification Codes, to
assist small businesses in determining their technology niche.
A technology company is defined as:
- A pre-venture entrepreneur
attempting to commercialize a practical application of science;
or
- An existing business that
utilizes the practical application of science for commercial
purposes
