SBIR Gateway

SBIR Insider Newsletter
January 27, 2011



Dear SBIR Insider,

Here's the news you've been waiting for, along with a couple additional items for you.

In this issue:

SBIR/STTR/CPP Extended Through May 31, 2011

Your SBIR, STTR and CPP programs are now extended through May 31, 2011. It happened via a continuing resolution (CR), H.R. 366 passed by both House & Senate. The President is anxious to sign it and will do so very quickly. Everything stays "as is" during this extension.

Work will begin soon on SBIR reauthorization in the House. The Senate has theirs pretty much under control.

DOD Issues FY-2011A STTR Prerelease

The DoD has issued a prerelease of their FY2011.A STTR solicitation with offerings from the Army (34), Navy (39) and MDA (2). The solicitation opens and proposals will be accepted starting February 28, 2011 with a closing date of March 30, 2011 at 6:00am EST.

The STTR program requires the small business to partner with organizations such as universities, contractor-operated federally funded research and development centers ( see http://www.zyn.com/SBIR/articles/ffrdc.htm for a list) or other non-profit research institutions.

The small business must perform at least 40% of the project, and a minimum of 30% by the research partner. Yes, the research partner can have up to 60%! The DoD has a Model Agreement for the Allocation of Rights that can serve as a guide. You'll find it at www.dodsbir.net/solicitation/pdf/AllocationofRights.pdf

Between January 27 and February 27, 2011 you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed in each topic description page. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting February 28, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

In DoD terms this is actually a prerelease. During this period until the solicitation opens on February 28, 2011, topics may be added, modified or withdrawn. Changes are often made to topics, especially during the first week of a pre-release, so make sure to monitor the DoD for updates/changes! You can also sign up with the SBIR Gateway to be alerted when changes are made to the DoD solicitation (see www.zyn.com/sbir/bnews.htm#dod11-1 to sign up for the notices).

NOTE: Unlike SBIR, the SBA has yet to issue an amendment to their STTR Policy Directive (PD), so the guidance on STTR award amounts continue to be at the old level of $100k phase I, and $750k phase II. It was hoped that a new STTR PD would have been forthcoming because many believe the new amounts of $150k / $1m are needed to provide a high quality partnering environment.

Find A Research Partner Or Small Business For DOD'S STTR

During these financially perilous times, many of the nation's research institutions including universities, colleges and non-profits have found their endowments greatly diminished, and budgets cut. Federal laboratories are watching closely to see how the new congress will affect their R&D budgets. (Federal laboratories that are FFRDCs can partner in STTR without a waiver from the SBA). The Stimulus package is gone and organizations are looking for new opportunities, some in places they haven't been before.

In an effort to try and foster an environment of new STTR partnerships, we have put together a system where the small business and research institutions can register their partnering interests on a topic by topic basis for the DoD's FY-2011A STTR.

The partnering mechanism will be on the SBIR Gateway web site at www.zyn.com/sbir (look for the "Find an STTR Partner" link in the top of the red "News Items" section). It will not be available until Tuesday.

As with all our SBIR Gateway tools, it is a free non-commercial service. We hope you will find it helpful.

NIH Releases FY-2011 Omnibus SBIR/STTR

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has released its PHS 2011-2 omnibus SBIR/STTR Grants solicitations that stays open all year and has 3 separate receipt dates. This complex solicitation, includes opportunities from three main components of DHHS, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Also included is the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

Unlike most other agencies SBIR solicitations, the NIH topics are broad based and act as a guide to their areas of interest. Many of the participating NIH Institutes will accept a proposal that does not match one of their topics but addresses an area of interest within the mission of the institute. Respondents should not be timid about asking for guidance.

Complete information is available on the NIH SBIR web site at: grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm

National SBIR Spring Conference - April 10-13, Madison, WI (correction)

I made an error on the theme for the National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference April 10 - 13, in Madison Wisconsin. The theme is actually "Growing the Innovation Ecosystem."

Thanks to the Wisconsin folks for catching that, and we hope to see you there.

I think we all need a little decompression time from all the stress and pressure of reauthorization. However, I wanted you to know about some of the recent SBIR/STTR opportunities.

Hopefully you won't hear much from the SBIR Insider for a while, but I want you to know that I deeply appreciate the emails many of you have sent, and I'll try to respond to all of you, but it may take a while.

Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your SBIR Odyssey.

Sincerely,

Rick

Rick Shindell
SBIR Gateway
Zyn Systems
40 Alderwood Dr.
Sequim, WA 98382
360-681-4123
[email protected]
www.zyn.com/sbir

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