On February 28th 2019, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the launch of a national road tour involving 18 states to connect the entrepreneurs with the next generation of research and development concepts in order to serve small businesses in innovative research and technology transfer.
The road trip aims to strengthen the government's interaction with entrepreneurial ecosystems across the United States and build a larger network of resources to support the development of small businesses focused on the commercialization of high-tech research results. This road tour would also better advance several of the goals of the “Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR)”, including helping more women participate in entrepreneurship, helping socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and the one living in remote states participate in networking activities.
Each SBIR road trip site will be hosted by a local Small Business Development Center, whose main functions include supporting small businesses to commercialize high-tech results. Eleven federal government agencies participated in the event, and project managers from these agencies will meet participants one-on-one and participate in targeted expert groups to share how their organizations provide funding.
The “Small Business Innovation Research Program” is designed to encourage small US small businesses to participate in federal R&D programs with commercial potentials. SBIR enables small businesses to unlock their technological potential and profit from commercialization. On the other hand, the inclusion of qualified small enterprises in the national research and development field has stimulated high-tech innovation, and the government has also gained entrepreneurial spirit in meeting its specific research and development needs.
Each year, the SBIR / STTR program provides $2.5 billion for small businesses in technology areas such as unmanned systems, advanced materials, health, cyber security and national defense. The project awards more than 4,000 new awards each year and these awards help innovators drive the development of new technologies and put them into the market, while creating thousands of jobs. Currently, the following 12 federal agencies are involved in SBIR，each of which manages its own plans within the guidelines set by Congress. These institutions will designate research and development topics and accept small business proposals; awards are awarded in a competitive manner after the evaluation of the proposal.