University assists entrepreneurs to find federal funding

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 18, 2010) —Transforming great ideas into small businesses and high tech jobs might be possible now for the UK faculty, staff and students who learned about a federal funding program dedicated to their success as entrepreneurs. The Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship hosted two free workshops on campus Oct. 18 to educate UK entrepreneurs on the application process for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) federal grants and contracts.

The SBIR and STTR program was created by the federal government in 1982 as a funding mechanism to stimulate technological innovation, create new jobs and develop products with commercial merit. Each of the federal research funding agencies is required to set aside a percentage of their budgets for the program with $2 billion awarded each year to start-up companies in the early stages of development. The UK workshops focused on the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation grant process.

"We were pleased that we could bring in a top consultant to go over this important funding resource for our start-up companies," said Dean Harvey, executive director of the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship. Lisa M. Kurek, managing partner with Biotechnology Business Consultants in Ann Arbor, Mich., conducted the workshops. Ms. Kurek advised high-technology startup companies and navigated them through grant application process for more than 13 years.

"Our goal is to cultivate an environment of entrepreneurship and to get the great ideas of our clinicians and technologies from our researchers out of the lab and into the marketplace," said Harvey. "The SBIRs and STTRs enable our entrepreneurs to gain traction on their R&D and develop successful companies."

In addition, 10 UK-affiliated companies received a total of 13 matching state grants last year from the Kentucky SBIR/STTR Matching Grants program which is administered by the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation. Kentucky is the only state that matches Phase I SBIR/STTR awards up to $150,000 and Phase II awards up to $500,000.

This was the first in a series of workshops for the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship, part of the University of Kentucky's Office for Commercialization & Economic Development. The center's research harvesters assist high tech entrepreneurs and start-up companies by providing ongoing support and services such as intellectual property and technology assessment, assistance with business plans and marketing strategies, and growth planning. The next workshop, Forming Your Company: LLC vs. Corporation, will be held on November 3.