FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 28, 2005
For more information contact:

Gene Watson, Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative
Phone: 307.742.7162
Web: www.uwyo.edu/sbir

Lander and Riverton to host inventor program presentations

RIVERTON – Innovative small businesses and individuals interested in obtaining patents and federal funding for product development have the opportunity to attend two presentations by the Wyoming Research Products Center and the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI) on April 5.

The presentations will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Lander Library, Carnegie Room in Lander and from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Riverton.

Tony Nevshemal, Director of the RPC, and Gene Watson, WSSI Program Manager, will describe the details of these programs and answer questions at the end of each presentation. The Research Products Center (RPC) and the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI) are economic development programs funded by the Wyoming Business Council and the administered by the University of Wyoming Research Office. The RPC and the WSSI work in concert in encouraging and supporting Wyoming's innovators to protect, develop and commercialize their new product concepts, thereby stimulating the growth of the state's technology-based economic sector.

The mission of the RPC is to work closely and supportively with Wyoming entrepreneurs and inventors to identify, protect and commercialize their intellectual property. The RPC has the resources available to help Wyoming inventors determine the patentability of their ideas, and if merited, provides the means to file a provisional patent with the U.S. Patent Office.

The mission of the WSSI is to assist qualified Wyoming individuals and small businesses to acquire Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants to fund the development of their creative ideas. These federal programs provide over $2 billion every year to the nation's innovative technology-based small businesses. During 2004, Wyoming small business entities received more than $3.5 million in seed capital from the SBIR and STTR programs. The WSSI sponsors the popular Wyoming Phase 0 program, a competition that awards an average of two $5,000 grants each month to qualified resident Wyoming individuals and small businesses.

For more information, e-mail Gene Watson or Tony Nevshemal.

The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.wyomingbusiness.org.

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