FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 4, 2006
For more information contact:

Eugene (Gene) Watson, Program Manager
Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative
Phone: 307-742-7162, 307-760-0456 cell

Mark Weitz, Director of Resources
Kennon Covers
Sheridan, Wyoming
Phone: 307.647.6498

Dave Bloom, Alces Technologies
Jackson, Wyoming
Phone: 307.690.6761
Web site: www.alcestech.com

WSSI Conference to provide guidance for innovators seeking grants

CHEYENNE – The Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI) and The Wyoming Business Council want to give away $120,000 this year. On Wednesday, April 19 in Cheyenne, they are going to tell Wyoming innovators how to get it.

The 2006 WSSI Conference, which will be held at the Holiday Inn of Cheyenne, will be focused on connecting inventors and innovators in Wyoming with federal Research and Development revenue streams. The conference itself will feature a full day of sessions, lunch and a pair of lecture tracks in the afternoon. One track is dedicated to those with experience in the WSSI and SBIR programs and another for those interested in becoming a part of the SBIR effort.

Registration for the conference is $75 if paid before April 10 and $100 thereafter. To register online, go to http://outreach.uwyo.edu/conferences/calender and scroll down to the WSSI Conference and click on the star, or contact Adrienne Zeller at 1.877.733.3618, ext. 1.

The federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs which make up the WSSI alliance provide more than $2 billion annually in Research and Development (R&D) grants and contracts to qualified small businesses. In 2005, these grants were the key to Wyoming small businesses receiving over $3,600,000 in federal SBIR grants.

Eleven federal agencies are required by law to provide these funds by setting aside 2.5 percent of their annual extra-mural R&D budgets for use exclusively by U.S. small businesses for new product R&D.

The SBIR Phase 0 Program helps Wyoming companies develop competitive proposals for the federal SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs by providing guidance through the grant writing process. The grant of $5,000 also helps businesses to visit those federal agencies requesting the innovations.

The WSSI initiative is funded by the Wyoming Business Council and gives out $120,000 in Phase 0 grants each year.

Among the veterans of the WSSI program is Dave Bloom of Jackson. Bloom will be sharing his experiences at the WSSI program during a lecture in the afternoon. Alces Technology, a company Bloom started in Jackson, develops innovative tools, techniques, and applications of microfabrication for academic, medical, and industrial laboratories. The firm actually got its start with a SBIR Phase I grant and has received six Phase 0 awards.

“Our experience is that it can be done here in terms of access to the literature and the resources in Wyoming,” Bloom said. “As important as the money that goes with the grant is, perhaps even more important is having someone to help you with the grant writing process.”

Bloom, a former Stanford professor, said his experience with the Phase 0 grant was especially helpful in his most recent Phase I application to the Air Force. The $5,000 grant allowed him to speak directly with those seeking displays for air simulators, the subject of Bloom’s Phase I application.

Mark Weitz of Kennon Covers in Sheridan, has participated in the SBIR program since 1997 and is currently helping his firm with a Phase I proposal to the U.S. Department of Defense which will improve the insulation of the V-22 Osprey aircraft. He echoed Bloom’s statements about the grant monies as well as the guidance in writing grants.

"If you imagine a small company, they don’t have R&D departments,” Weitz said. “For them to commit the resources to write a grant, it takes a focused effort. For them to tell one of their employers to take three weeks off to write a grant just doesn’t happen. Offering that $5,000 makes it something small business owners can find tangible.”

Weitz will share his SBIR experiences that have allowed him to be a part of four Phase 0 awards. He is also a counselor for new businesses learning to write Phase 0 awards.
Other breakout sessions at the conference will cover resources at the University of Wyoming such as The Market Research Center, Manufacturing Works, the Small Business Development Center, The Wyoming Technology Business Center and Gro-Biz, the military contract procurement center.

An award banquet at the conference will be held at 6 p.m. with Wyoming Business Council CEO Tucker Fagan acting as the keynote speaker, while Mark Henry of from PBC, Inc., a national SBIR service provider, will also speak.

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.

###