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Event to connect entrepreneurs to federal funding sources

Melinda Waldrop //July 8, 2021//

Event to connect entrepreneurs to federal funding sources

Melinda Waldrop //July 8, 2021//

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A virtual event hosted by the U.S. Small Business Administration will connect technology entrepreneurs to the country’s largest source of early stage funding.

The 2021 National SBIR Week begins July 19 and will connect small business innovators with the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. Registration for the online event, which runs through July 23, is available online.

SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman will provide opening remarks on July 19.

“The $4 billion in federal non-dilutive funding offered through SBA’s SBIR/STTR programs is often a critical milestone in moving an entrepreneur’s research idea from concept to commercial product/services,” John Williams, SBA director of innovation and technology, said in a news release. “This national conference will enable entrepreneurs across the country to engage virtually with the federal program managers that oversee more than 7,000 awards annually. SBA is committed to making sure innovators — particularly women, minorities, and those located in states with less access to federal or private funding to advance their ideas — are aware of the SBIR and STTR programs and gain a higher percentage of that funding moving forward.”

SBIR Week will feature organizations including the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer. Throughout the week, project managers from participating federal agencies will conduct one-on-one online meetings with small business entrepreneurs, take part in panel discussions and share insights into funding decisions.