WEBINAR

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Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

Find Out if You Qualify for the SBIR Proposal

Lab

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA

SBIR: America’s Seed Fund Roughly $3 Billion in total funding annually Stimulate technological innovation Use small business to meet Federal R/R&D needs Foster and encourage participation by the socially and

economically disadvantaged small businesses, and those that are 51 percent owned and controlled by women, in technological innovation

Increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from Federal R/R&D, thereby increasing competition, productivity, and economic growth

Provide seed capital for early stage R&D with commercial potential

The awards are comparable in size to angel investments in the private sector and indicate the acceptance of greater risk in support of agency missions

Except – the government doesn’t take a portion of your company and you don’t have to repay the money

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 2

SBIR Program Quick Overview

Phase I is the concept phase. Lasts 6-12 months and supports exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology• You retain the rights to the intellectual property• Opportunity to obtain additional funding to continue technology development

Phase II awards may last for up to 2 years and expand upon the Phase I results; During this time, the R&D work is performed

Phase III is the period during which Phase II innovation moves from the laboratory into the marketplace• No SBIR funds support this phase• The small business must find funding in the private sector or secure it from other

non-SBIR Federal Agency funds that can fund continued development

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 3

Grants or Contracts

Starting in FY19, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (within the U.S. Department of Commerce), will make awards as grants rather than contracts• For a public purpose aligned with agency’s mission• Broader latitude granted to the PI: With grants, PIs do their best to complete

the research and achieve the desired aim• NOAA Phase I proposal budgets must not exceed $120,000

DOD awards contracts• Binding agreement with relatively inflexible scope of work• Payments based on deliverables and milestones• Other requirements associated with running a contract

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 4

What is the SBIR Proposal Lab? TEDCO, Maryland’s source for technical start-up success, won SBA’s

FAST Grant together with the team of:• GovCon Incubator• Maryland SBDC• Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center

Focused on Maryland small businesses, especially women-owned, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and rural businesses

In addition to SBA’s funds, the team will contribute its own time and resources to develop and conduct the SBIR Proposal Lab

The timing of the grant funding period allowed us to focus on DOD and NOAA SBIRs

SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 4 All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA

DOD Award Amounts

DoD Component Cost Duration Phase I Option Discretionary

Technical Assistance

Army Base NTE $100,000 +Phase I Option NTE $50,000

6 Month Base +4 Month Phase I Option Required $5,000

Navy Base NTE $125,000 +Phase I Option NTE $100,000

6 Month Base +6 Month Phase I Option Required $5,000

Air Force Base NTE $150,000 6 Month Base +3 Month Reporting Period Not Applicable Not Available

Air Force * Base $75,000 2 Month Base +1 Month Reporting Period Not Applicable Not Available

DLA Base NTE $100,000 6 Month Base Not Applicable $5,000

NGA Base NTE $100,000 9 Month Base Not Applicable Not Available

SCO Base NTE $225,000 6 Month Base Not Applicable Not Available

USSOCOM BASE NTE $150,000 6 Month Base Not Applicable Not Available

SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 6

Combination of Training, Hands-On Support and Reviews

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 7

WorkshopsWorkshop 2: Outline, Compliance, Brainstorming1. Discuss pre-developed outlines; 2. Compliance; 3. Brainstorming section content; 4. How to win in each SBIR section; 5. Section planning; 6.The correct writing process; 7. Foundations of writing faster and better; 8. Good and bad proposal language specific to NOAA and DOD SBIRs;9. Training on databases available for research at TEDCO's Market Research Kiosks.Pink Team ReviewPink Team is a feedback mechanism on participant’s performance and proposal quality to date. The standard for Pink Team is that theproposal draft is 60% customer-ready and is compliant.Workshop 3: Cost Proposal and Graphics1. Cost proposal development; 2. Proposal graphics and visuals development appropriate for the SBIR submission format; 3. Graphicstemplates; 4. Conceptualization and rendering skills.Red Team ReviewRed Team review provides feedback to participants on proposal quality. The standard is that the proposal is 90% customer-ready; within 10%of the page count; compliant and compelling.Workshop 4: Editing and Production1. Proposal editing and desktop publishing in MS Word; 2. Self-editing and editing automation; 3. Introduction to Read-Aloud review processfor a polished submission.Workshop 5 (One for NOAA and another one for DOD): Proposal Preparation for Submission and Submission1. Final preparation for submission; 2. Hitting the “submit” button; 3. Follow-on actions.

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 8

Eligibility: U.S. Business

Applicant small business must be primarily U.S. owned • U.S. Citizen• U.S. Permanent Resident

Research must be done in the U.S. Investors can’t own majority of the

business

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 9

Eligibility: Maryland Small Business Must be a for-profit small business. The definition of SB for the SBIR program is one which, including its

affiliates, has a number of employees not exceeding 500. SBA’s Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) definition is a company at least 51% owned and controlled

by a female U.S. citizen. SBA’s Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) definition is a small business that is at least 51 percent owned

by one or more individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged. SBA’s identified socially disadvantaged groups include: African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and Subcontinent Asian Americans. Economically disadvantaged individuals are defined as those for whom impaired access to financial opportunities has hampered the ability to compete in the free enterprise system, in contrast to people in similar businesses who are not identified as socially disadvantaged.

Rural Maryland Small Business is a small business located in Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, Worcester, Cecil, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne’s, N. Baltimore, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, Garrett, Carroll, Charles, Calvert, or St. Mary’s County.

TEDCO will check with Maryland tax authorities on your registration and status – you must be current or quickly correct the issue

If you don’t have a company yet, you must reside and work in Maryland, and register your business ASAP

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 10

Eligibility: New Idea

Can you apply if you have already developed a solution? • No – SBIR program funds innovative

research and development – the purpose is not to retroactively pay a company for development that they may have already accomplished

• It is okay to have done related work• You can investigate application of an existing

or even patented technology to new uses Expectation: good research that will lead to a

commercial product that will also benefit the nation

SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 9All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect

the views of the SBA

Eligibility: The PI A single individual who will

serve as the principal investigator• Overall responsibility for the project• Credible in terms of their education,

work and project management experience

Must be “primarily employed” by the applicant small business during the SBIR award period• PI cannot be full time employed

elsewhere during the SBIR award period

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 12

Eligibility: Must Self-Perform More Than 66% of Research Phase I: Up to 33% of the research can be

subcontracted to another entity That entity can be anything from a non-profit

research institution such as a university or Federal laboratory, to an individual consultant, or a large prime contractor

The sub-awardee does not have to be located in the United States• However, all of the R&D work performed by the sub-

awardee must be done in the U.S.• An SBIR application involving a foreign sub-awardee

needs to address how that person or entity will be able to fulfill the “all R&D done in the US” requirement

• DOD may take up an issue with foreign entities

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 13

Matching of the Ideas to the Topics If you can match your interests and talents with the specific needs of a

Federal agency you may be able to secure funding to conduct research and development with no strings attached

DOD:• Topics will be available November 28, 2018, proposals due February 6, 2019• https://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/

NOAA• Solicitation came out Nov 8, 2019, proposals due January 8, 2019:• https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=310297

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 14

Some Additional Questions to Consider for Proposal Success What related work have your PI and team done in this area? Do you know of any Conflicts of Interest that may prevent you from bidding on an SBIR

proposal? Do you have Prior, Current, or Pending Support of Similar Proposals or Awards? Is there any peer reviewed research regarding feasibility of what you are thinking of

proposing? Do you think there could be any patents resulting from your participation in the SBIR

Program? Do you require, and therefore have the right facilities and equipment lined up for

research? Have you thought of how you would commercialize this technology – and what would

be the commercial benefits? Will you be able to gather Letters of Support from any participating organizations?

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 15

What’s Important in the SBIR Proposal The emphasis on innovation is

important in SBIR and means that you are proposing a novel approach to pressing problems or needs identified by an Agency

The approach proposed should be unproven and involve an element of technical risk

Must clearly identify the innovation in your proposal

Must not leave the recognition of your innovation to the imagination of the reviewers

The SBIR Proposal Lab will help you articulate that

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 16

Your Commitment

Attend 100% of all the workshops (no excuses other than severely extenuating circumstances)• A business meeting or customer work is NOT a good excuse• We will offer your spot to someone else on the waiting list

Complete all assignments 100% on time• This keeps the entire cohort at the same pace, without holding back others• Enables us to learn about problems and correct them early• Helps you submit a winning proposal, so that all your work is not in vain, and your

great idea gets funded• Gets you portion of your Lab fee of $500 back ($150) • Keeps stress level down for everyone involved

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 17

Where to Apply and Deadline

Currently Interviewing applicants to ensure you have a good chance of a winning proposal

Apply for the SBIR Proposal Lab at: • https://ostglobalsolutions.com/sbir-proposal-lab/

Deadline: November 20, 2018• The lab is filling up quickly, we may not have time to interview

those who apply closer to the application close date if all the seatsare filled

All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA SBIR PROPOSAL LAB, webinar | 18