If you are a for-profit business, in general there are no grants available to help you start or grow your business.

However, there is one exception to this rule available to technology-related businesses. Each year more than $2 billion is awarded to small businesses by the 11 federal agencies participating in the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Under the programs, small businesses can receive up to $100,000 in Phase I funding to demonstrate the feasibility of a new technology and up to $750,000 in Phase II funding to develop field prototypes to validate the new technology. Phase III is then commercialization of the new innovation and no federal funding is provided.

California businesses receive more program awards than any other state. Last year more than 500 Phase I awards were made to California businesses. Awardees normally have prototypes of their technology or invention when they are seeking research and development funds.

The SBIR/STTR program is a very competitive one. On average, one out of 12 applicants receives Phase I funding. If a firm is successful in completing Phase I, their odds of obtaining Phase II funding are then about one in three. Firms are rarely successful in their first attempt at SBIR funding due to their lack of knowledge on how to put together a successful proposal. Firms need to have an understanding of what the funding agencies look for in a proposal, how to develop a work plan, and government accounting principles.

To help small businesses improve their chances of being successful in the SBIR/STTR program, the Northern California Small Business Development Center Network is hosting a Phase I SBIR Proposal Preparation Workshop at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. NASA is sponsoring the training together with the Northern California SBDC Network and hosted by its sister program Silicon Valley SBDC. On Aug. 10, business advisors will be available at the Silicon Valley SBDC in San Jose to help clients with their proposals. The cost is free to current small business owners, but a limited number of seats are available and business owners must pre-register.

The objective of the Aug. 9-10 training is to increase the number of SBIR/STTR awards for small businesses in this region, thus creating economic impact in the form of jobs created, sales increases, contracts, etc. Jobs created by SBIR/STTR firms are typically higher paying positions such as engineers, scientists, and research technicians. For each firm that is successful in obtaining both Phase I and Phase II awards, this equates to up to $1 million in Federal funds for our region.

 One big advantage of SBIR/STTR funding is that it allows small businesses to get further along in their research and development without having to give up equity early on.

Info, www.svsbdc.org or call the Napa SBDC office at 253-3210.