Published
3 years agoon
The Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, based at the University of Wyoming, has received a $125,000 grant to provide specialized training, mentoring and technical assistance for research and development-focused small businesses.
According to a UW release, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program grant seeks to improve outcomes in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for underserved communities by increasing participation from rural, women-owned, and socially or economically disadvantaged small businesses.
UW reports that last year alone, the Wyoming SBDC Network’s SBIR/STTR Initiative helped entrepreneurs in Wyoming secure more than $3.6 million in government funding. The SBIR/STTR programs provide funding to help entrepreneurs and small-business owners research, develop and commercialize their innovations. Entrepreneurs also can apply for a $5,000 contract — which UW funds through a grant from the Wyoming Business Council — to get started with the SBIR/STTR process.
“The FAST award allows the Wyoming SBDC Network to provide specialized training, education and guidance that technology development companies otherwise may not have access to,” said Jill Kline, state director of the Wyoming SBDC Network. “This grant creates an even more robust set of services that support these high-tech innovations.”
This is the eighth year in a row that the Wyoming SBDC Network has received this highly competitive grant. Only 32 other FAST grants were awarded this year.
To sign up for no-cost, confidential assistance through the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative, visit www.wyomingsbdc.org.
The Wyoming SBDC Network offers no-cost, confidential advising and technical assistance to help Wyoming entrepreneurs think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. In 2020, the Wyoming SBDC Network helped Wyoming entrepreneurs start 95 new businesses, support 6,964 jobs and bring a capital impact of $18 million to the state.
The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by UW with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the SBA.