Getting innovation under way

Inventors, researchers and small business owners hoping to receive a portion of $2.3 billion in federal grants attended the National Institutes of Health's 11th annual Small Business Innovation Research conference.

The two-day event at Qwest Center Omaha drew more than 480 people, most of them from outside Nebraska. It concluded Wednesday.

The meeting's goal was to raise awareness of the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program, which provides money for research and development. The conference also provided an opportunity for entrepreneurs to talk with NIH staff members to learn how the program works and how business owners can better position themselves to receive funding.

Congress established the program in 1982 as a way for business owners and entrepreneurs to finance research efforts for innovations with commercial potential.

Eleven federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation, set aside a portion of their annual budgets to be awarded as grants to small businesses.

This year, $2.3 billion is available through the SBIR/STTR program, with the National Institutes of Health's share $670 million.

Davin Bickford, national director for Alignco Orthodontics in Omaha, said he attended the conference because he and his employer, Dr. Clarke Stevens, want to apply for a grant for a new type of bracket for braces that Stevens designed.

Bickford said he and Stevens had no idea how the program works.

“We're here to learn the nuts and bolts,” he said.

Bickford said he met with representatives from three NIH divisions to find out which agencies would be the best fit for the new product.

Grants are awarded in three phases. Recipients must meet certain milestones in order to apply for subsequent phases.

Over the past 10 years, Nebraska businesses received about 115 grants totaling approximately $18 million, said Lisa Tedesco, program coordinator for Nebraska. In 2008, she said, businesses received nine awards totaling $2 million.

Tedesco counsels owners and entrepreneurs about how to submit grant proposals to the various federal agencies, and she helps match researchers with small businesses to bring the inventions to the commercial market.

The Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program creates new businesses that it is hoped create jobs in the state, Tedesco said.

Many people don't realize the role that grants play in funding high-growth companies, said Tom Chapman, director of entrepreneurship and innovation at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.

Funding for research and development efforts helps ensure a “vibrant innovation ecosystem,” Chapman said.

Having the national NIH conference in Omaha promotes the city as a place where innovation happens, he said. It's also important for the future of Omaha's bioscience industry, Chapman added.

“The powers that be at the NIH and other places can see the excitement and energy around innovation and entrepreneurship in this community,” Chapman said.

Bob Bernier, assistant dean in the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and state director of the Nebraska Business Development Center, said medicine and health care, the conference's focus, are “tremendous growth areas” in the U.S. and especially in Omaha.

Omaha is the smallest city in the country with two medical colleges, he said.

Grants like these support businesses that contribute to economic development in the state, Bernier said. And they don't have to repay them, and the business retains ownership of its invention, he added.

Jeffrey Hicks, chairman and CEO of 21st Century Systems, said new technology companies and new partnerships could result from inventions being pitched at the conference.

Hicks' software company has received 70 Phase I awards, more than half of which continued on to receive Phase II funding. A majority of the grants were from the Department of Defense, he said.

The company started in New York, so its SBIR/STTR awards are not included in Nebraska's statistics, but the corporate offices are located in Omaha.

“It's a tremendous form of capital for technology, whether bio or other, that Nebraska companies need to take advantage of,” he said.

Contact the writer:

444-1085, stefanie.monge@owh.com