DURHAM, N.H. — The N.H. Inspires Innovation program, a collaboration of the New Hampshire Innovation Research Center (NHIRC) and the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC), is offering a series of statewide workshops for companies interested in applying for competitive federal grants designed to stimulate technology innovation and commercialization.

More than $2 billion of no-cost federal funding is available nationally through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants. This funding is designed to help small companies, including faculty start-ups, develop and commercialize innovative products and processes that will result in more high-quality jobs in New Hampshire.

To be eligible for a grant, companies must employ fewer than 500 employees, be 51 percent owned by individuals who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and be independently operated without minority shareholders.

N.H. Inspires Innovation provides education and information about SBIR and STTR to New Hampshire businesses and faculty. Lisa Kurek of Biotechnology Business Consultants in Ann Arbor, Mich., will present workshops in the next year that include a half-day overview about SBIR/STTR grants and full-day workshops on specific federal agency grants. One-hour one-on-one eligibility assessments with Kurek and an SBDC business advisor also are available.

Workshop and eligibility assessment dates are as follows:

Workshop Dates
May 8, 2012, Nashua - Department of Defense Proposal Workshop
May 10, 2012, Manchester - SBIR/STTR 101 Workshop
July 17, 2012, Portsmouth - Department of Energy Proposal Workshop
October 16, 2012, Lebanon - National Institute of Health Proposal Workshop 
March/April 2013, Durham - National Science Foundation Proposal Workshop

Eligibility Assessments
May 9, 2012, Nashua
July 18, 2012, Portsmouth
October 17, 2012, Lebanon

For more information, visit http://nhsbdc.org/nh-inspires-innovation.

The NHIRC was created in 1991 by the New Hampshire Legislature to increase collaboration, technology development, and innovation between New Hampshire businesses and universities. Businesses propose projects in collaboration with researchers, typically at Dartmouth or the University of New Hampshire. Companies then match their project awards to fund the research which often leads to new production methods, products, companies, and jobs.

NH SBDC is an outreach program of the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics, and a cooperative venture of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Hampshire (DRED), the University System of New Hampshire, and the private sector. A part of 64 SBDC programs nationwide, the NH SBDC was fully accredited in 2010 by the Association of Small Business Development Centers.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

-30-