DURHAM, N.H. - N.H. Inspires Innovation will host two events for early-stage technology companies that want more information about the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

N.H. Inspires Innovation, designed to bring SBIR grant information and advice to New Hampshire companies and increase opportunities for growth of federal- and state-funded research partnerships, will offer a one-hour webinar covering the basics of SBIR/STTR and a 1.5-day SBIR/STTR National Institutes of Health Proposal Workshop.

The webinar, designed to help attendees decide whether to attend a longer live workshop, will be held from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Register online.

The workshop will be held Tuesday, Oct. 16, and Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, in Hanover. Details and registration can be found online.

Through the SBIR/STTR programs, 11 federal agencies make more than $2 billion in high-risk, nondilutive capital available to fund research and development at innovative, small companies annually.
"Submitting an SBIR or STTR proposal is a rigorous process, so before companies jump into the more intensive training it takes to be competitive, we offer this webinar to provide at-a-glance information about the programs, what it takes to qualify and what you'll need if you move forward," said Mary Collins, state director of the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC). "For those who decide to move forward with proposals for the National Institutes of Health, the Oct. 16 and 17 workshop will do a deep dive into actual proposal preparation."

Lisa Kurek, managing partner, BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting, will conduct both the webinar and the workshop. Kurek has extensive experience not only in the SBIR/STTR programs, but in product and business development, and sales and product management with large, publicly-held corporations as well as small start-ups.

N.H. Inspires Innovation is a collaboration of New Hampshire Innovation Research Center (NHIRC), New Hampshire Small Business Development Center and the University of New Hampshire, designed to bring SBIR grant information and advice to New Hampshire companies, thereby increasing opportunities for growth of federal- and state-funded research partnerships.

NH SBDC is an outreach program of the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics, and a cooperative venture of the U.S. Small Business Administration, State of New Hampshire (DRED), 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 NH SBDC has advised businesses for 26 years, helping 8,000 businesses create and retain more than 4,500 jobs over the last decade.

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 UNH. Companies then match their project awards to fund the research which often leads to new production methods, products, companies, and jobs. Since its inception, the NHIRC has helped create more than 650 jobs throughout the state and its awardees have received more than $900 million in follow-on capital.

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