About
The SBIR/STTR Technical Assistance program was established to help Maryland technology and life sciences companies build the expertise needed to access funding from America’s Seed Fund (SBIR/STTR) and grow their businesses. The program targets small businesses with limited experience in securing federal SBIR/STTR investments, helping them navigate SBIR/STTR program requirements, understanding the resources available, and guiding them through the SBIR/STTR proposal process with technical and business resource support.
Eligibility
Maryland-based technology and life sciences small businesses who have not previously received an SBIR/STTR are eligible to apply.
Program Schedule
The SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab is offered twice each year:
- Spring Cohort (DoD, DOE, NIH): Applications are due at the end of December
- Fall Cohort (DoD, NASA, NSF): Applications are due at the end of August
Two-Part Program
The program is divided into several workshops that offer an overview of federal SBIR/STTR programs, along with in-depth sessions on agency-specific processes and proposal writing. It also includes guest presentations from industry experts and individual expert proposal reviews to help participants enhance their capability of proposal writing.
Part 1: Workshops for SBIR/STTR knowledge and proposal training
- Workshop 1: SBIR/STTR Success Foundations. This session is an overview of federal SBIR/STTR programs -- phases, grants vs. contracts, eligibility, and the differences among various agencies (e.g. DoD, DOE, NASA, and NIH programs).
- Workshop 2: Finding the Perfect Topic & Engaging Program Officers. This session helps to understand different agency requirements, identify the right topic based on individual technical backgrounds, and prepare a good technical proposal.
- Workshop 3: Validating Your Business Case. This session sketches an initial market and competitive analysis, helps to understand how to position a technology for long-term agency adoption, and draft a week-by-week proposal timeline.
- Workshop 4: From Requirements to Roadmap. This session decodes solicitation language, then builds an annotated outline that matches each agency’s required headings and review criteria.
- Workshop 5: Detailed Instruction on Proposal Writing. This session provides detailed guidance on proposal writing, helps companies understand how to leverage tools to enhance proposal drafting process.
- Workshop 6: Commercialization, Budgets & Submission. This session helps companies understand the importance of technology transition and commercialization, guides them to write a strong commercialization plan, and prepare a reasonable cost proposal.
Part 2: Individual proposal reviews
- This program will provide two rounds of reviews for each proposal by technical and/or business expertise.
- TEDCO will work with each participant and domain experts to determine the review schedule.
Contact:
For more information about the SBIR/STTR Technical Assistance Program, contact sbir-ta@tedcomd.com.