Money@sba.gov

Marin Independent Journal, January 19, 1996

Roadmaps are still in short supply and techno speed bumps and dead ends an irritation, but persistent SOHOs cruising the nation's electronic roadways can find valuable business opportunities and useful information.

Case in point is the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. Every year the Federal government gives millions of dollars in grants to small businesses with innovative ideas that match the R&D needs of various government agencies. Since December of 1994 pre-solicitation announcements for the program have only been available online.

Among the recipients of the grants are two Marin County multimedia firms:

San Rafael based Morphonix received over $650,000 dollars from the National Institute of Mental Health to develop an Interactive program which child protection officials can use to interview abused children. With a friendly teddy bear as a guide Interview lets the kids tell their stories without a lot of trauma or the taint of leading questions. Target date for the release of the CD-ROM is March 1st.

Morphonix is currently awaiting a $750,000 grant from the Department of Health to complete work on another project called Journey Into the Brain, a story based adventure/exploration game which shows kids how the brain works.

McLean Media in Sausalito has received several grants totaling about $300,000 per project from the National Science Foundation, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Education: an interactive program to encourage girls to pursue a career in science, a video program on family literacy, and a new project on "planning and presentation systems for schools".

Currently on display in the Smithsonian as a kiosk, Telling Our Story: Women in Science will be out on CD-ROM within the next few months according to Lois McLean, a partner in the firm. The videotape, produced for the Headstart program, is now in distribution.

Karen Littman, president of Morphonix, says the online environment has been invaluable to her work. "Writing grant applications requires that you show innovation. I use Internet database searches to review the existing literature. Abstracts from programs which have been funded in the past are very helpful."

She also finds email an effective way to communicate with her collaborators, who are typically scattered all over the country. "I used to have to fed-ex stuff and then wait for it to come back. Recently I sent a script for the brain project to a consultant at Scripps Research Institute, and half an hour later I had it back with his feedback. Now I'm using email to send files back and forth to an artist/programmer in Santa Cruz."

Lois McClean has found the Internet a great place to do photo research as well as content. "I found some wonderful images at the National Library of Medicine", she says, "and when I needed some images of Magnetic Levitation trains I found them on a web site."

The money for the SBIR grants is awarded in two phases, during which recipients are encouraged to develop contracts and commercial funding sources to further exploit their work, which belongs to them, not the funding agency.

The amount of money available depends on the funding agency. Phase I awards, up to $100,000 for a six-month effort, are intended to show that the proposing firm can do high quality R&D, that the proposed effort is technically feasible, and that sufficient progress had been made to justify a larger agency investment.

Projects selected can compete for Phase II funding to further develop the proposed idea. Up to $750,000 is available for Phase II, the principal R&D effort, which normally lasts about two years.

Small businesses are eligible to participate in the SBIR program if they are for profit and have 500 or fewer employees. This includes sole proprietorships, partnerships, joint ventures, associations or cooperatives. Nonprofit organizations are not eligible.

Government agencies which participate in the program include the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Information about programs for small businesses and links to dozens of related resources is available on the World Wide Web at www.sbaonline.sba.gov, where you'll find telnet and gopher links to the SBIR program. You can also find information about the program at the National Technology Transfer Center (www.nttc.edu).

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