TEDCO and GovCon Incubator Win a Second Consecutive U.S. SBA Grant to Train Small Businesses in a New FY2020 SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab

ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Maryland small businesses with innovative research and development (R&D) ideas will have an opportunity to gain comprehensive proposal development support to win federal funding. OST Global Solutions' GovCon Incubator, a woman-owned small business, will train 20 additional Maryland small businesses on how to win government seed fund capital. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Federal and State Technology (FAST) grant awarded to Maryland's Technology Development Corporation(TEDCO) and
OST Global Solutions, Inc. for the second consecutive year.

"Team TEDCO" -- TEDCO, OST Global Solutions, and the Maryland Small Business Development Center ( SBDC), will use the SBA grant to oversee an innovative and robust Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Proposal Lab, opening in January 2020.

SBIR is a highly competitive government program that provides seed funding to small businesses to develop innovative technologies that have the potential for commercialization. The SBIR award program is funded at $2 billion+ annually.
The SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab is tailored to help companies win SBIR/STTR awards by advising on win strategies, teaming, and improving overall proposal quality.

The Lab combines best-in-industry proposal training, mentoring, proposal reviews by experts, SBA tutorials, and hands-on guidance throughout the process of developing and submitting National Science Foundation (NSF) proposals. The Lab not only helps companies succeed in obtaining "America's seed fund" dollars but also teaches participants government proposal development skillset.

Goal: At Least Double Win Rate of Phase 1 SBIR/STTR Applications

Up to 20 companies will be selected to participate in the SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab -- and each company will receive individual support starting from the initial Project Pitch phase all the way through to proposal submission. Team TEDCO will conduct a series of training workshops and reviews at the Training Center in OST Global Solutions' offices in Rockville, MD. Participants will receive support between sessions via a series of virtual portals. The Proposal Lab will run from January 15, 2020 until June 3, 2020. The competitive application process closes on December 31, 2019 – with women-owned, disadvantaged and rural businesses receiving special consideration.

The SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab's goal for participants is to at least double the national win rate of Phase I SBIR applications (from the 16 percent national average to 32 percent).

The success of Airgility winning an NSF SBIR Phase I, $225,000 award in September 2019 (Airgility participated in the FY2019 SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab) "well illustrates the Proposal Lab's unique capacity to provide best practices' training to induce the best outcomes," said OST Global Solutions CEO Olessia Smotrova.

"Great Need" for SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab

Smotrova underscored the "great need" the SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab addresses – as most small businesses lack the resources, time and skillsets to successfully navigate the federal R&D contracts market. Of the 58 million small businesses in the U.S., just 200 companies categorized as small businesses won 25 percent, or $28 billion, of the $110 billion in prime small business dollars awarded by federal agencies in fiscal 2017. And minority, women-owned and rural businesses are the most under-represented in this market.

For more information on the SBIR Proposal Lab and to participate, please visit here.

About Team TEDCO
TEDCO provides resources and connections that early-stage technology and life sciences companies need to thrive in Maryland. TEDCO's mission is to discover, invest in, and help build great companies. The GovCon Incubator, run by OST Global Solutions, Inc. (OST), a Maryland woman-owned small business (WOSB). OST Global Solutions is a thought leader in government business development, specialized in winning highly competitive proposals and offering 50+ courses in every aspect of capture and proposal development. The Maryland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) supports small businesses in all five Maryland regions.

SOURCE TEDCO