The T2Bridge Technology Acceleration Program along with the SC Women’s Business Center are sponsoring a workshop on how small and start-up companies can get funding for research and development of technologies to solve defense needs.  The Conference will be held at Claflin University on November 13. 

Targeted for small and minority businesses, military spouses, research faculty and sponsored programs administrators, the one-day workshop will provide an in-depth look at the DOD Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. For a fee of $25 ($35 after November 8th), participants will learn a four-step process for developing a competitive proposal and will receive a no-cost, pre-submission critique of one SBIR/STTR proposal within one year of the conference date.  Lunch and conference materials are included.

Facilitator for the event is Jim Greenwood, President of Greenwood Consulting Group, Sanibel Island, Florida, a nationally recognized trainer, who has been active in SBIR/STTR since the programs’ inception.  He and his wife, Gail, are frequent speakers at national SBIR conferences and training events. Recipients of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s prestigious Tibbetts Award, the Greenwoods have taught thousands of entrepreneurs how to write competitive technical and cost proposals and have critiqued hundreds of SBIR and STTR proposals for firms throughout the United States.   

Sponsored under a contract with the Department of Defense, the T2Bridge Technology Acceleration Program is a cooperative effort among Pennsylvania-based nonprofit, Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), East Carolina University and Claflin University.   T2Bridge connects private sector businesses and researchers in the southeast United States with DoD technologies, research capabilities, funding opportunities, development partners and procurement needs.

According to Dr. Michael Muthig, Project Manager, the primary mission of T2Bridge is to solve Department of Defense needs through the development, transfer, transition, and commercialization of defense sponsored innovation. “When we successfully leverage defense sponsored innovation to meet defense needs,” Muthig said, “we create solutions that benefit our deployed forces and create local economic growth, resulting in a win-win for all.”

Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, Claflin University President, underscores the importance of the event for the South Carolina area. “Minority entrepreneurs, researchers and small companies can play a valuable role in helping our state and region to become more competitive in the economic development arena,” said Tisdale.  “At Claflin University, we are committed not only to preparing our students to succeed in a technological society, but to forming partnerships such as the T2Bridge Program, which help to promote business growth and opportunities for the ultimate benefit of the broader community.”

The Department of Defense SBIR and STTR programs fund a billion dollars each year in early-stage research and development projects at small technology companies—projects that serve a DoD need and have commercial applications.  The SBIR Program provides up to $850,000 in early-stage R&D funding directly to small technology companies (or individual entrepreneurs who form a company). The STTR Program provides up to $850,000 in early-stage R&D funding directly to small companies working cooperatively with researchers at universities and other research institutions.  Small companies retain the intellectual property rights to technologies they develop under these programs.

Conference information and registration forms are available on the Claflin University website, www.claflin.edu, the T2Bridge website, www.T2Bridge.com and may be obtained by contacting the Claflin Sponsored Programs Office, (803) 535-5544 or emailing the program at T2Bridge@claflin.edu. Advanced reservations are required; however, interested entrepreneurs who find the registration fee to be a hardship are encouraged to contact the program office.

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