In a sparkplugs thread, Aeronaut made reference to a device from Divtecs, and the description page made reference to SBIR. So I looked it up. It stands for Small Business Innovation Research. Here’s an excerpt of the Wiki page:
History
The program was established with the passing of the Small Business Innovation Development Act in 1982, and must be periodically reauthorized by the United States Congress. Reauthorization was enacted in 1986, 1992, and 2000.[citation needed] The latest[when?] authorization was slated to expire September 30, 2008, but was extended by a continuing resolution for six months to March 20, 2009, then again extended by continuing resolution until July 31, 2009.[dated info]
The SBIR program was created, in the words of program founder Roland Tibbets: “to provide funding for some of the best early-stage innovation ideas — ideas that, however promising, are still too high risk for private investors, including venture capital firms.”[citation needed] For the purposes of the SBIR program, the term “small business” is defined as a for-profit business with fewer than 500 employees, owned by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States of America.
Research grants
The SBIR program agencies award monetary grants in phases I and II of a three-phase program:[1]
* Phase I, the startup phase, makes awards of “up to $100,000 for approximately 6 months support [for] exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology.”
* Phase II awards grants of “up to $750,000, for as many as 2 years,” in order to facilitate expansion of Phase I results. Research and development work is performed and the developer evaluates the potential for commercialization. Phase II grants are awarded exclusively to Phase I award winners.
* Phase III is intended to be the time when innovation moves from the laboratory into the marketplace. No additional SBIR funds are awarded for Phase III. “The small business must find funding in the private sector or other non-SBIR federal agency funding.”
As the editor notes above, that’s a bit dated. Here’s the .gov home page: http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbir/index.html
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