Small Business Research Has Potential for Growth

Statement

This November, Oklahoma will host the National Small Business Innovation Research Conference where researchers and small businesses from across country can learn how to secure development capital from the $2 billion Small Business Innovation Research program.

Oklahoma is full of entrepreneurial people with brilliant ideas. With more than 328,000 small businesses in our state, this program provides critical funding to help them get their ideas off the ground.

Through the SBIR program, money is made available to businesses with fewer than 500 employees that are pursuing research projects with the potential for commercialization. Through the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, our state provides grants to help companies through the application process.

In 2009, several small businesses in Oklahoma received funding from the SBIR program. 3C Cattle Feeders in Mill Creek is developing a new cattle feeder that will deter wild hogs and other animals from stealing food and spreading diseases. Dormatarg in Oklahoma City received funding for their work in the prevention of bladder cancer recurrence and metastasis, and Advanced Photonics Group in Stillwater received a grant to develop a multi-target explosives detector.

As these projects come to fruition, they will put Oklahoma on the map as a state where research grants turn into new products, high-paying jobs, economic growth and a better quality of life.

Hosting this national conference is an incredible opportunity for Oklahoma's small business owners to learn the application process, hear from businesses that have been awarded SBIR funding and meet with agencies that administer the funding.

I hope many of Oklahoma's small business owners will consider registering for the conference and apply for funding.

For more information or to register for the National SBIR Conference, November 8-10, at the Oklahoma City Cox Convention Center, visit www.SBIROK.org

If you have questions or comments, please write me at the Office of the Governor, Room 212, Oklahoma City OK 73105 or visit the "Contact the Governor" section of my website, www.governor.ok.gov.

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