Innovation & Technology Program Connects Entrepreneurs with Opportunities
- published: 2024/05/29
- contact: NBDC Communications - Nebraska Business Development Center
- phone: 402.554.6256
- email: kjefferson@unomaha.edu
Omaha, Nebraska – This story was originally published in the Nebraska Business Development Center 2023 Annual Report.
Adam Peters is no stranger to hard work or acting upon an idea. In fifth grade, he planted a strawberry patch and waited patiently for them to mature. The following year, he saw the fruits of his labors – in the form of $50 in strawberry sales.
Fast forward to today. Peters is still developing ideas through his company, Veritas Ventures, which he says was “birthed out of a desire to venture into innovations that are true to the land, particularly in agricultural, construction and metal manufacturing.”
Peters’ current ventures include a unique, efficient, custom flatbed design for pickup trucks. He’s also working on a rod post driver prototype, a wheel chock design, a rod post puller, a twist on the handyman jack, and utilizing newer lumber technologies with prairie cedars.
Clearly, Peters has ideas. As witnessed with his strawberry fields, he also has patience. What he’d like to have is funding.
That is why Peters, who lives in Grant, and more than 120 other entrepreneurs from across the state and the region gathered in Lincoln to attend the America’s Seed Fund Road Tour 2023.
Held in Nebraska for the first time since 2016, the half-day event showcased non-dilutive technology funding opportunities available through the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The SBIR/STTR programs provide more than $4 billion in funding each year to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds in small businesses.
Sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the road tour stop afforded entrepreneurs and small business owners an opportunity to meet with federal program managers from 11 participating government agencies that offer SBIR/STTR funding, as well as to network with other technology entrepreneurs and state innovation ecosystem members.
Josh Nichol-Caddy, Director of Innovation and Technology at the Nebraska Business Development Center, says the road tour stop was one of many events and advisory services the NBDC offers researchers, entrepreneurs, and established businesses who have technologies they seek to fund and commercialize. “No matter what grants you are pursuing, it’s always helpful to meet with federal agency representatives face-to-face rather than to pursue them through a series of phone calls or emails,” Nichol-Caddy says.
No matter what grants you are pursuing, it’s always helpful to meet with federal agency representatives face-to-face rather than to pursue them through a series of phone calls or emails.
As part of America’s Seed Fund Road Tour, local Federal and State Technology (FAST) partners including the NBDC coordinate with the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation (SBIR) and SBA Field Offices to host each stop and the programming throughout the day. Federal representatives of the SBIR and STTR funding agencies, as well as other agencies that provide resources to entrepreneurs and small businesses, travel by bus to each stop along the tour.
Nancy Kamei is a Program Development Specialist in the SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation. She says the immediate impact of the Nebraska road tour stop was evident in the fact that SBIR grant applications nearly doubled after the event.
“The Road Tour is a wonderful experience, especially for innovators who are new to the SBIR/STTR program because it provides insight into strategies and the beginning of a relationship with government representatives,” she says. “If you think about the government as an investor in your company, success hinges on finding the right match and building a relationship.”
While competitive, SBIR and STTR funding “is definitely attainable,” Kamei says. “The road tour helps enable Nebraska to get its share.”
She says the NBDC and Nichol-Caddy have helped advance the SBIR program by raising awareness, offering technical advice, reviewing grant proposals and imparting specific tips. She says the road tour’s pre-session is built around an idea from Nichol-Caddy on how to prepare for a one-on-one meeting with a federal representative, and that a video he created on how to develop a quad chart is still being used to educate entrepreneurs around the country. “He’s helping us take this program to the next level,” she says.
If you think about the government as an investor in your company, success hinges on finding the right match and building a relationship.
Sajda Qureshi, Ph.D., is Professor of Information Systems and Director of the ITD mHealth Lab at the Department of Information Systems & Quantitative Analysis, College of Information Science & Technology at UNO. She is currently working on developing a means of addressing societal equities by offering access to socio-economic resources through a new “mHealthhelp.com” mobile application. She says one goal of the no-cost app is to provide health resources for people in rural and other underserved areas.
Dr. Sajda Quereshi, UNO Professor of Information Systems
Qureshi attended the America’s Seed Fund Road Tour in Lincoln and says she received suggestions on how to proceed to obtain SBIR and other funding. “It was a great experience,” she says. “This funding would give me the opportunity to build the lab I need to further this project. It is an excellent opportunity to translate my research innovations for the benefit of society.”
Peters says he applied for SBIR funding in the fall of 2023 and was very close to being selected to receive the grant he requested. He says he will reapply in the fall of 2024.
“If I had not gone to the road tour, I would have been clueless as to how the system works,” he says. “These are very competitive programs, but now I have the confidence that I can put together an application and have a real chance.”