Utah Industry and Innovation Center

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Utah Industry and Innovation Center

The Utah Industry and Innovation Center (formerly the Utah SBIR Center) has served Utah small business technology companies for more than 10 years, helping Utah companies receive over $37 million in federal non-dilutive grant funding. The Industry and Innovation Center is a national model for other states, providing high-touch guidance and evaluation to help Utah companies move their technology forward.

The federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are highly competitive with a strong success record. Congressionallymandated, these funds serve to further research and development of tomorrow’s technology without taking any ownership or intellectual property, or requiring payback of funds.

When companies work with the Utah Industry and Innovation Center, they nearly double their chances of winning this funding.

The Industry and Innovation Center is located at the Salt Lake Community College — Miller Campus Business Resource Center in Sandy. The five-person staff serves over 500 clients across the state and, in 2019, helped Utah rank 25th for all SBIR/STTR funding.

Mary Cardon | Director

801-957-5249 | mcardon@utah.gov Initiatives

The Utah Industry and Innovation Center continually works with organizations across the state to educate business owners and increase awareness of the Center’s services. The Center’s work this past year has strengthened existing partnerships and built new ones.

Maintaining knowledge of the necessary details and nuances of the 11 federal agencies participating in the SBIR/STTR program is critical and a top priority to the Industry and Innovation Center. The staff works diligently to maintain an extensive library of samples, templates, and materials specific to the agencies that participate.

Challenges and Achievements

The Utah Industry and Innovation Center successfully integrated into the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, moving from the disbanded Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) Initiative. This integration brought stability to the organization and additional opportunities to collaborate inside and outside of GOED.

The Center was unable to attend national and regional conferences in FY 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it worked with agencies to make certain information was up-to-date and correct, allowing clients to move ahead without interruption.

The Center was invited to host the SBA’s SBIR in the Rockies tour in August 2020. The virtual tour anticipated 150 participants. In response to the pandemic, the Industry and Innovation Center offered workshops and a full suite of online and electronic services.

Outcomes

In addition to offering workshops ranging from introducing the basics to more in-depth learning, the Center also partnered with organizations across the state, including Small Business Development Centers, Business Resource Centers, PTAC, VentureCapital.org, and BioUtah, and leveraged national partnerships with the Departments of the Navy and Air Force.

In FY 2020, the Industry and Innovation Center conducted 23 events with over 586 client contacts. The Center team also helped Utah companies win over $7.7 million in non-dilutive SBIR/STTR funding to advance their research and development efforts.

Spotlight

Utah Industry and Innovation Center

In May 2020, six Utah companies received over $1 million in non-equity funding from the U.S. Department of Energy through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Five of the six Utah winners were Utah Industry and Innovation Center clients.

These Utah small businesses, located in Cache, Salt Lake and Utah counties, competed against companies from throughout the United States to win this highly competitive funding opportunity.

Companies include: ● Coreform (Orem, Utah) — Nuclear ● Nielson Scientific (Lehi, Utah) — Solar ● Seerstone Development (Provo, Utah) — Fossil Energy ● Sequent Logic (Logan, Utah) — Wind ● Visionary Products, Inc. (Draper, Utah) — Water

SBIR funding supports the development of cutting-edge technologies with commercialization potential. With the successful completion of their Phase I projects, the Utah Industry and Innovation Center helps these companies apply for Phase II funding of up to $1 million each.

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