The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC), based at UALR’s College of Business, has received funding through the Small Business Administration’s Federal and State Technology (FAST) program to provide technical assistance to science and technology-based small businesses.

Minority-, women-, and veteran-owned Arkansas high-technology companies and university researchers conducting innovative research and development should contact ASBTDC’s FAST Mentoring Program to apply for the one-year mentoring opportunities. Six mentoring positions are available beginning in November.

Program participants will receive instruction and step-by-step support with the development of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant proposals that align with research topics being solicited by participating SBIR/STTR agencies.

Visit the SBIR Gateway website and conduct a keyword search for a project topic under “SBIR Open Topic Search” to see if a project qualifies for assistance.

High-technology companies or researchers whose work matches are encouraged to apply for mentoring if their companies fall into one of the following categories:

• Women-owned
• Veteran-owned
• Minority-owned.

The application form scan be found on the ASBTDC website under the SBIR/STTR section located midway down the page. Veterans may also access the application form through the Arkansas Veteran website.

“The FAST Mentoring Program offers SBIR/STTR program applicants a tremendous opportunity to receive extensive guidance from experienced SBIR/STTR program mentors through the entire process of developing a proposal application,” said Innovation Consultant Rebecca Norman at ASBTDC. “Three FAST Mentoring Program applicants may also qualify to receive Technology Transfer Grant Assistance (TTAG) funding to support the costs of preparing a Phase I SBIR/STTR proposal application.

For more information about FAST Mentoring Program, contact Norman at 501-683-7700.