# SBA Awards $9M in Grants to 49 Orgs for Access to Development Funding and Innovative Research # Last Modification Date: Oct 14, 2024 Oct 14, 2024 ![](https://www.tradeandindustrydev.com/sites/tradeandindustrydev.com/files/styles/details_page_image_style/public/2024-10/dreamstimesmall_15580776.jpg?itok=N0Gi0V20 "SBA Awards $9M in Grants to 49 Orgs for Access to Development Funding and Innovative Research") Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 34 million small businesses, announced that the SBA has issued 49 grants up to $200,000 each to organizations supporting startups through specialized training, mentoring, and technical assistance under the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program. “FAST funding, which fuels innovation to keep America competitive globally, has doubled under the Biden-Harris Administration. At a time when we are seeing historic highs in our entrepreneurial activity with a small business boom, investing in America’s innovative startups is a top priority. America’s Seed Fund, powered by the SBA and fueled by 11 federal agencies’ SBIR and STTR programs, is the largest source of early-stage funding in the world. With FAST, we have now expanded our entrepreneurial ecosystem to nearly every state so that entrepreneurs with great ideas can invent it, commercialize it, and build it with America’s Seed Fund in every corner of America,” said Administrator Guzman. FAST’s objective is to improve outcomes for underserved communities by increasing participation from woman-owned, rural-based, or socially or economically disadvantaged small businesses through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which are known as America’s Seed Fund. This year, the FAST program increased the maximum funding available by 60% to expand the geographic footprint of FAST and increase engagement of underserved, geographic, and demographic innovators across the country. As a result, FAST awardee organizations will provide support across 48 states and Puerto Rico. FAST organizations work locally and provide person-to-person support and training that increases the probability of success for entrepreneurs and small businesses pursuing SBIR or STTR contracts and grants. The FAST program(Link is external) provides awards for a base period of 12 months, plus four optional continuation periods of 12 months each. { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1763535035026-0'); }); The FAST grantees are as follows: STATE ORGANIZATION Alabama The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks Arkansas University of Arkansas System dba Univ. of Ark. at Little Rock Arizona Commerce Authority, Arizona California Cal Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation Colorado Economic Development and International Trade, Colorado Office Connecticut Connecticut Innovations, Inc. Delaware University of Delaware Florida University of Central Florida Research Foundation, inc. Georgia University of Georgia Research Foundation Hawaii Hawaii Technology Development Corporation Idaho Idaho State University Illinois Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Indiana Indiana Economic Development Corporation Iowa Iowa State University of Science and Technology Kansas Wichita State University Kentucky Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation Louisiana Louisiana Economic Development Maine Central Maine Growth Council Maryland Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) Michigan BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting Minnesota MNSBIR, Inc. Missouri The Curators of the University of Missouri Mississippi Innovate Mississippi Montana Montana State University Nebraska Board of Regents, Univ. of Neb., dba Univ. of Neb. at Omaha Nevada Board of Regents, NSHE obo the University of Nevada, Las Vegas New Hampshire University of New Hampshire New Jersey Rutgers, The State University New Mexico Regents of New Mexico State University New York Research Foundation of CUNY North Carolina First Flight Venture Center, Inc. North Dakota University of North Dakota Ohio Ohio Aerospace Institute Oklahoma Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma Oregon VertueLab Pennsylvania Ben Franklin Technology Partners Corporation Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust Rhode Island Rhode Island Commerce Corporation South Carolina University of South Carolina South Dakota South Dakota Biotechnology Council Tennessee Tennessee Technology Development Corporation dba LaunchTN Texas The University of Texas at San Antonio Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity Virginia Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation Washington Life Science Washington Institute Wisconsin Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System West Virginia U.S. Research Impact Alliance Wyoming University of Wyoming ## Video - [BEDC Local Leaders Talk Business](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHim0T1W6fU) ## Related Topics - [All Industries](https://www.tradeandindustrydev.com/listing/1035/all-industries.md)