Florida Helps Firms to Win Grants

28 companies now recipients of Enterprise Florida Phase “0” funds

Phase “0” helps businesses prepare winning federal grant proposals

Twenty-eight companies collectively have received 32 Phase “0” awards --  funds totaling up to $3,000 to help them prepare federal small business grant proposals -- since Enterprise Florida launched the program in November 2005.

The goal is to help Florida firms better their odds of winning Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) Phase 1 grants, which are provided by federal agencies such as the departments of Agriculture, Defense (DoD), Education, Energy, Homeland Security, Transportation, and NASA, National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation.

Companies use Phase “0” funds for market research, proposal and grant writing, legal aid for patent filing, technology consulting services, site visits to federal labs and a variety of other needs.

Eligibility requirements include a recommendation of the applicant by an economic development partner organization of Enterprise Florida.  Additionally, the Lytmos Group – national network of subject matter experts that evaluate grant proposals – assesses their SBIR and SBTT proposal concepts, reviewing them as they do companies at the federal level.  For example, their proposals are examined for responsiveness to the federal solicitation, for being new ideas, whether the company has the facilities and skill sets needed, and commercial potential.  A committee vote then determines whether a Phase “0” award will be given.

Enterprise Florida developed Phase “0” because research showed Florida companies had a “horrendously low acceptance rate” for the federal grants, said Bill Kean, Enterprise Florida’s senior director of Quality and Phase “0” program director.   In 2007 when Phase “0” recipients totaled 16, results were “better than expected,” Kean said.  Nearly four years later, the success rate exceeds the state and national average for the federal grants.  
 

Phase “0” Recipients since November 2005

Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) is a partnership between Florida's business and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for the state of Florida.  Headquartered in Orlando, EFI’s mission is to diversify Florida’s economy and create better-paying jobs for its citizens by supporting, attracting and helping to create businesses in innovative, high-growth industries.