The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers are part of the Innovation Partnership, a consortium of economic development and business assistance organizations located throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The goal of the Innovation Partnership is to help early stage technology companies secure federal funding opportunities – especially biotechnology, nanotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and communications technology businesses that show early signs of commercial success.

The Innovation Partnership offers an on-line Proposal Preparation Assistance Program (PPAP) system, known also as the MicroGrant Program. PPAP provides expert, on-line technical assistance designed specifically for the early review of potential SBIR and STTR proposals. This is a critical element is improving a small technology business’ prospects for winning a federal award. Businesses contemplating an SBIR proposal can fill out a secure online application form on the Innovation Partnership website. Applicants are prompted to provide relevant information including: a description of the technology, reference to the federal solicitation, relevant research topics, anticipated commercial applications, potential markets, qualifications of project team members, and proposal assistance needs.

This system offers high quality reviews of the proposed project and its commercialization potential, with comprehensive written feedback by three independent professional reviewers selected from an approved reviewer pool. The opinions and recommendations from these reviewers are compiled into an evaluation report, which is then shared with the applicant as constructive feedback. Applicants may request additional technical assistance from the any of the partners in the network.

Companies seeking federal research and development opportunities can take advantage of the Innovation Partnership’s micro-grant process to help strengthen their federal R&D proposal by visiting the Innovation Partnership at www.innovationpartnership.net. The Innovation Partnership has helped over 100 companies win micro-grant awards with many of these companies going on to win SBIR Phase I and Phase II SBIR funding.