Understanding the DoD’s Small Business Programs and Contracts

The Small Business Innovation Research Program

The United States Government program Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), which is currently authorized until September 30, 2017 and regulated by the Small Business Administration, supports and encourages all federal agencies with exterior research funds in excess of $100 million to have a percentage securely reserved for contracts and grants to small businesses.

Every year, the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovation Research program equates to over $1 billion in research funds—with more than half of the contracts presented to companies with fewer than 25 people, a third of the contracts to businesses with fewer than 10, and a fifth to women- or minority-owned firms. In the past, around a quarter of the businesses awarded with contracts are first-time winners.

For a full discussion of the Small Business Innovation Research Program, please click here.

The Small Business Technology Transfer Program

In 1992 the U.S. Congress enacted the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Similarly structured with the SBIR, the STTR finances and supports cooperative research and development programs with small businesses in association with non-profit research organizations (including but not limited to universities, colleges, etc.) to expand their research to the marketplace. As with the SBIR, the STTR is likewise authorized up until September 20, 2017 for those federal agencies with external research budgets of over $1 billion.

Here is a more comprehensive overview of the government’s Small Business Technology Transfer program.

The Three Phases of the SBIR/STTR Programs

The SBIR/STTR Programs are organized in three phases:

1. Phase 1 is the project feasibility phase wherein the commercial, scientific, and technical merits as well as feasibility of ideas submitted are determined and enumerated.
2. Phase 2 is the project development to prototype phase where the major research and development strategies are established, prototyping are funded, and the most promising phase 1 projects are demonstrated.
3. Phase 3 is the commercialization phase, which is the final and ultimate objective of every SBIR/STTR program.  The law requires that phase 3 efforts should be funded by external SBIR/STTR sources.

Read more about the SBIR and STTR programs here and see if your business is eligible to participate in them.

A Little Help from StateAndFederalBids

Every business day at 5 p.m., around $6.5 million worth of contracts from the Department of Defense are announced. The department has established an organized archiving system for old announcements on these contracts, which can be found here. To be a successful awardee and be added to this list, you need to initially learn about these opportunities and prepare a bid based on the government agency’s specifications.

StateAndFederalBids is still second to none when it comes to purposefully gathering, sorting, and monitoring these bids to provide promising solutions for small firms and organizations considering to sign contracts and to establish business relations with the Department of Defense.

Click here to learn more about how StateAndFederalBids.com can help you identify Defense bid opportunities suitable for your business.