Oregon Launches $400,000 Grant Program for Entrepreneurs Seeking Federal Money

The new Business Oregon program will help companies in their early stages develop their products to the point where they would be candidates for a much larger federal program.

(Tribune News Service) -- Oregon's economic development agency is establishing a new, $400,000 fund for entrepreneurs seeking a gateway to larger federal grants.

It's grant money for those seeking grant money.

Business Oregon's new program will help companies in their early stages develop their products to the point where they would be candidates for a much larger federal program, called Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer.

"We want to fill the pipeline with more Oregon companies applying for these funds," said Sean Robbins, Business Oregon's director.

SBIR/STTR, established in 1982, awards $2.5 billion in research grants annually. It's a two-phase program that grants $150,000 to research a project's feasibility and then, potentially, up to $1 million more to help develop that product for market.

Oregon is 18th in the nation in SBIR/STTR dollars, according to Robbins. That's above the median, but he said the state could do better.

"A lot of the states we compete with in the market, Washington and Colorado, do a lot better than us," Robbins said. "We really want to move up our competitiveness."

This is a one-time offering, with applications now open on the Business Oregon website. The agency says it might renew the program if it proves successful.

The state's program, like the federal grants, is in two phases and expands on existing Oregon grants.

Oregon offers up to $100,000 split among as many as 20 companies to help them prepare for their federal grant applications. Another $300,000, to be split among a half-dozen companies, is earmarked to match whatever federal funds applicants win.

Both the federal and state money come with restrictions on how the money can be spent. Robbins said Oregon's program is designed to pick up some of the business costs the federal guidelines exclude.

Business Oregon is in the process of shifting its priorities from out-of-state recruitment to growing local companies. And fundraising has been an enduring source of concern for young Oregon businesses with big aspirations.

The state has a number of other programs to back early stage entrepreneurship, including the Oregon Growth Account, which derives its funding from state lottery dollars. Those funds help support the Portland Seed Fund and Oregon Angel Fund, which invest in early-stage companies.