Small Business Innovation Research

General Information

Assistance Types:

B - PROJECT GRANTS

Applicant Eligibilty:

34-Small business (less than 500 employees)/ 12-Agriculture/Forestry/Fish and Game;14-Business/Commerce;66-Science and Technology

Beneficiary Eligibilty:

34 - Small business

 

Contact Information

Website:

http://www.nifa.usda.gov/fo/sbir

Regional or Local Office:

None.

Headquarters Office:

USDA, NIFA, National Program Leader, Institute of Bioenergy, Climate and Environment – Division of Environmental Systems, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 2210, Washington, District of Columbia, 20250-2210, Telephone: (202) 720-5229, Fax: (202) 720-3945.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT:

USDA, NIFA, National Program Leader, Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition, Division of Food Safety, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 2225, Washington, District of Columbia 20250-2225 Phone: (202) 401-1954, Fax (202) 401-4888.
, Washington , District of Columbia 20250-2210 Phone: (202) 720-5229

 

 

Program Information

Program Number/Title (010):

10.212 Small Business Innovation Research

Popular Name (020):

(SBIR Program - Phase I and II)

Federal Agency (030):

National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Department of Agriculture

Authorization (040):

This program solicitation is issued pursuant to the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982, Public Law 97-219, as amended (15 U.S.C. 638) and Section 630 of the Act making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies’ programs for fiscal year ending September 30, 1987, and for other purposes, as made applicable by Section 101(a) of Public Law 99-591, 100 Stat. 3341.

Objectives (050):

To stimulate technological innovation in the private sector, strengthen the role of small businesses in meeting Federal research and development needs, increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from USDA-supported research and development efforts, and foster and encourage participation, by women-owned and socially disadvantaged small business firms in technological innovation.

Types of Assistance (060):

PROJECT GRANTS

Uses and Use Restrictions (070):

The selected areas for research are Forests and Related Resources; Plant Production and Protection-Biology; Animal Production and Protection; Air, Water and Soils; Food Science and Nutrition; Rural and Community Development; Aquaculture; Biofuels and Biobased Products; Small and Mid-Size Farms, Plant Production and Protection-Engineering. The Small Business Innovation Research Program is carried out in three separate phases:
Phase I projects are supported to determine the scientific or technical feasibility of ideas submitted by small business applicants on the selected research areas;
Phase II awards are made to firms with approaches that appear sufficiently promising as a result of Phase I studies. Only those small businesses previously receiving Phase I awards in either of the two preceding fiscal years are eligible to submit Phase II proposals.
Phase II projects are limited to $450,000 for a period normally not to exceed 24 months; Phase III is to be conducted by the small business concern (including joint ventures and limited partnerships), and will be non-SBIR funded through the exercising of a follow-on funding commitment. The purpose of Phase III is to stimulate technological innovation and the national return on investment from research through the pursuit of commercialization objectives resulting from the USDA-supported work carried out in Phases I and II. Grant funds must be used for allowable costs necessary to conduct approved fundamental and applied research, extension and education objectives to address food and agricultural sciences.
Fee:
A reasonable fee, not to exceed seven percent of total Federal funds awarded is permitted under this program, but applicants are encouraged to minimize fee requests due to the small amount of funds available. All fees are subject to negotiation with USDA.
Indirect Costs:
If available, the current rate negotiated with the cognizant Federal negotiating agency should be used. Indirect costs may not exceed the negotiated rate.
If no rate has been negotiated, a reasonable dollar amount in lieu of indirect costs may be requested, which will be subject to approval by USDA. In the latter case, if an application is recommended for funding, an indirect cost rate application must be submitted to support the amount of indirect costs requested. NIFA will request an indirect cost rate application and provide instructions, as necessary.
An applicant may elect not to charge indirect costs and, instead, use all grant funds for direct costs.
Further detailed instructions are provided in the SBIR RFA (solicitation). Fully discretionary.

Eligibility Requirements (080)

Applicant Eligibility (081):

Applicant Eligibility (1) is organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States, which operates primarily within the United States, or which makes a significant contribution to the United States economy through the payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor; (2) is in the legal form of an individual proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, joint venture, association, trust or cooperative, except that where the form is a joint venture, there can be no more than 49 percent participation by foreign business entities in the joint venture; (3) is at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States, except in the case of a joint venture, where each entity in the venture must be 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in the United States; and (4) has, including its affiliates, not more than 500 employees. The term "affiliates" is defined in greater detail in 13 CFR 121.103. The term "number of employees" is defined in 13 CFR 121.106.

Beneficiary Eligibility (082):

Small businesses.

Credentials/Documentation (083):

No Credentials or documentation are required. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-87.

Application and Award Process (090)

Preapplication Coordination (091):

All RFAs are published on the Agency’s website and Grants.gov. Applicants must complete the Grants.gov registration process. Please see the following Grants.gov link for more information: http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp. An environmental impact statement is required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedures (092):

This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-102. OMB Circular No. A-110 applies to this program. Applications should be submitted as outlined in the RFA. Applications must follow the instructions provided per Grants.Gov and in the Agency guide to submitting applications via Grants.gov.

Award Procedure (093):

Applications are subjected to a system of peer and merit review in accordance with Section 103 of the Agricultural Research, Extension and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 1613) by a panel of qualified scientists and other appropriate persons who are specialists in the field covered by the proposal. Within the limit of funds available for such purpose, the NIFA Authorized Departmental Officer (ADO) shall make grants to those responsible, eligible applicants whose applications are judged most meritorious under the procedures set forth in the RFA. Reviewers will be selected based upon training and experience in relevant scientific, extension, or education fields, taking into account the following factors: (a) The level of relevant formal scientific, technical education, or extension experience of the individual, as well as the extent to which an individual is engaged in relevant research, education, or extension activities; (b) the need to include as reviewers experts from various areas of specialization within relevant scientific, education, or extension fields; (c) the need to include as reviewers other experts (e.g., producers, range or forest managers/operators, and consumers) who can assess relevance of the applications to targeted audiences and to program needs; (d) the need to include as reviewers experts from a variety of organizational types (e.g., colleges, universities, industry, state and Federal agencies, private profit and non-profit organizations) and geographic locations; (e) the need to maintain a balanced composition of reviewers with regard to minority and female representation and an equitable age distribution; and (f) the need to include reviewers who can judge the effective usefulness to producers and the general public of each application. Evaluation Criteria will be delineated in the RFA.

Deadlines (094):

Not Applicable.