The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is seeking nominations for its annual Tibbetts and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Hall of Fame Awards.
For details on how to submit nominations, visit http://www.sbir.gov/news/2015-tibbetts-and-sbir-hall-fame-award-nominations. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. EDT, April 10, 2015. Please note that for the first time, there is an option for nominations to be made by video presentation.
The Tibbetts Awards are presented to those small businesses, support organizations and/or individuals who are judged to exemplify the best in the SBIR program. The award is named for Roland Tibbetts, acknowledged as the father of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, and is presented to a company or individual that has leveraged the SBIR/STTR investment in a way that has generated a measurable return in value to small business innovation and the national economy.
“Innovative entrepreneurs and high-growth small businesses help power our economy and move it forward by creating new jobs and making our industries globally competitive,” said SBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Natalia Olson-Urtecho. “We have many in the mid-Atlantic region, and they remind us all of how integral the success of high growth small businesses are to making our country more globally competitive.”
The SBA administers the SBIR and the STTR programs for small businesses seeking to advance their technological inventions in the commercial marketplace. The SBIR program is a highly competitive three-phase award program that encourages small businesses to explore their technological potential and helps them profit from their inventions.
There are two types of Tibbetts awards. One prize goes to businesses that have participated in the SBIR or STTR award programs. Another award goes to organizations and/or individuals who have not received SBIR/STTR funding, but who have contributed significantly in implementing the programs or in supporting program participants.
All Tibbetts and SBIR Hall of Fame award winners will be selected by the SBA based on the recommendations of a panel of judges. The winners will be invited to an awards program held in June during the annual SBIR National Conference at the National Harbor.
