MORGANTOWN — Small businesses in West Virginia needing technical assistance to launch new products and services can now use the state’s new Innovation-Technology program for guidance and funding in getting to the marketplace.
The program, developed by the West Virginia Small Business Development Center, includes such services as prototype development, product evaluation, business planning and research.
“The Innovation-Technology program — or ‘In-Tech’ for short — will provide business coaching and technical assistance to West Virginia businesses driven to become more competitive by launching a new product or service, or improving the quality of an existing product or service through technology and innovation,” said Debra Martin, West Virginia Small Business Development Center Director, in a statement.
In-Tech will also help state small businesses apply for Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer funding, two of the federal government’s largest sources of early-stage funding for technology commercialization.
“The small businesses who are the target of this program are those who might not have the internal resources to participate in research and development that is necessary to drive technological innovation,” said Deborah Magyar, In-Tech’s program coordinator, in an email to The Dominion Post.
“Access to the capital needed to fund R&D is one of their biggest challenges,” Magyar said.
Small businesses who have successfully applied for federal SBIR and SBTT funding, are eligible to apply for matching state funds of $2,500 annually. Businesses that have received federal grants through the program — retroactive to Jan. 1 — may apply for matching funds from the state. Matching funds up to $100,000 for Phase 1 recipients and up to $200,000 for Phase 2 recipients may be applied for until Jan. 31, or between May 1-31, or Sept. 1-30.
Magyar said the state funding comes from The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Investment Fund created by the state Legislature last year. The total amount of funding available is $500,000, she added.
