Change is always risky, especially in these economic times. So, it’s not surprising that when small businesses – even thriving ones – want to launch or advance something new or different, they are extra cautious when investing their hard-earned dollars.
 
In conducting our SBIR outreach, we have frequently heard from small manufacturing companies that they are reluctant to take major steps to innovate or diversify their product offerings because of the inherent risks. In the interest of helping them grow their businesses and increase revenue, we worked with the Department of Economic and Community Development to develop a new grant program. 

The program, called the Small Business Innovation and Diversification Program (SBIDP), kicked off in late December and offers small manufacturing businesses (with fewer than 500 employees) assistance with product diversification. Maybe you have an improvement to your existing product line that would position you more competitively, or even an innovative piece of equipment or software that would revolutionize an industry. Or perhaps you’re considering expanding into a new market but need some additional resources to go forward. If you are contemplating a technology product or service that’s innovative or will diversify your markets, we want to help you.

The program will provide grants of up to $25k and requires a dollar-for-dollar matching investment. To find out more about it, go to the Small Business Innovation and Diversification Program page on Connecticut Innovations’ website.  But don’t wait too long. Although the program is scheduled to run through early June 2011, it will run only while funds last – and there’s already lots of buzz around it, with applications coming in steadily. Why not check it out? It could ultimately mean dollars for your business and jobs/revenue for the state.

Roberta Rossi
Project Manager, SBIR

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