Newswise — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Small Business Vouchers (SBV) Program is once again offering U.S. small businesses unparalleled access to the expertise and facilities of DOE’s national laboratories, including Argonne National Laboratory.
Small businesses in the clean-energy sector have an opportunity to submit requests for technical assistance as part of Round 3 of the SBV Program. Companies have until November 10, 2016, to submit applications.
“The SBV pilot is a solution for small businesses to access the world-renowned expertise and instrumentation at DOE labs to help scale up their new clean technologies,” said Greg Morin, director of Argonne’s Office of Strategy and Innovation. “Companies can take advantage of high-tech resources that they may not have realized were available, whether it is collaborating with our researchers or gaining assistance from top engineers or facilities.”
Johanna Wolfson, Technology-to-Market Director in the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), launched the program’s third round on Oct. 10, 2016, at South By Southwest Eco in Austin, Texas.
The pilot program, part of EERE’s Lab Impact portfolio, aims to help small businesses bring next-generation clean energy technologies to market faster by giving them access to expertise and tools at national labs.
The SBV pilot opened its first funding round in fall 2015 and launched its second last spring. Since then, nearly 800 applications have been reviewed, and 76 small businesses from 25 states have been awarded a total of $14.7 million in vouchers.
For this third round, EERE hopes to increase the number of small businesses collaborating with the DOE national laboratories. As such, small businesses with little to no experience working with the national laboratories are strongly encouraged to submit applications.
Individual vouchers range from $50,000 to $300,000 per small business and can be used to perform collaborative research or gain access to lab instrumentation or facilities. Companies selected must also provide a 20 percent in-kind cost share for completing voucher work.
Argonne has collaborated or is currently collaborating with multiple small businesses as part of the program. The eligible areas in which Argonne is participating are advanced manufacturing, bioenergy, building technology, fuel cells, geothermal energy, vehicle technology and wind.
The SBV pilot gives the nation’s clean-tech small businesses the opportunity to take their innovative products to the next level. By supporting their growth, the United States helps these companies make a more meaningful impact on the economy and clean energy sector.
Businesses interested in SBV funding must be U.S.-based and U.S.-owned, with no more than 500 full-time employees worldwide. $12 million is available for vouchers in rounds 3 and 4.
The deadline for applications is Nov. 10, 2016 (11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). To learn more about the program and to submit an application, visit http://www.SBV.org.
Questions can be addressed to David McCallum, SBV program manager for Argonne, at 630-252-4338.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the Office of Science website.
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