Contact:
Tony Hozeny, 608/267-9661
MADISON—Gov. Jim Doyle today congratulated the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for receiving a $95,000 Federal and State Technology (FAST) program grant that will help small Wisconsin technology businesses access technical and financial assistance.
“My Grow Wisconsin plan calls for transferring our outstanding intellectual capital into new businesses that will create the good jobs of the future,” Gov. Doyle said. “This grant will help the SBDC provide customized services to fast-growing technology firms.”
The Governor said that the FAST grant initiative is the latest of several Grow Wisconsin initiatives that target entrepreneurial and technology development. These initiatives include Act 255, which will establish statewide entrepreneurial and technology transfer centers and leverage up to $300 million in private investment for entrepreneurial companies; the Perspectives program, which enables entrepreneurs with growing companies to share management challenges and solutions with other CEOs, presidents, and business owners; and the creation of a Bureau of Entrepreneurship in the Department of Commerce to focus and coordinate resources for entrepreneurs.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provided the FAST grant to the SBDC. The grant will support specialized education and outreach to help technology-based businesses succeed in Wisconsin. This will include efforts to speed the transfer of university research to the private sector. The grant will help the SBDC provide outreach education, financial aid, and technical assistance to small businesses seeking highly competitive federal grants for technology research and development.
Wisconsin is one of only 21 states to receive FAST awards from the SBA this year. The grant proposal was submitted by UW-Extension in collaboration with the UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, the Center for Technology Transfer Inc., the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Economic Partnership, and the Wisconsin Small Business Innovation Consortium.
