Federal agencies have a wide variety of initiatives aimed at harnessing the creative power of American small businesses. These include most notably the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, as well as other initiatives such as the Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) sponsored by the US Department of Energy's, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program; the Experimental Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR); and the Advanced Technology (ATP) program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Dawnbreaker designs programs to meet the expressed needs of federal agencies. Program design is based upon a number of factors including a knowledge of: (1) the unique culture of that agency, (2) the metrics to be used by GAO and Congress in evaluating the success of that agencies' programs, (3) aspects of commercialization within the scientific discipline that are unique such as FDA approval with NIH, (4) stretch goals and objectives of the agency champion, and (5) financial constraints.
In response to these needs, Dawnbreaker creates a program customized to meet the objectives of that Agency. Core competencies brought to bear in designing such a program include our depth of experience across multiple disciplines and industries, business planning, marketing communications, market research, negotiations assistance, manufacturing assessments, training, and organizational development.
Our customized programs tend to fall into one of four categories, described as models. The four models are Educational, Informational, Hybrid, and Acceleration models.
Educational Model: This model is best used with novice companies and in those situations when an agency has little available funding ($4,000/project). The focus of the educational model is to effect change in the behavior of the small business that needs to quickly learn about commercialization and change some aspects of their behavior. This is ideal for agencies that have many new start-ups participating in their programs.
Example: NSF Phase 1 Commercialization Planning Program
Information Model: When a company needs information and the federal budget is lean ($4,000/project), the information model may be the best choice. The focus of the information model is to provide a market research report containing both primary and secondary information. Our Commercial Potential AssessmentTM (CPA) provides information on customer and end user receptivity, industry overview, market size, competitor analysis, intellectual property overview, and recommended commercialization strategies.
Example: NIST Phase 1 Commercialization Assistance Program
Hybrid Model: Phase II interventions lend themselves to a more comprehensive approach which includes elements of both the educational and informational model, as well as a variety of other features including an Opportunity Forum®. An agency providing a Hybrid model usually spends about $12,000 per project to allow for the various elements of the program.
Example: DOE Commercialization Assistance Program (CAP)
Navy Transition Assistance Program (TAP)
Acceleration Model: There are situations in which financial constraints are to a large extent eliminated. This is the case with the Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) which allows for dedicated staff to assist a small number of companies with technologies that meet a critical need. In this situation, a wide variety of services are made available - and the vendor is afforded tremendous latitude that is not available with programs that have a very limited budget.
Example: NAVAIR Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP)
Dawnbreaker is pleased to respond to inquiries for custom designed programs that will help an agency meets its objectives within the budget allowed.
Al Clark
Government Business Development Manager
aclark@dawnreaker.com
(703) 866-9888
