MMRDI Partners

Maryland Technology Development Corporation

Renee M. Winsky,
Executive Director

Jacqueline Du Bois,
Minority Programs Manager

Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation

Wanda Plumer,
Director of Business Development

Ajay Gupta,
SBIR Counselor

Maryland Small Business Development Center — Univ. of MD

Ralph Blakeney,
Technology Program Manager

U.S. Small Business Administration

battle at kruger wfmy green puppy targus 90 watt mobile power inverter 2 results tamilnadu surfwise grand prix movie skull and bones

The Maryland Minority Research & Development Initiative (MMRDI)

Overview

The objective of the MMRDI Program is to increase minority- and women-owned businesses’ access to federal grants for early stage research and development projects through the provision of

  • targeted training and business assistance
  • pre-submission proposal reviews, and
  • access to the equipment and expertise of the University of Maryland and the federal laboratories within the State of Maryland.

The MMRDI initiative is specifically intended to empower minority entrepreneurs to more effectively compete for the highly selective Small Business Innovative Research and Small Business Technology Transfer federal grant awards (SBIR/STTR).

The SBIR/STTR grants have been chosen as the funding vehicle of interest because they carry with them provisions for long term economic success such as:

  • Implicit “certification of the science” authentication that can be leveraged to secure follow-on funding with downstream investors,
  • The safeguarding of proprietary information developed under the grant; and
  • Competition-free entry into the government contracting arena for technologies that evolve from the initial grant project.

SBIR/STTR Awards are given out in phases:

  • Phase I provides up to $100,000 over six months for proof-of-concept work;
  • Phase II provides up to $750,000 over two years to further the Phase I research and develop prototype systems.
  • Phase III offers no further funding, but may provide sole-source federal contracts to SBIR companies as the primary provider of the product. The small business retains ownership of all intellectual property, patents or licenses developed during the research process. The federal SBIR/STTR budget exceeds $2 billion. Eleven federal agencies contribute a portion of their research budget to the program.

Companies eligible for the MMRDI must be minority- or women- owned American for-profit enterprises interested in or actively conducting research on the problems relevant to the research solicitations issued by federal agencies participating in the SBIR/STTR program. Companies must be based in Maryland and have fewer than 500 employees. Preference will be given to businesses operating out of Prince George’s County. The TEDCO staff is available to advise companies of their eligibility for the MMRDI program, and direct them towards the research solicitation lists of individual federal agencies.

The MMRDI program has been made possible through a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration. For more information, or to participate in the program, please contact the TEDCO Minority Programs Manager.

Contact

Jacqueline Du Bois,
Manager of Minority Programs
Tel: 410-715-4176
E-mail: jdubois@marylandtedco.org