Innovate fund to create Rhode Island jobs
Posted on October 25, 2014
The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation (Commerce RI) and the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) are giving out grants so that several businesses can create Rhode Island jobs.
The companies plan on giving six Rhode Island businesses will receive $269,963 in grants.
This is the second year the grants have been available through the Innovate RI Fund. The Rhode Island General Assembly created the fund in 2013 to help foster job creation, facilitate small business development and enhance the workforce pipeline.
Rhode Island small businesses may apply for grants to defray the cost of applying for federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) awards, match SBIR/STTR Phase I awards and hire interns. Each company has received a competitive Phase I SBIR/STTR grant from the federal government to develop a technology that is of interest to a federal agency.
The grants are the result of the first call for applications for FY 2015. Approximately $90,000 is still available to fund three additional grants by June 30, 2015. Applications are sought on a quarterly basis. The next call for applications will be posted in January 2015 for companies that received SBIR/STTR Phase I awards in the fourth quarter of 2014.
“State matching grants are equal to 30 percent of the federal award up to a maximum of $45,000. The grants are disbursed in two phases, with 75 percent of the grant disbursed upon successful application to the program and the remaining 25 percent disbursed upon submission of a Phase II proposal.”To create jobs and grow our economy, we must continue to support and invest in our existing assets, such as the great minds at work at our colleges, universities, pioneering businesses and research facilities,” Governor Lincoln D. Chafee said. “The Innovate Rhode Island Fund enables us to promote and encourage cutting-edge research, support our small businesses and attract more federal research dollars to Rhode Island.”
