Pat Dillon Demystifies Federal Funding Available to Start-ups and Existing Businesses, Part II

Episode 322: Pat Dillon Demystifies Federal Funding Available to Start-ups and Existing Businesses, Part II

Episode Notes

Pat Dillon and her team, work with a diverse portfolio of over 100 start-ups and existing small businesses each year as they transform their high-risk, high-impact technologies into marketable products and services. Small businesses learn how to apply for and secure funding through SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Accelerator (SBIR/STTR) programs, coaching and navigating across 11 federal agencies. We discuss what grant projects are funded, who is getting funding, and SBIR/STTR annual road trips you can participate in. Plus, five vital questions to answer, whether you need more funding or not.

Pat is working with legislation to make annual funding for these programs permanent ($2.5B to $4B/year). She has +40-years of program success. Our government has awarded more than $50B to start-ups and existing businesses nationwide since 1982. Pat says, “Over 400 Minnesota companies who employ under 500 people have received $880M in funding.” Qualcomm, a leading wireless technology company, would not be where they are without Small Business Innovation Research early-stage government funding. You will hear Mom and Pop shops getting funding too.

Pat describes her long-term relationships with small business leaders like this. “Each relationship is like Hotel California. Once you enter, you can’t leave,” she chuckles heartily. Her passion and enthusiasm for Minnesota small businesses are evident as her appetite for novel ideas increases. They are always on the hunt for new innovations.

Pat is the founder and director of Minnesota’s Small Business Innovation Research and the Small Business Technology Transfer Accelerator – known as Minnesota SBIR/STTR Accelerator. She is a treasured innovator in Minnesota’s science and technology, investment, and commercialization arena. Thank you, Pat, for your U.S. Navy career and commitment to serving innovative small businesses. DOWNLOAD

NEXT STEP: Challenge yourself and do the Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring (C.A.L.M.) Activities, below.

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Episode Resources

America’s Seed Fund

Funding Opportunity

SBIR Road Tour – Seeding America’s Future Innovations

SBA Office of Innovation and Technology Leadership | SBIR.gov

SBIR/STTR 11 Participating Agencies

1st Podcast Conversation with Pat Dillon

Pat Dillon Demystifies Federal Funding Available to Start-ups and Existing Businesses, Part I | WeMentor Mondays with Nancy PODCAST

Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring

After listening, do these three C.A.L.M. Activities:

Take this risk or do this adventurous task: Check into the 2022 SBIR Road Tour to Seed America’s Future Innovations. Learn about the 40-year history of the SBA Office of Innovation and Technology and SBIR/STTR programming.

Apply Self-Compassion: Before a big meeting, try an expansive pose. Sit up straight and be present by telling yourself: “I am powerful, bold, and authentic in accepting this challenge. I can communicate clearly, lead this meeting constructively, and say what is connected to my heart. I can hear what I need and what this group needs. We will reach our desired outcomes.”

Welcome Appreciation: “I appreciate Pat’s 40 years of service in the U.S. Navy and her 30+ years of service in building Minnesota’s science and technology, investment, and commercialization arenas. I am grateful for her passion for working with innovators and facilitating their ability to get funding. I appreciate Pat and appreciate her openness and wisdom.”

Your Turn. Start with, “I appreciate what I heard from today’s Guest Mentor, Pat Dillon. I appreciate this week’s adventurous task because….”

“Most of the problems in our lives and world are caused by relational dysfunction, a dysfunction in how we relate: as social groups, as individuals, to animals and the environment, and even to ourselves. Therefore, developing relational literacy—the understanding of and ability to practice healthy ways of relating—is essential for personal, social, and ecological transformation.” —Melanie Joy, psychologist, author, theorist, educator

When WeMentor… your life becomes more meaningful!!! Redefine how you lead and mentor while redesigning your business. Dual Innovation with Mentoring WORKS.

Podcast Guest Mentor

Pat Dillon, MBA, is a treasured innovator in Minnesota’s science and technology, investment, and commercialization arena. She is the founder and director of Minnesota’s Small Business Innovation Research and the Small Business Technology Transfer Accelerator – known as Minnesota SBIR/STTR Accelerator.

The Minnesota SBIR/STTR Accelerator helps a diverse portfolio of start-ups and existing small businesses transform their high-risk, high-impact technologies into marketable products and services. Through education, coaching, and navigating across 11 federal agencies, Pat and her team help small businesses to apply for and secure SBIR/STTR Accelerator funding. These programs are referred to as America’s Seed Fund, one of the largest sources of early-stage capital for technology commercialization in the United States. Taxpayers’ investments in small innovative businesses have supported SBIR/STTR funding since 1982.

Pat has 30+ years of demonstrated knowledge, experience, and relationships that allow hundreds of businesses to apply and win funding. Since 1994, Pat has facilitated $250M in SBIR/STTR Accelerator funding, resulting in additional investments, patents, jobs, mergers and acquisitions, and new products and services for global markets.

Pat is a recipient of the prestigious Small Business Administration Tibbetts Award for excellence in the programs. Pat chairs the Technological Leadership Institute Advisory Board at the University of Minnesota. She is a retired United States Navy Commander who served 40 years with one 10-month tour in Afghanistan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Pat earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Winona State University, Minnesota.

Pat Dillon,CDR,USN (Ret), MBA – Founder and Director, Minnesota SBIR/STTR Accelerator – Minnesota Technology Association | LinkedIn

“Pat Dillon and MNSBIR are incredible assets to the Minnesota tech and start-up community. Nothing can prepare you for putting together an entire grant package and actually submitting it. Pat took the time to read through the entirety of our proposal (letters of support, budget, and justification, 15-page grant, everything!), leaving no stone unturned. Without Minnesota state funding for a program like this and Pat as a passionate professional to help us, we surely would have had a tougher time preparing and winning our NSF SBIR Phase I award of $256K with the potential for $1M+ in Phase II.” Wesley A. Wierson, Ph.D., CEO, LEAH Labs (they develop cancer treatments for dogs

Episode 322: Pat Dillon Demystifies Federal Funding Available to Start-ups and Existing Businesses, Part II