Grayson County Record - Leitchfield, KY, USA

MONDAY JUNE 23, 2008
Last modified: Friday, June 20, 2008 2:34 PM CDT

Governor Beshear Announces New Funding for Small Business Innovation Research
at BIO International Conference
Technology and Innovation grants have economic development impact

SAN DIEGO, CA (June 19, 2008) - Governor Steve Beshear today announced a new round of funding for the state's highly successful Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants. The matching funds program is unique to Kentucky. The announcement came as the governor attended the BIO International Conference in San Diego, the world's largest gathering of biotech companies with an estimated 20,000 attendees representing 2,000 companies from more than 50 countries.

"This is an excellent opportunity to talk with companies about what Kentucky has to offer and give them the news that we are ready to match, dollar for dollar federal SBIR and STTR grants," said Gov. Beshear. "This means that small, high-tech companies in Kentucky, and those who are looking to relocate to our state, can potentially double their federal grant awards. We've already seen the positive results of this program with more than $7 million awarded to 31 companies. Obviously, Kentucky is backing up its commitment to research and development with money, not just talk."

One such company, Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, relocated this year from Philadelphia to Lexington after receiving a $1.3 million federal SBIR grant and $1 million in matching funds from Kentucky.

"These are the types of companies and jobs that we are actively seeking as we talk with groups here in San Diego," said Gov. Beshear. "In economically difficult times like we face today, Kentucky must seek a more diverse workforce and the companies that bring these jobs here. Companies like Alltech, with its recently opened Center for Animal Nutrigenomics, Kentucky BioProcessing in Owensboro, Coldstream Laboratories, Advanced Cancer Therapeutics, Scout Diagnostics and many others are great examples of how Kentucky can move forward in the bio-tech field."

More information about Kentucky's SBIR-STTR Matching Funds, which is funded by the Cabinet for Economic Development's Department of Commercialization and Innovation, and other business support programs, is available online at: www.ThinkKentucky.com/dci/sbir1.

Kentucky team at BIO 2008 Conference

Ms. Kristel Smith (front row, left), Interim Executive Director of the EKU Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology (CEDET), is pictured with Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and the Kentucky Team at the Global BioTechnology Convention in San Diego (www.bio2008.org) during the week of June 15, 2008.

The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development’s Department of Commercialization and Innovation participated to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky and its proactive initiatives in economic development. In addition to Governor BeShear was a delegation of representatives from various Kentucky economic development agencies, businesses and universities. Kentucky universities represented were University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, Northern Kentucky University, and Eastern Kentucky University.

The Innovation and Commercialization Center at EKU, which is housed in the EKU College of Business and Technology under the Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology, works with companies who apply for these funds. Mr. Gary Marshall is the ICC Director. More information on CEDET and the ICCs may be found at http://www.cbt.eku.edu/cedet/ or by calling Mr. Marshall at 859-622-8578.