FAST FOA - FY 2017_Final (OGC).docx

U.S. Small Business Administration Federal and State Technology Partnership Program

Funding Opportunity No. FAST-2017-R-0011

U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Investment and Innovation

FEDERAL AND STATE TECHNOLOGY (FAST)

PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

FY 2017

Funding Opportunity No.

FAST-2017-R-0011

Opening Date: May 15, 2017 Closing Date: June 20, 2017

Proposals responding to this Funding Opportunity Announcement must be posted to www.grants.gov by 4 p.m. Eastern Time, June 20, 2017. No other methods of submission will be permitted. Proposals submitted after the stipulated deadline will be rejected without being evaluated.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement is to invite proposals for funding from any public or private organization, entity or individual interested in providing assistance and guidance to small technology business concerns.

Table of Contents

1.2 Introduction

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001, codified at 15 U.S.C 657d(c), established the FAST program. In accordance with is original statutory language, the program expired on September 30, 2005, however it was reestablished under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010.

1.3 Background

Since its inception in 1953, SBA has served to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small businesses. While SBA is best known for its financial support of small businesses through its many lending programs, the Agency also plays a critical role in providing funding to organizations that deliver technical assistance in the form of counseling and training to small business concerns and nascent entrepreneurs in order to promote growth, expansion, innovation, increased productivity and management improvement.

The mission of SBA’s Office of Innovation & Technology, which bears responsibility for administering the FAST Program, is to strengthen the technological competitiveness of small business concerns in every state. The FAST program focuses on improving the participation of small firms in the innovation and commercialization of new technology, thereby helping keep the United States on the cutting edge of research and development in science and technology.

1.4 Purpose

Eligible organizations (as defined in Section 3.2) may apply to SBA for awards of financial assistance under this Announcement to fund projects that improve the participation of small technology firms to submit proposals and win more SBIR/STTR awards and/or commercialize SBIR/STTR technologies.

Extra consideration (as outlined in Section 5.2) will be given to organizations that detail plans to increase the participation of small businesses owned or controlled by women, and/or increase the participation of women as Principal Investigators (PI); and increase the participation of small businesses owned or controlled by individuals who are socially or economically disadvantaged.

As set forth in the Small Business Act (Rev.13) FAST awards seek to enhance the following:

a. Outreach, financial support and technical assistance to technology-based small business concerns participating in or interested in participating in an SBIR/STTR program, including initiatives:

(i) To operate a mentoring network to provide business advice and counseling relevant to concerns identified by FAST Program participants, program managers of participating SBIR agencies, the Administration, past SBIR/STTR awardees, other entities that are knowledgeable about SBIR /STTR, and individuals that are good candidates for the SBIR/STTR Programs and that would benefit from mentoring, in accordance with section 35 of the Small Business Act (15 USC § 657c);

(ii) To participate in SBA’s Train-the-Trainer program (September 2017 launch) for individuals providing SBIR outreach and assistance at the state and local levels, and/or adapt a similar program to meet local needs;

(iii) To encourage the commercialization of technology developed through SBIR/STTR program funding; and

(iv) To make grants or loans to companies to pay a portion or all of the cost of developing SBIR/STTR proposals.

b. Technology research and development by small business concerns;

c. Technology transfer from university research to technology-based small business;

d. Technology deployment and diffusion benefiting small business concerns;

e. Increasing small business technological capabilities through the establishment or operation of consortia comprised of entities or individuals including, but not limited to:

(iv) State and local development agencies and entities;

(v) Federal agencies involved in technology or economic development;

(vi) Technology-based small business to include past SBIR/STTR awardees;

(vii) Relevant industry representatives and emerging companies;

(viii) Universities and colleges;

(ix) Accelerators and incubators; and

(x) Small Business Development Centers.

1.5 Leveraging of Resources

Applicants selected for awards under this Announcement are required to maximize their efforts to leverage SBA funding by working in conjunction with other public and private entities that provide support or have resources that would benefit small technology based businesses:

a. Resource partners such as Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, SCORE, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, Growth Accelerators, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, SBA lenders, and more;

b. Federal, state, and local government;

c. Universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education; and

d. Private organizations such as chambers of commerce and trade/industry groups.

1.6 SBA Involvement and Oversight

A designated Grants Officer Technical Representative (GOTR) within the Office of Innovation and Technology will be responsible for overall monitoring and oversight of a FAST Award Recipient, including compliance with the grant terms. Designated Grants Officers within the Office of Grants Management (OGM) will be responsible for issuing the Notice of Award, making modifications to the award, and processing payments.

1.7 Changes or Cancellation

SBA reserves the right to amend or cancel this Announcement, in whole or in part, at the Agency’s discretion. Should SBA make material changes to this Announcement, the Agency will extend the Closing Date as necessary to afford Applicants sufficient opportunity to address such changes.

Funds provided under the FAST Program must be used solely for the purposes stipulated in this Announcement and the Notice of Award and may not be commingled with any other monies. All costs proposed in an Applicant’s budget must meet the tests of allowability, allocability, and reasonableness set forth in the applicable Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cost principles (2 C.F.R. 200, Subpart E). Indirect costs will be stipulated in an Applicant’s indirect cost rate agreement. SBA will not reimburse Applicants for their proposal preparation costs, but Applicants may request preaward costs. Preaward costs must directly relate to the conduct of the project and meet the tests of allowability, allocability, and reasonableness.

No Federal funds provided through an Award under this Announcement, or matching contributions dedicated to such an Award, may be used for the purpose of making a subgrant. While subcontracting is permitted, successful Applicants may not spend more than 33 percent of Award funds on contractor and/or consultant costs. Under no circumstances may successful Applicants contract out the administration or daily management of this project to another party.

2.2 Matching Requirement

A non-Federal match is required, and not less than 50 percent of the match provided by a recipient must take the form of cash. The remaining match amount may consist of indirect costs and in-kind contributions. With the exception of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, no portion of the match may be derived from funds provided under any other Federal program. Applicants may use up to five (5) percent of their grants for planning activities which are excluded from the non-Federal matching requirements (Refer to Section 8.1 for the definition of planning activity.) The non-Federal share of the cost of an activity (other than a planning activity) carried out under the FAST program is provided below:

a. 50 cents of non-Federal match for each Federal dollar (a 1:2 match) for Recipients in the eighteen (18) states receiving the fewest number of SBIR Phase I awards;

b. except as noted in (d) below, one dollar of non-Federal match for each Federal dollar (1:1 match), in the case of a Recipient that will serve small business concerns located in one of the sixteen (16) states receiving the greatest number of SBIR Phase I awards; and,

c. except as noted in (d) below, 75 cents of non-Federal match (a 3:4 match) for each Federal dollar for all other states not described previously.

d. 50 cents for each Federal dollar that will be directly allocated by a Recipient described in sections (b) or (c) above to serve small business concerns located in a qualified census tract as that term is defined in section 42(d)(5)(C)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Federal dollars not so allocated by that Recipient shall be subject to the matching requirements of section(a), (b) or (c) above.

See Section 8.5 for your state ranking and corresponding match requirement.

An organization may submit only one proposal in response to this Announcement. Any additional applications from the same organization will automatically be rejected without being evaluated.

3.2 Eligible Applicants

In order to be eligible for this funding opportunity an Applicant must:

· Be a public or private entity, organization, or individual that intends to use funding awarded under this Announcement to increase SBIR/STTR proposals and awards within a single or multiple states and provide outreach, financial support, and/or technical assistance to technology based small business concerns related to women and individuals who are socially or economically disadvantaged, as well as underrepresented geographies, to participate in SBIR/STTR programs; and

· Be endorsed by the appropriate state governor or their authorized designee as the only approved applicant from that state.

3.3 Ineligible Applicants

The following organizations will automatically be considered ineligible and their applications will be rejected without being evaluated:

· Any organization that owes an outstanding and unresolved financial obligation to the federal government;

· Any organization that is currently suspended, debarred or otherwise prohibited from receiving awards of contracts or grants from the federal government;

· Any organization with an outstanding and unresolved material deficiency reported under the requirements of the Single Audit Act or OMB Circular A-133 within the past three years;

· Any organization that has had a FAST award involuntarily terminated or non-renewed by SBA for cause within the past year;

· Any organization that has filed for bankruptcy within the past five years;

· Any organization that proposes to serve as a pass-through and permit another organization to manage the day-to-day operations of the project;

· Any organization that was convicted, or had an officer or agent acting on its behalf convicted, of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the preceding two years; and/or

· Any SBA approved Small Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC) (See funding announcement FAST 2017-R-0011A to apply for FAST awards to SBTDCs).

Applications must consist of the following elements: (i) a cover letter; (ii) a technical proposal; (iii) budget information; (iv) certifications, forms and assurances; and (v) attachments and exhibits.

4.1.1 Cover Letter

The first page of each application must include the following information:

· Statement that the application is in response to Funding Opportunity No. FAST-2017-R-0011;

· Applicant’s name, physical address, and website address;

· Name, phone number, and email address for the Applicant’s designated point of contact; and

· Dollar amount of assistance being requested.

4.1.2 Technical Proposal (not to exceed 20 pages)

The technical proposal serves as the narrative blueprint for the Applicant’s planned project and must include the following sections, detailed in section 5.2, in the order listed:

I. Organizational Experience and Capacity II. Project Design III. Project Management IV. Collaboration and Leveraging of Resources V. Target Markets VI. Past Performance VII. Risk Management

4.1.3 Budget Information

Budget information must be provided through the completion or submission of the following:

· Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance;

· SF-424A, Budget Information (Non-Construction Programs);

· Budget Detail Worksheet (Attachments A-9 through A-12 to the SF-424A). An Applicant may substitute its own forms or spreadsheets in place of the Budget Detail Worksheet, provided it includes all the same cost elements/line items covered by Attachments A-9 through A-12;

· Budget narrative providing a brief, detailed explanation of the components of each cost element listed in the SF-424A;

· Copy of the Applicant’s Cost Policy Statement; and

· Copy of the Applicant’s current, government-wide indirect cost rate agreement (if the Applicant’s budget includes indirect costs). If the Applicant does not have such an agreement, it must propose an indirect cost rate in accordance with the procedures set forth in the applicable cost principles circular.

4.1.4 Certifications, Forms and Assurances

Each Applicant must complete and submit the following forms:

· SBA Form 1623, Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters;

· SF-LLL , Disclosure of Lobbying Activities;

· SF-424B, Assurances for Non-Construction Programs;

· Letter from the Applicant’s Auditor, CPA, Treasurer, Comptroller, CFO or similarly qualified individual certifying that the organization’s financial management system currently meets the requirements of 2 C.F.R. 200.302, Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Non Profit Organizations. [NOTE: This requirement does not apply to awards made directly to state, local, or tribal governments]

4.1.5 Attachments and Exhibits

Each Applicant must attach copies of the following to its proposal (as applicable):

· Résumés, position descriptions, contracts, consulting agreements, letters of support, pledges of additional funding or in-kind resources, leases, conflict of interest policy, and cost policy statement;

· Most recent A-133 audit report no older than 1 year from current date. If the Applicant is not subject to the requirements of the Single Audit Act, it must instead submit a copy of its most recent audited financial statement; UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE;

· Governor’s Letter of Endorsement. Only those proposals bearing the written endorsement of the state Governor(s) or their designee(s) may be submitted for evaluation and funding considerations. In the situation where the Governor or equivalent (e.g., Mayor of the District of Columbia), assigns the signatory responsibility of the endorsement letter to a designee, the letter must include an acknowledgement that the Governor/equivalent has authorized her/him to sign the letter on their behalf. The Governor’s correspondence should be addressed to Mr. Edsel M. Brown, Jr., Deputy Director Office of Innovation and Technology, U.S. Small Business Administration, 403 3rd Street, SW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20416; and

· Any other documentation the Applicant believes supports its proposal.

4.2 Required Proposal Submission Dates

Each Applicant is required to submit its proposal electronically via www.grants.gov no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 20, 2017. Because of the pre-conditions for submitting applications via grants.gov and the potential for encountering technical difficulties in using that site, Applicants are strongly encouraged to log on to grants.gov and review the submission instructions early. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE CLOSING DATE TO BEGIN THE SUBMISSION PROCESS. Applicants bear sole responsibility for ensuring their proposals are submitted and received before the closing date.

SBA will consider the date and time stamp on the validation generated by grants.gov as the official submission time. A proposal that is not received by grants.gov before the closing date of this Announcement will be rejected without being evaluated, unless the Applicant can clearly demonstrate through documentation obtained from grants.gov that it attempted to submit its proposal in a timely manner but was unable to do so solely because of grants.gov systems issues. Additionally, SBA will not accept any changes, additions, revisions, or deletions to applications made after the closing date.

Applicants should save and print written proof of an electronic submission made at grants.gov. If problems occur while using grants.gov, the applicant is advised to (i) print any error message received; and (ii) contact grants.gov for immediate assistance. Applicants may obtain advice and assistance with the submission process by visiting www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html or by calling 1-800-518-4726.

Applicants shall use a portion of the grant funds for outreach, as well as financial support to eligible small technology based companies. Applicants must provide adequate evidence and documentation, including specific examples, of their:

· Detailed description of the Applicant’s past experience and present capacity to provide assistance to technology based firms, including outreach and financial support;

· Experience with, and capacity for, conducting outreach and Mentoring Network projects, including discussion of the number of years they have conducted such projects, and a brief overview of outcomes, lessons learned, and best practices;

· Past experience (if any) and details of success metrics for helping small businesses submit proposals and win SBIR/STTR awards;

· Record of receiving other grants or contracts for the conduct of technical assistance projects, including the names of the awarding agencies, the grant or contract numbers, and the performance outcomes/results achieved;

· Sources of capital, including a brief description of strategies for raising such capital; and

· Responses/corrective actions to any qualified audit opinions, going concern paragraphs, or A-133 audit findings.

5.2.2 Project Design (20 Points)

Applicants will be evaluated on their understanding of the purpose of the FAST Program, their proposed approach for performing their projects, measurement tools for outcomes and objectives, and their methodology for evaluating and assessing the effectiveness and impact of their project. Innovation and creativity in providing assistance is strongly encouraged. Applicants must describe in detail the proposed technical assistance delivery methods and products, and their implementation and evaluation. Specific topics include:

· Scope of the geographic area and demographics it intends to serve;

· Number of training courses/seminars/meetings etc. it expects to conduct, along with a list of the topics it intends to cover;

· Description of plans to leverage available sbir.gov tutorials and training tools for clients;

· Description of plans to utilize SBA’s Train the Trainer materials (if applicable), 13 interactive modules are set for release in September 2017;

· Clarity, accuracy, relevance, and ease of reportability of its evaluation methodology;

· Projected milestones or timeline of program accomplishments and activities, including a timeline of performance milestones for the 12-month Budget Period; and

· Subcontracting plan, addressing how subcontractors will be selected, the amount or range of funding each subcontractor will receive, and the purposes for which subcontracts will be made, if applicable.

5.2.3 Project Management (20 Points)

Applicants will be evaluated on the strength of their staffing and management plans. Applicants must demonstrate they will devote adequate numbers of personnel having sufficient experience to the project, establish clear and direct lines of responsibility and authority for managing and overseeing the project, and show they will have sufficient facilities and other physical resources at their disposal in order to accomplish the proposed project. In particular, an Applicant must:

· Identify the project director and key management personnel and staff and describe their expertise and their roles in conducting/overseeing the project, stipulate the amount of time they will devote to the project, and provide copies of résumés/position descriptions. Résumés must include experience relevant to this project and may not be more than two pages in length. Copies of résumés must be included as attachments in accordance with Section 4.1.5 and do not count toward page limit;

· Include an organizational chart;

· Identify contractors and consultants and the manner in which they were selected (i.e., competitively or non-competitively). NOTE: No more than 33 percent of award funds may be expended on contractor and/or consultant costs. Identify the employees or officials of the Applicant organization who will be responsible for overseeing and administering those agreement; copies of contracts and consulting agreements (either signed or samples as applicable) must be included as attachments in accordance with Section 4.1.5 and do not count toward the page limit;

· Identify all facilities and other physical resources that will be utilized in furtherance of the proposed project, the hours of their operation (including any night and weekend availability);

· Describe its financial management structure and internal controls, and identify all staff members who will be responsible for financial recordkeeping, reporting, the receipt and expenditure of award funds, and addressing audit findings; and

· Applicant’s conflict of interest policy must be consistent with the requirements of 2 C.F.R. 2701.112 addressing procedures for ensuring its employees, consultants and contractors do not assist clients in which they, their principals, or their immediate family members have a financial interest or fiduciary duty and for ensuring its employees, consultants and contractors do not use their role in the project as a means of marketing their outside services to project clients.

5.2.4 Collaboration and Leveraging of Resources (25 Points)

Applicants will be evaluated on the breadth of their plans for coordinating their proposed activities and working to expand the scope and reach of their project in collaboration with entities such as SBA’s District Offices, PTAC’s, Accelerators, other federal, state, local and tribal government agencies, other SBA grant Recipients/Resource Partners, trade associations, business/industry groups, institutions of higher education, and/or private organizations. Specifically, an Applicant must provide:

· Copies of agreements with, or letters/emails from, the above-listed organizations pledging to work with the Applicant in order to advance specific FAST Program objectives (can be included as attachments); and

· Detailed descriptions of any of its own funds or in-kind resources the Applicant will devote to the project and copies of donation letters or checks from outside entities (can be included as attachments).

· Familiarity and expertise with assisting women-owned, socially and economically disadvantaged, and small firms that have not traditionally participated in SBIR/STTR, including the number of these firms assisted over the prior 2 years and the demonstrable effects of such assistance (e.g., increase in the number of SBIR proposal submitted, increase in number of SBIR awards received);

· Experience in working with organizations representing the interests of women-owned, socially and economically disadvantaged and small firms that have not traditionally participated in SBIR/STTR;

· Methods of outreach to women-owned, socially and economically disadvantaged and small firms that have not traditionally participated in SBIR/STTR;

· Number of these firms it expects to assist, and how it arrived at such estimates;

· Identification of the data elements it will collect from such firms, the means of their collection, and the uses to which they will be applied; and

· Proximity to or ability to reach these firms within their project service area.

5.2.6 Past Performance (15 points)

Applicants will be evaluated on past performance using the following criteria:

· If the Applicant has received a FAST Award in the past, how the award has both impacted the number of SBIR/STTR proposals and awards in that state, as well as increased the strength of the state’s SBIR/STTR stakeholder network; and

· If the Applicant has not received a FAST Award previously, give examples of past performance on other funding and how it has impacted state or organizational goals/objectives, and more specifically describe the unique capabilities the organization will employ in order to reach the goals of the FAST program.

5.2.7 Risk Management (15 points)

Applicants will be evaluated using a risk-based approach pursuant to 2 C.F.R. 200.205(b) using the following criteria:

· Financial stability;

· History of performance: the applicant’s record in managing Federal awards, if applicable, including timeliness of compliance with applicable reporting requirements, conformance to the terms and conditions of previous Federal awards;

· Reports and findings from audits performed; and

· The applicant’s ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory or other requirement imposed on non-Federal entities.

All Applicants selected for awards will receive written notification. Applicants not selected for awards will not be notified. There will be no debriefing process for unsuccessful Applicants.

6.2 Administrative and National Policy Requirements

All successful Applicants will be required to comply with the requirements set forth in 15 U.S.C. § 657d; 2 C.F.R. Part 200, and OMB Circular A-133 (as applicable); the Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424B); and the terms and conditions set forth in their Notices of Award. In addition, SBA may, from time to time, advise Recipients of awards made under this Announcement of new legal requirements and/or policy initiatives with which they must agree to comply.

6.3 Reporting

All Recipients are required to submit the reports identified below. SBA may withhold payment if reports are not received or are deemed inadequate. Failure to report in a timely manner will also be weighed against future applications for grant funding from the same organization and the exercise of any option periods. The reports provided by Recipients may be made public. In addition, SBA reserves the right to require Recipients to post these reports on their websites.

Reports may be submitted via e-mail (preferable) or in hard copy form to the GOTR.

7.0. Section VII - Agency Contacts

7.1 FAST Program Point of Contact

Questions concerning general information contained in this Announcement should be directed to the GOTR, Brittany Sickler, at FAST@sba.gov.

8.0. Section VIII - Other Information

8.1. Definitions that apply to awards made under this Announcement can be found at bit.ly/FY17FASTDefinitions

Any category of expense not applicable to your budget may be deleted by the SBA. The Worksheet and narrative must provide a clear correlation between the costs and activities to be performed under the grant. Narratives must support all costs shown on the Budget Detailed Worksheet.

Should be prepared in double spaced format and when read separately from the rest of the application, serve as succinct and accurate description of proposed work. Applicants should concisely describe the goals, objectives, and methods for achievement. Also provide a clear measurable "end result" to be achieved.

( ) Chart of Project Milestones Applicants must provide a chart of monthly projections for all activities to be performed under the grant project. Monthly projections must be measurable.

8.5 State Rankings and Match Requirements

FY 2015 SBIR award data compiled by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Innovation and Technology Information based on number of awards issued and funding obligations for new awards only.

States Listed in the Following Chart Must Provide a Non-Federal Match of $.50 for each $1 of Federal Funds

States Listed in the Following Chart Must Provide a Non-Federal Match of $.75 for each $1 of Federal Funds

States Listed in the Following Chart Must Provide a Non-Federal Match of $1 for each $1 of Federal Funds

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