Small Business Stimulus Tip Sheet: How to Get Your Piece of $37 Million

If you own a small business and want to get in on the stimulus money flowing from D.C. to communities across the country for energy-related projects, here are some tips to help you.

DOE:  $37 million for small businesses involved in energy efficiency

On Aug. 20, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that $37 million in funding from the Recovery Act will be made available to qualified small businesses - defined as 500 or fewer employees - through the Department’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Firms with strong research capabilities in science or engineering are encouraged to apply. The DOE is currently accepting applications for topic areas related to improving energy efficiency, including:

• Advanced building air conditioning and refrigeration, thermal load shifting, and cool roofs
• Water usage in electric power generation and industrial processes
• Power plant cooling
• Advanced gas turbines and materials
• Sensors, controls, and wireless networks
• Advanced water power technology development
• Smart controllers for smart grid applications
• Advanced solar technologies
• Advanced industrial technologies development
• Advanced manufacturing processes

Deadline is Sept. 4, 2009. Get further details in the DOE announcement.

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Check out ARRA financial incentives

If you need to bulk up your operations to be more competitive, the Recovery Act includes specific programs designed to boost small businesses during the economic downturn. These include loan fee reductions, secondary market incentives, and related programs to help unlock credit markets.

Read more about these programs and access other Recovery Act assistance for small businesses on the Small Business Administration (SBA) Recovery website.

Investigate federal contract opportunities

Small businesses can qualify for prime and subcontracting opportunities available through the Recovery Act, but there are hoops to jump through if you haven’t contracted at the federal level. These include:

·         Obtaining a Dun and Bradstreet number

·         Completing a Central Contractor Registration

·         Registering as a vendor with FedConnect

But before you go through the process it may be worthwhile to:

·      Visit FedBizOpps.gov and search the Recovery Opportunities database to get an idea of the type of stimulus projects your business might quality for.

·      Monitor the Department of Energy Communications, Plans & Reports page for award allocations and consider contacting the recipients directly for subcontracting work.  

Don’t miss state and local opportunities  

Large amounts of stimulus money will flow from the federal government to each of the 50 states as well as territories and tribes. Those entities, in turn, will dole out the dollars through grants, loan programs, and other existing funding mechanisms. Here are places to look:

·      Onvia’s recovery.org site has a free tracking program that allows you to find stimulus projects by state and county.

·      Department of Energy’s In Your State lists stimulus projects and related news by state.

·      SGN's 50 State Toolkits provide project details, state government contacts, local utilities and related information.

·      The legal classified section of your local newspaper, where you may find requests for proposals and bids from smaller jurisdictions.

As a small business you may also find leads to local stimulus projects through existing relationships or networking. Consider contacts you have through:

·         Your Chamber of Commerce

·         Trade or professional associations

·         Area colleges and universities

·         Local utilities, PUDs or rural cooperatives

·         Political organizations, Congressional offices, unions