Utah Innovation Center receives grant to help encourage entrepreneurism
Brice Wallace
The Utah Innovation Center has been awarded a Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program grant aimed at enhancing initiatives that drive innovation and support entrepreneurial growth across Utah.
The announcement was made by the Small Business Administration and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. The innovation center is part of GOEO.
Forty-nine grants were issued, providing up to $200,000 each to organizations that support startups through specialized training, mentoring and technical assistance.
In Utah, the center will use the FAST award to continue offering and supporting new initiatives, including an SBIR/STTR innovation conference, outside expert training, regional symposiums, and the launch of an SBIR/STTR ambassador program to expand awareness and support for small businesses statewide.
SBIR is the Small Business Innovation Research program, while the STTR is the Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
“We are incredibly honored to receive the Federal and State Technology Partnership award from the SBA,” said Linda Cabrales, director of the Utah Innovation Center. “It empowers us to make a greater impact in the Utah technology startup community. It’s inspiring to see entrepreneurs and researchers working hard to make a difference in the world by bringing game-changing technologies to the market.”
The FAST program provides awards for a base period of 12 months, plus four optional continuation periods of 12 months each.
“The FAST grant being awarded again to GOEO’s Utah Innovation Center is a testament to the successful work they have done with our Utah entrepreneurs,” said Marla Trollan, director of SBA Utah. “Partnering with GOEO allows us to support innovators across the state, empowering them to bring groundbreaking ideas to market and contribute to our nation’s competitive edge.”
The innovation center’s initiatives include a commercialization cohort that provides tailored guidance to Utah’s most promising startups and a series of client spotlight videos that highlight the success stories of Utah SBIR/STTR awardees. The center emphasizes outreach to underrepresented groups, ensuring broader access to federal funding opportunities and offering scholarships to facilitate customer discovery and commercialization.
“Utah is home to a thriving innovation ecosystem, empowering the next generation of creators, innovators and leaders,” said Ryan Starks, GOEO’s executive director. “We thank the SBA for this funding award, which will offer Utahns more opportunities to lead out in cutting-edge technologies and innovations.”
The SBA coordinates the SBIR/STTR programs, known as “America’s Seed Fund” across the 11 participating federal agencies. Over $4 billion in early-stage seed capital is provided annually through over 6,000 awards to more than 4,000 small businesses.
This year, the FAST program increased the maximum funding available by 60 percent to expand the program’s geographic footprint and increase the engagement of underserved geographic and demographic innovators across the country. Awardee organizations will provide support across 48 states and Puerto Rico.
Isabel Casillas Guzman, administrator of the U.S. SBA, noted that FAST funding has doubled under the Biden-Harris administration.
“At a time when we are seeing historic highs in our entrepreneurial activity with a small-business boom, investing in America’s innovative startups is a top priority,” Guzman said. “America’s Seed Fund, powered by the SBA and fueled by 11 federal agencies’ SBIR and STTR programs, is the largest source of early-stage funding in the world. With FAST, we have expanded our entrepreneurial ecosystem to nearly every state so that entrepreneurs with great ideas can invent it, commercialize it, and build it with America’s Seed Fund in every corner of America.”