The North Carolina Board of Science and Technology is now accepting applications for One North Carolina Small Business Fund matching grants for fiscal year 2006-07.  The 2006-07 grants will provide one-to-one matching up to $100,000 for federal SBIR/STTR Phase I awards received by North Carolina small businesses.  
 
The One North Carolina Small Business Fund was proposed by Governor Mike Easley and approved by the General Assembly in 2005 with $3 million for the first round of grants.  However, budget shortfalls during the fiscal year required that total grants under the program be scaled back to $1 million. Nevertheless, twenty-four North Carolina companies received matching grants of up to $50,000 from the fund.  
 
NCIIE’s North Carolina Entrepreneurial Association lobbied aggressively in the 2006 General Assembly to expand funding for the Program.  Earlier this month, the Assembly appropriated $5 million to the Program for FY 2006-07 and tightened limitations on transfer of funds to other programs.  
 
Detailed information on applying for the grants, requests for grant proposals and guidelines are posted on the Board of Science and Technology’s Website www.ncscienceandtechnology.com.  The Board has implemented a new web-based electronic submission system for program applications.
 
For more information, please contact Samuel Taylor at (919) 676-1913, or by e-mail at samuelmtaylor@earthlink.net.