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SSTI among 40 SBA Growth Accelerator awardees

Thursday, May 18, 2023

This week, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced 40 new Growth Accelerator Fund Competition awardees. SSTI’s proposal to identify programs and partners that have expanded the participation of minority business owners and researchers in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is among the winners.

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$5.4M in prizes to support inclusive entrepreneurship announced by SBA

Thursday, September 23, 2021

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced a combined total of $5.4 million in awards to innovation-focused entrepreneur support organizations with programs to support entrepreneurs researching and developing STEM-related innovations. The 2021 competition included two prize tracks with 84 winners for the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) and eight winners for the new SBIR Catalyst competition, which aims to spur investment in underrepresented communities within the innovation economy.  

  • Read more about $5.4M in prizes to support inclusive entrepreneurship announced by SBA

SBA funding available for accelerators, SBIR aid

Thursday, May 30, 2019

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently released FY 2019 announcements for the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition and Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (FAST) funding. Accelerators emphasizing underserved entrepreneurs can submit a brief application and slide deck from June 10-20; SBA anticipates as many as 60, $50,000 awards.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently released FY 2019 announcements for the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition and Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (FAST) funding. Accelerators emphasizing underserved entrepreneurs can submit a brief application and slide deck from June 10-20; SBA anticipates as many as 60, $50,000 awards. FAST provides a funding match for programs supporting SBIR/STTR outreach and support services; the program is limited to one, governor-supported application per state, so interested parties should begin considering their application well ahead of the June 28 deadline. SSTI will be hosting a free webinar on June 5 at 3 p.m. EDT, in which SBA staff will discuss the two funding opportunities: register today.

  • Read more about SBA funding available for accelerators, SBIR aid

SBA announces 60 accelerators competition winners

Thursday, September 26, 2019

SBA’s 2019 Growth Accelerators Fund Competition winners were announced yesterday, awarding $50,000 to each of 60 organizations across the country. Special congratulations to the SSTI members, including BioSTL (BioGenerator), TechTown Detroit, Startup Junkie Foundation (Fuel), Invest Nebraska, Launch Tennessee, Innovation Works, Arrowhead Center (Sprints), and University of Illinois (EnterpriseWorks).

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SBA Announces Growth Accelerator Competition Winners

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and its federal partners, announced the winners of its third annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition on August 31. The 68 winners in 32 states and the District of Columbia were judged by more than 100 experts from both the public and private sector with entrepreneurial, investment, startup, economic development, capital formation and academic backgrounds.

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SBA Commits Nearly $4M to Third Annual Growth Accelerator Challenge

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the 2016 Growth Accelerator Fund competition. In its third year, the SBA will commit up to $3.95 million for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models to compete for monetary prizes of $50,000 each. This year, the SBA will partner with several other federal agencies – NIH, NSF, Department of Education, and USDA – to provide additional prizes to accelerators that assist entrepreneurs with submitting proposals for the Small Business Innovation (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Applications must be submitted by June 3.

  • Read more about SBA Commits Nearly $4M to Third Annual Growth Accelerator Challenge

SBA Announces 2015 80-Member Class for Growth Accelerator Fund Competition

Thursday, August 6, 2015

At a White House event, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced approximately $4 million to prizes to 80 growth accelerators in 43 states the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico through the second round of its Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Launched in 2014, the competition makes awards of $50,000 each to help fund operating budgets for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models in parts of the country where there are fewer conventional sources of access to capital (e.g., venture capital and angel capital investors).

  • Read more about SBA Announces 2015 80-Member Class for Growth Accelerator Fund Competition

SBA Commits $4M to Second Round of Growth Accelerator Fund Competition

Thursday, April 9, 2015

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it will commit $4 million to the second round of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Launched in 2014, the competition makes awards of $50,000 each to help fund operating budgets for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models in parts of the country where there are fewer conventional sources of access to capital (e.g., venture capital and angel capital investors). For this round of funding, applications are encouraged from manufacturing accelerator models. Applications are due June 1.

  • Read more about SBA Commits $4M to Second Round of Growth Accelerator Fund Competition

SBA Invests in 50 U.S. Accelerators, Begins Collecting Performance Data

Thursday, September 11, 2014

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently named the 50 winners of the first Growth Accelerator Fund competition, which recognizes accelerators building stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems in underserved parts of the country. Each organization will receive $50,000, in exchange for providing SBA with quarterly reports on their activities, impact and partnerships. SBA hopes to use the data to build a national database of information about accelerator programs and forge long-term relationships within the accelerator community.

  • Read more about SBA Invests in 50 U.S. Accelerators, Begins Collecting Performance Data

SBA Announces $2.5M Growth Accelerator Fund Competition

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a $2.5 million funding competition for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models to compete for monetary prizes of $50,000 each to fund operating budgets. The Growth Accelerator Fund Competition is open to business accelerators, incubators, coworking spaces, shared makerspaces, and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models from across the country.

  • Read more about SBA Announces $2.5M Growth Accelerator Fund Competition

New Forum Available for Educators, Entrepreneurs to Share Best Practices

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

SBA and the Department of Commerce launched Startup University in response to a series of roundtables with accelerators and universities that highlighted the need for a forum to share best practices and build connections between universities and startups. Users can post and comment on specific programs or general ideas that foster these positive relationships. Many programs listed in the forum will be presented at this week's NCET2 Conference. Explore the online forum here...

  • Read more about New Forum Available for Educators, Entrepreneurs to Share Best Practices

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Recent news from the SSTI Digest

Recent Research: What makes place-based economic development policies work?

Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Place-based economic development is back near the center of federal policy, from Opportunity Zones to the CHIPS and Science Act. That renewed attention comes with a familiar problem: decades of enterprise zones, tax incentives, infrastructure investments, and other geographically targeted programs have produced results that are hard to summarize cleanly. In a new NBER working paper, Matthew Freedman and David Neumark ask the better question: not simply whether or not these policies work, but under what conditions they might work, for whom, and why. Their review points to a practical conclusion: policy design matters and targeting a distressed community with development-focused financial incentives is rarely enough on its own.
economic development

A BBBRC grant builds momentum for a highly trained semiconductor workforce

Wednesday, September 9, 2026
For the civic leaders of Osceola County, the Great Recession of 2008 made clear that they could not base their economy so heavily on travel and tourism. By the time COVID-19 hit in 2020, they knew the steps they had taken to diversify their economy were the right ones. When the Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC) opportunity arose in 2021, the county and its partners were well-positioned to operationalize the benefits the grant presented to the region and create a trained workforce for a recently attracted semiconductor industry. How did Osceola County get here? There are potential approaches to emulate by more areas of the county dependent on low-wage sectors like tourism or, for that matter, extraction-focused regions subject to “boom and bust.” 
semiconductors
workforce

The impact of tax incentives on early-stage company investment varies

Wednesday, September 9, 2026
One persistent question in economic development policy is how incentives impact private sector investment decisions. Recent and ongoing research from Murillo Campello and Guilherme Junqueira of the University of Florida, published in the National Bureau of Economic Research working paper series, explores the impact of the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) program on venture capital risk-taking. The researchers found that the availability of QSBS tax benefits strongly influences venture capital investment behavior, specifically in traditionally structured venture capital funds. They also found no similar behavior among angel or corporate investors, an insight that may hold important program design and policy lessons for the TBED community. 
tax incentives
investing
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