GRAND RAPIDS – The Michigan Strategic Fund Board has approved an additional $1.4 million to be allocated to the Michigan Emerging Technologies Fund, managed by the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
The ETF provides commercialization funding to match federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer awards for technology-based Michigan companies.
The Michigan ETF matches 25 percent of phase I awards up to $25,000, and 25 percent of phase II awards up to $125,000. The ETF awards are grants and award dollars must be used to help bring Michigan projects to commercialization.
?The ETF grants are being used to hire key staff, protect intellectual property, build facilities for production and beta testing with new customers,? said Phil Tepley, who manages the ETF program for the SBTDC.
Since the SBTDC took over the program in February 2008, it has made 64 ETF awards for a total of about $3.2 million. Companies report that the program has enabled them to create and retain 104 jobs and raise an additional $5.5 million.
The Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center Technology Team is a state-funded initiative that enables entrepreneurs to bridge the gap between technology development and commercialization. The team is comprised of 10 consultants with proven track records of technology commercialization. In 2010, the Tech Team assisted 369 technology companies and entrepreneurs, assisted in raising $66.5 million for the companies served, and accelerated job growth throughout the Michigan economy.
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