Complete conference information is available at: 2005 National Fall Conference

The Advance Full Registration Fee, received by October 25, is $350. Registrations received after October 25 and On-Site will be $425. In addition to Full Conference Registration, one or multiple-day Registrations are available, as are discounts for multiple attendees (3 or more) from a single small business (less than 500 employees). Please note that pre-Conference registration will close on Tuesday, November 1. After this date, registration will only be available On-site in Albany.
Link here for additional Conference Fees and Registration information.

Link here for hotel accommodation information.

Jon Benson has been hired as the inaugural director of Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC), a technology-related business incubator to assist Wyoming entrepreneurs.

Ground excavation began this week on the WTBC, located at the University of Wyoming. Construction is scheduled to be completed in June, 2006. The WTBC will provide educational and mentoring programs, business services and appropriate tenant space and infrastructure. A state-of-the art information technology center will be installed to support companies with very specific high-capacity information technology needs.

"The ultimate goal is to create a fertile ground for the development of technology companies-an essential infrastructural component in Wyoming's long-term economic development strategy," says UW Vice President for Research and Economic Development Bill Gern. "I am very pleased the university is bringing Jon Benson to the University of Wyoming to help us achieve this goal.

"He has a solid background as chief executive officer of a very successful non-profit business incubator, as CEO of a high-tech university spin-off company, as a program manager for the National Science Foundation, and as assistant director of a university-based think tank. His varied experience is just what Wyoming needs to help create a nurturing environment for the kind of cutting-edge new businesses this state needs for a diversified economy."

SITE INSPECTION -- Director Jon Benson inspects the site of the Wyoming Technology Business Center now under construction at the University of Wyoming. Scheduled for completion early next summer, the technology-related business incubator will assist Wyoming entrepreneurs through educational and mentoring programs, business services and appropriate tenant space and infrastructure. A state-of-the art information technology center will be installed to support companies with very specific high-capacity information technology needs. (UW Photo)

"This project really has the potential to do something special," says Benson, who since 1998 has served as CEO of Medical Optical Imaging, Inc., a Charlotte, N.C.-based company that created a new type of medical device that uses light from lasers to image breasts for cancer diagnosis.

"I have really been impressed with the commitment of the state of Wyoming, the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Business Council and the Laramie Economic Development Corporation to bring the dream of the Wyoming Technology Business Center to where it is today," Benson says. "I look forward to being a part of this team as we work together to help entrepreneurs grow technology related companies in Wyoming."

From 1986-98 he was CEO of The Ben Craig Center, Inc., a non-profit business incubator that operated as a joint venture between the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and major private sector interests. Working with the UNC Charlotte Foundation he led development of a new $3.5 million, 50,000 sq. ft. facility in the University Research Park that opened in 1990, working with nearly 100 companies during a 12-year period. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a program manager for the National Science Foundation, working to promote the application of science and technology to the problems of local government, and was assistant director of the Urban Institute at UNC Charlotte, working on a series of local government related studies including transportation planning, parks and recreation and citizen participation.

Benson earned a bachelor's degree (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) in history (1972) from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and M.A. (1975) and Ph.D. (1976) degrees in political science from The Ohio State University. He began his UW duties in early July.

There are now more than 800 business incubators of all types in the United States, Gern says, citing a National Business Incubator Association report showing that 85 percent of all companies that have undergone incubation remain in business, compared to the national five-year small business survival rate of 50 percent.

The WTBC is designed to hold about 12 companies although the actual space within the facility is highly flexible. Gern anticipates 90 percent occupancy in year four. He said well-run incubators are rarely completely full -- some space should be available for the next new company.

The Wyoming State Legislature, in 2001, appropriated $250,000 for initial design of the WTBC, and during the 2003 session appropriated $5.3 million for development and construction of the incubator, contingent on the university securing a non-state match of $3.18 million. With critical assistance from U.S. Senators Craig Thomas and Mike Enzi and Rep. Barbara Cubin, UW secured seed funding from the federal government, through a $1 million appropriation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a $1.6 million competitive grant from the U.S. Economic Development Authority. The project funding requirements were fully achieved with a key $1.6 million private donation from UW alumni and Casper philanthropists Mick and Susie McMurry.

NIH SBIR/STTR grant applicants will soon be expected to submit applications online to the NIH through the government-wide Grants.gov portal. Grant applicants must first complete a registration process. Organizations are strongly encouraged to register with Grants.gov now to ensure that they are ready to take advantage of the electronic submission process, which is expected to take effect for the December 1, 2005, submission date. Check this website and the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts for updates.

Submission Process

1) Grants.gov: To submit grant applications electronically, applicants must first complete a registration process with Grants.gov. Go to: www.grants.gov/GetStarted and follow the steps for mandatory registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) and Grants.gov. Start now to avoid potential delays in electronic submission! It can take several weeks for the registration process to be completed by Grants.gov.
2) eRA Commons: If not already registered, NIH grant applicants must also complete a one-time registration in the NIH eRA Commons.

For more information or questions concerning this announcement should be directed to:
Kathleen Shino
E-mail: shinok@mail.nih.gov
Phone: (301) 435-2689