Rhode Island Innovation Forum to be held Monday, June 25

As a Rhode Island business owner, you are invited to a Rhode Island Innovation Forum on Monday, June 25, 2012, at 10:30am at Johnson & Wales’ Culinary Arts Museum.

The event, hosted with the RI Small Business Development Center at JWU, will focus on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program with our featured presenter, Sean Greene, the Associate Administrator for Investment and Special Advisor for Innovation, who runs the program nationally. He will be joined by Rhode Island’s SBA District Director, Mark Hayward, to give an overview of opportunities available through SBIR and take your questions.

We cannot have a full economic recovery unless we recognize that small businesses are the main driver of job creation and ensure they have the opportunity to innovate and expand. SBIR funding, which is directed to research and development by small businesses working on scientific and technological advances, has a proven track record of supporting successful projects.

Over the past 4 years, Ocean State companies have received more than 50 SBIR awards worth approximately $20 million. However, in conversations with business leaders in our state, it has become clear that we can take better advantage of this program to grow businesses and generate more economic activity. The Rhode Island Innovation Forum is one step toward this goal.

The event is open to the public, but an RSVP is required. To sign up or request more information, email RISBIRForum@mail.house.gov or call the Office of Jim Langevin at 401-732-9400.

Please feel free to distribute this information to your friends and colleagues in the business community.

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