Stennis backs small biz boot camp

Most people are familiar with large aerospace companies, but how many know of the thousands of suppliers, including small businesses, that contribute to NASA’s missions? Many small businesses, especially those representing minority, under-represented or underserved segments of society, do not know of the opportunities as well. A recent “Minority Boot Camp” pilot project supported by NASA’s Stennis Space Center (Miss.) focused on the issue. Over six weekly virtual sessions, the Louisiana Technology Transfer Office located at Stennis worked with (1) the Small Business Administration’s Louisiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) based at Louisiana State University, (2) the Small Business Administration’s Office of Investment and Innovation, (3) Xavier University of Louisiana, and (4) the NASA Office of Technology Development to offer more than 300 boot camp participants a unique opportunity to learn about federal research-and-development (R&D) funding opportunities for university faculty and small businesses. During virtual sessions, individuals also learned about the processes of bidding on federal contracts and drafting federally sponsored research proposals. SBDC utilized federal grants to organize the pilot project as part of outreach efforts to help make minority-owned companies and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) more aware of the opportunities through the Small Business Administration’s grant programs. The event at Xavier University was loosely modeled after a similar minority-oriented boot camp held several years ago at Jackson State University. Based on the success of the effort, “Vic” Johnson, associate director of the Louisiana Technology Transfer Office, said the office is exploring the possibility of hosting a minority-focused boot camp later this year at another HBCU in Louisiana. “When you have that kind of relationship and partnership at NASA, good things are going to happen,” concluded Johnson. (Source: Stennis 05/19/22) Stennis Collaborates on Small Business ‘Boot Camp’ Project | NASA