About the University of Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Center

 

The University Center is funded in part by by the U.S. Economic Development Administration as a catalyst to bring a wide variety of entrepreneurial and economic development resources together in one easy-to-access location.

Our partners include the Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Centers, the Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, the MoFAST SBIR/STTR Assistance Program, University of Missouri Extension and the MU College of Engineering. For more information on the Economic Development Administration's support, visit our EDA page.

Our goal is to assist entrepreneurs, including University faculty, with pre-venture, start-up or existing business with financial management, marketing, technology and product development and commercialization issues.

Our objectives are to:

• Provide entrepreneurial technical assistance to businesses and faculty.
• Help entrepreneurs create companies, jobs, investments and profits.
• Help faculty attract research dollars to the University of Missouri, including Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer awards.
• Assist businesses in winning government contracts.
• Provide technology and economic value to businesses in Missouri via university faculty by facilitating knowledge transfer between faculty and businesses.

We offer University expertise to help you start, grow or reposition your company. That expertise may take the form of University faculty addressing a problem within your business, a business management counselor assessing your operation to provide suggestions for improvement, an entrepreneurial expert helping you acquire financing to execute your business plan or continue your research, a procurement specialist aiding you in selling your goods and services to the government, or a student team taking on a special project to address your specific need. Whatever the issue, we will try to work with you to develop options, identify solutions, obtain resources, refine ideas and ultimately achieve your success.

Our programs include:

The Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Center (MO SBTDC) which is a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, is focused on assisting small businesses in any stage of evolution with financial analysis, marketing strategies, management issues and technology access. Services are provided via individualized consultations with a business management counselor or through educational sessions on a wide variety of topics. [more about MO SBTDC]

In addition, specially trained counselors focus on strengthening the technological competitiveness of Missouri's businesses. Designed to improve the participation of small technology firms in the innovation and commercialization of new technology, the MO SBTDC program encourages and enhances technology research and development, technology transfer and technology deployment. One of the primary services of the MO SBTDC is the MoFAST initiative, which provides services to businesses interested in participating in the SBIR/STTR program.
Business requirements to submit an SBIR / STTR proposal
SBIR / STTR websites

[more about MoFAST]

The Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Center (MO PTAC), a partnership with the Defense Logistics Agency, which is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs obtain government contracts. MO PTAC works with clients to identify bidding opportunities, assist with bid preparation, assist with registrations and certifications and provide electronic commerce and data interchange guidance.

[more about MO PTAC]

We also facilitate University/industry partnerships to enable private firms to tap into the institutional expertise at the University to solve problems, refine technology, obtain individualized industrial consultations and participate in developing the high-technology infrastructure in Missouri.

Our counselors can help businesses obtain access to a wide range of resources including federal agencies, state agencies, other technical assistance providers and a broad network of state universities and economic development partners who participate in the MO SBDC, MO PTAC and MO SBTDC programs.

Faculty welcome!

We are here to serve all of central Missouri, including University faculty. We can assist faculty in:

• Identifying businesses that can use your expertise.
• Identifying business and government product needs.
• Identifying collaborative businesses and personnel.
• Identifying federal and state funding opportunities.
• Identifying consulting and collaborative opportunities.
• Evaluating SBIR/STTR/ATP proposals.
• Identifying venture capital and market research sources.
• Preparing budgets for proposals and business plans.
• Identifying team members for business start-ups.

The Columbia center is a partnership of the MU College of Engineering and University of Missouri Extension's Business Development Program.

We will customize our assistance to your specific needs. After a brief intake session, your case will be assigned to the appropriate specialist, and we will do all we can to meet your needs in a timely, efficient and high-quality fashion. Our staff is available to meet with you on campus or at your place of business. Our office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, primarily by appointment.