As the only entity with a mission, outreach, and support for the entire state, the LTTO plays a critical role in supporting SBIR/STTR programs and companies, and in building an ecosystem in Louisiana.
Since 1990, the Louisiana Technology Transfer Office (LTTO), operating through the Louisiana Business & Technology Center (LBTC), has been at the forefront of Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) in Louisiana. Designated by the Governor’s Office as the lead entity for SBIR/STTR in Louisiana, the LTTO has offices at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Innovation Park in Baton Rouge, and at the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) John C. Stennis Space Center Federal City in Mississippi. As the only entity with a mission for outreach and support for the entire state, the LTTO plays a critical role in supporting SBIR/STTR programs and companies, and in building an innovative ecosystem in Louisiana.
LTTO also pioneered a unique two-state Federal and State Technology (FAST) partnership leveraging the resources of the Federal City at Stennis Space Center and the NASA SBIR Program. More than 1,000 small companies, university faculty, and entrepreneurs have received hands-on SBIR/STTR assistance from LBTC/LTTO, with 85 Phase I and Phase II awards made to Louisiana companies and entrepreneurs – totaling some $11 million from 2016 to 2019 – and over $100 million since FAST began. As a result of their SBIR-STTR success, LA companies have gone on to secure approximately $35 million in Phase III federal procurement contracts.
The LTTO operates the Louisiana Phase 0 Program, which provides direct financial assistance with awards to companies in Louisiana to help with the preparation and submission of their proposals, with over $500,000 in Phase 0 funds awarded to date. The LTTO at Stennis Space Center provides companies, university faculty, start-ups, and entrepreneurs, laboratory access with agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, and the U.S. Navy. The LTTO also helped create the LA Small Business Innovation Research Coalition (SBIRC) to support the SBIR Program in Louisiana, as well as to pass legislation implementing the SBIR/ STTR State Marketable Tax Credit Program – which allows SBIR awardees to sell their unused tax credits in the marketplace, thus providing direct injections of capital into their companies. The office has also worked closely with the U.S. Congress, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and other national stakeholder groups to secure SBIR/ STTR Reauthorization Legislation including the FAST Program, and has also partnered with the Mississippi SBIR-STTR Program to offer workshops sponsored by NASA, the U.S. Navy, and others.
The LTTO has been recognized for its commitment in reaching out to and assisting under-served groups throughout Louisiana including women-, veteran-, and minority- owned small businesses to help develop their innovative ideas and technologies, and has enabled a nearly 20 percent increase in the number of these companies assisted with SBIR/STTR. The program has facilitated a 35 percent increase in Phase 0 awards and a 30 percent increase in Phase I and Phase II awards providing direct financial assistance to Louisiana companies – nearly 50 percent of which had university collaboration. The number of Phase III awards providing sole source government contracts to Louisiana companies as a direct result of SBIR/STTR has also doubled.