Wisconsin Department of Commerce: Technology Business Development - Are you interested in starting a technology based business?

IMPORTANT: As of July 1st, 2011, functions once performed by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce have been moved to other state agencies and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The former Commerce web site will continue to exist for the next several months as resources are moved to new web site locations. We will make every attempt possible to direct our users to the new locations as web resources are moved.

Other Technical Business Resources:

If you would like more information about programs outside of the Department of Commerce, the following links are provided.

Forward Wisconsin has information on industry clusters such as Biotechnology, Medical Devices, and Information Technology.

Information Technology Association of WI (ITAWi) focuses on the growth and competitive strength of the Wisconsin IT sector.

For more information on the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), visit the Wisconsin SBIR FAST page (click here). The SBIR and STTR programs provide more than $2.0 billion of research and development funding annually for technology-based small businesses to help commercialize innovations. Additional information on Federal funding opportunities for small businesses can be found on this Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Network Factsheet.

The UW-Madison Technology Business Development Institute of the Small Business Development Center has produced two free videos on acquiring SBIR/STTR grants. Feel free to pass this message and link on to your network or membership.

An Introduction to Acquiring SBIR/STTR Grants with Pat Dillon, WEN (Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Network) Regional Director. Dillon has been a SBIR reviewer for the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture, and was the Principal Investigator of an Office of Naval Research contract for the first ever SWIFT Tour (5-State SBIR Road Tour).

Using SBIR/STTR Grants to Help Fund Commercialization of Technology with Barbara A. Israel, Ph.D. founder and CEO, Echometrix LLC, Madison, WI, and founder, director and former CEO of Platypus Technologies, LLC. Platypus is privately held and has been awarded $17 million in Federal funds, including SBIR/STTR grants.

The Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Network (WEN) works directly with high-potential entrepreneurial clients to move their businesses forward, encourages and facilitates referrals and collaboration between partners, helps to start and grow minority-owned businesses, and manages several grant programs funded by the Department of Commerce. WEN is also involved in peer-to-peer learning, encouraging entrepreneurs to work with and learn from each other. WEN also provides a variety of other entrepreneurial assistance, including facilitation with federal Small Business Research (SBIR & STTR) funding, tech transfer and commercialization issues, intellectual property protection, angel/venture investing, referrals, legal, marketing, product development, franchising, training, regulatory compliance, etc.

The Wisconsin Technology Council is the science and technology advisor to the Governor and the Legislature. Launched in 2001, the Tech Council was created by a bipartisan board with members from tech companies, venture capital firms, all levels of education, research institutions, government and law.