Arrowhead Center's NM FAST to host free SBIR 101 webinar for first-time applicants

WRITER: Alejandro Najera-Acosta, a_najera@nmsu.edu  
SOURCE: Carlos Murguia, cmurguia@nmsu.edu 

Registration is open for SBIR 101, a free two-hour foundations webinar hosted by NM FAST and sponsored by the New Mexico Economic Development Department that will introduce first-time applicants to the federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. The session will be held on Tuesday, May 19, from 9 to 11 a.m. 

The webinar is open to any New Mexico-based founder, researcher, or small business, with a hybrid format that includes in-person attendance in Albuquerque at a location to be announced and a virtual option for participants joining from anywhere in the state. 

Programming will walk attendees through what the SBIR program is, which federal agencies fund it, what reviewers look for in successful proposals, and the realistic timeline from idea to submission. By the end of the session, participants will be able to evaluate whether SBIR is a fit for their work, identify which agency to target first, and outline concrete next steps. NM FAST resources available to support proposal development, including one-on-one advisory, microgrants, and multi-week accelerator cohorts, will also be introduced. 

“New Mexico has a deep base of research and a growing pipeline of founders ready to translate that work into companies that can compete for federal R&D dollars,” said Carlos Murguia, director of the Technology and Innovation Gateway at Arrowhead Center. “SBIR 101 gives founders in Las Cruces, Albuquerque, Los Alamos, and rural communities across the state a low-barrier entry point to understand how these programs work and what it takes to apply.” 

The webinar is open to founders working in any sector, with particular relevance to companies in the four priority areas named in the New Mexico Entrepreneurship Programmatic Support Grant: advanced computing, bioscience, advanced energy, and aerospace. 

NM FAST is administered by Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University and operates statewide, serving founders in Las Cruces, Albuquerque, Los Alamos, and rural communities across New Mexico. Over more than a decade of programming, NM FAST has supported more than 470 New Mexico startups and helped companies secure nearly $28 million in federal SBIR awards. Targeted outreach is directed to rural, women, veteran, and minority entrepreneurs. 

The program is sponsored by the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s Technology and Innovation Office through the New Mexico Entrepreneurship Programmatic Support Grant, which supports continued statewide programming for SBIR/STTR-eligible companies in the four priority sectors. Interested participants can register at luma.com/p13pzo0a.