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In 2002 the Alaska Small Business Development Center started the trend of small business research and development in Alaska when it created TREND, the Technology Research and Development Center of Alaska to support and promote the innovation and commercialization of new technology in the last frontier. TREND serves as a centralized resource to assist small businesses in applying technology to commercial opportunities through a comprehensive offering of services that include business counseling, workshops, access to technical information, assessment of technology, technical support referral to key resources and strategic planning. TREND provides one-on-one assistance aimed at identifying a client's business assets and resources for taking a technology to market. TREND also assists clients in attaining Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Federal Grants, which represent a process through which federal agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation, solicit small businesses to research and develop technology that is of interest or necessity to federal agencies and the nation. In an effort to increase the number of SBIR proposals funded from Alaska, TREND partners with the Experimental Program to Simulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) to offer an SBIR Phase 0 Program. The Alaska Phase 0 Program provides grants up to $5,000 to assist small businesses with SBIR/STTR proposal preparation. For nearly 35 years, the Alaska Small Business Development Center has been helping businesses start, develop, and grow.
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