UW and Wyoming SBDC Network to Host USDA SBIR/STTR Funding Webinar Oct. 7
Published September 30, 2026
Small-business owners, entrepreneurs and startups will learn how to compete for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) SBIR/STTR funding during a webinar Wednesday, Oct. 7.
Erika Kraus will lead the discussion during a Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network webinar titled “From Innovation to Impact: How to Compete for USDA SBIR/STTR Funding” from noon-1 p.m. To register, go here. Registration is free. The event is hosted by the Wyoming Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Initiative and IMPACT 307.
The Wyoming SBDC Network offers business expertise to help Wyoming residents think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by the University of Wyoming with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Attendees will learn how federal research and development funding can help move promising research and technologies toward commercialization. This session is a chance for attendees to ask questions, gain practical insights and better understand how to strengthen their proposals.
The webinar will cover key updates to the USDA SBIR/STTR program following reauthorization; provide an overview of USDA’s SBIR/STTR proposal process from application to award; present common questions applicants ask, elements often missing from proposals, and what sets the strongest applications apart; and feature a live question-and-answer session with Kraus.
Kraus, USDA NIFA SBIR/STTR program coordinator, was born and raised in northeast Kansas. After earning undergraduate degrees in biology and French from Benedictine College, Kraus joined the Peace Corps, where she served as an environmental action volunteer in the Republic of Benin. That experience led her to pursue graduate degrees in African and African American Studies from the University of Kansas and her Ph.D. in forestry from Michigan State University. Her background in communication and critical thinking supports NIFA’s competitive grants program.
For more information, call Tyler Schanck, marketing, communications and database manager for the Wyoming SBDC Network, at (307) 343-0925 or email tschanck@uwyo.edu.
The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing Wyoming's only four-year university with the top research universities in the United States.