The Center for Technology Commercialization received a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to expand its support for underserved innovators across Wisconsin, the organization announced recently.

According to a release, CTC is one of 49 organizations around the country to be awarded up to $1 million over five years for specialized training, mentoring and technical assistance under the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program.

“We were thrilled to take learning from the past three years of FAST funding and build the SBIR Labs program, which will empower innovators across the state to confidently pursue federal funding for their technology,” Wisconsin CTC Director Margaret Ramey said in a statement.

FAST seeks to improve outcomes in the SBIR/STTR Programs for underserved communities by increasing participation from women-owned, rural-based and socially or economically disadvantaged small businesses.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), a committed financial partner for other CTC programming, also is providing matching funds for this opportunity.