CT promoting more diversity in technology

(1/19/2011) (From Hartford Business Journal)

Connecticut minorities, women and veterans are targets for a partnership program aimed at engaging more of them in harnessing technology and innovation as entrepreneurs.

Connecticut Innovations Inc., the quasi-public state arm that invests in technology and innovation, has scheduled a pair of public sessions to educate prospective participants about available funding and support for business development.

One will be Feb. 2 at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport; the other on March 7 at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich.

The outreach is part of Connecticut's Federal and State Technology (FAST) partnership program to build awareness and participation in the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

Fewer than 10 percent of the 117 Connecticut firms involved in the SBIR program are minority-, women- or veteran-owned businesses, authorities say.

Connecticut Innovations' goal, aided by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration, is to boost those underrepresented communities' participation in the SBIR program.

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