Seeing Green Often overlooked by investors, small fund may lead to buried treasure

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."Entrepreneurs applying for grants from the Small BusinessInnovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business TechnologyTransfer Research (STTR) programs should keep this adage in mind.Only one in eight applications submitted survive the rigorousapproval gauntlet, according to Daniel O. Hill, assistantadministrator for the SBA Office of Technology.

Scott Thompson knows the process well. It took 11 attempts--from1992 to 1996--and the formation of several companies before theowner of CHT Engineering Systems Inc. in Hermosa, South Dakota,obtained SBIR funding for his human target tracking system.

Why subject yourself to this kind of torture? The answer issimple, says the homebased Thompson: "It's hard to getseed money for a high-tech company. Venture capitalists don'tlike to fund ideas."