Washington, DC – April 21，at Earth Day Texas 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the 38 small businesses that will collaborate with national lab researchers through the Small Business Vouchers (SBV) pilot. SBV facilitates access to the DOE national labs for American small businesses, enabling them to tap into the intellectual and technical resources they need to overcome critical technology challenges for their advanced energy products and gain a global competitive advantage. Eight DOE national laboratories will receive funding to partner with 38 competitively selected small businesses across the country.

“Small businesses are the engine of our economy, and those working on advanced energy technologies play an important role in ensuring our nation’s energy security and independence,” said Energy Secretary Rick Perry during his remarks at Earth Day Texas. “The Small Business Vouchers program is a great example of how DOE’s innovative public-private collaborations are ensuring our investments in DOE national labs are maintaining and strengthening U.S. competitiveness long-term.”

In the first two rounds of the program, 12 DOE national labs received funding to partner with 76 small businesses. With today’s announcement, SBV will have forged partnerships between 114 American small businesses and the national labs. A full list of SBV projects and participating DOE national labs is available at http://www.SBV.org.

The eight DOE national laboratories participating in the new round of collaborations are home to some of the most advanced, cutting edge facilities in the world, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, Argonne National Laboratory’s Prototype Cell Fabrication Facility, and Sandia National Laboratories’ Scaled Wind Farm Technology Facility.

Small businesses developing advanced technologies often need unique facilities and experts to test, develop, and validate their innovative products. DOE national labs house these capabilities, but accessing the labs is a challenge most small businesses can’t overcome. SBV facilitates access to the DOE national labs for qualified small businesses by making the contracting process simple, lab practices transparent, and the labs’ unique facilities available.

DOE labs participating in the new round of collaboration include: Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Savannah River National Laboratory.