Anna Bier

Anna Bier brings extensive experience with the SBIR/STTR programs and other federal grants and contracts to the Michigan SBDC. She also has a well-developed background in science and engineering research and development as well as other aspects of creating and running a high-tech business enterprise.

Before joining the Michigan SBDC, Anna had a small, high-tech business in Virginia with approximately 30 employees and seven consultants. The company R&D was substantially funded by the SBIR/STTR programs and as such, she researched, wrote, negotiated and managed over 30 Phase I and Phase II SBIR and STTR contracts/grants for several U.S. Government agencies including the DoE, DoT, NSF, NIH, NRC, EPA, USDA, DoD and NIST. Before the company was sold, three products were moved successfully into Phase III commercialization. Additionally, she has written, presented and published several papers at various conferences relating to her engineering and scientific research and served as a technology and commercialization advisor for the NSF, DoE and NIH proposal programs.

For the Michigan SBDC, she assists in six general areas of the SBIR/STTR programs:

• SBIR/STTR program description – Discuss basic rules and structure of the SBIR/STTR program.
• Agency rules, recommendations, and templates – Address 11 agencies’s different missions, needs, requirements, formats, and reviewers to ensure solicitation and application compliance.
• Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) – Explain and answer questions about the state of Michigan SBIR/STTR matching fund for Phase I and Phase II proposals.
• Proposal reviews – Thorough, multiple reviews of entire proposal for rules, content, readability and formatting to help ensure the proposal passes screening, technical and commercialization reviews.
• Submissions – Help with complicated proposal submission systems for timely submissions.
• Award negotiations – Assist with budgeting issues, agency formwork and certifications.

Anna received an MBA from Virginia Tech, an MS (High-energy physics) from Texas A&M and a BS (Physics with minors in Mathematics, Chemistry and Russian History) from Virginia Tech.