West Virginia Shows Surprising Strength in SBIR Performance

By Maddy Ventura

Each year, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs award over $4 billion dollars to help innovative technologies across the country turn research into impactful, real-world products. However, understanding performance by measuring awards per state doesn’t exactly paint a clear picture. Why? Using comparisons of one state’s award count to another can often be an apple and orange situation when trying to determine performance as there are other factors that should be considered. 

Excel Regional Solutions recently released the SBIR State Performance Index, which assesses state SBIR achievements using factors like economy size, research spending, high-tech firms, and research employment. Including these factors establishes a more comprehensive ranking of performance by showing how well each state's companies earn SBIR awards compared to their share of the national innovation economy. 

West Virginia Ranks #18 on the Index

According to the index, West Virginia received 45 awards from 2022 to 2024, far fewer than Texas's 1,138. At first glance, this might make West Virginia’s accomplishments look insubstantial. However, the report ranks the Mountain State #18 when all factors are considered. We believe this is due to the state’s matching fund program, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Investment Fund, and technical assistance from WV SPRINT, the SBIR FAST program administered by USRIA & WV SBDC, and the state’s robust network of entrepreneurial support organizations.

West Virginia is progressing toward an innovation economy, and WV SPRINT supports this goal by offering free expert assistance to tech companies statewide seeking SBIR/STTR federal funding. To learn more or apply for assistance, visit WV SPRINT.

To read more about the SBIR State Performance Index, access the report & spreadsheet here.