Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University is poised to launch the Innovation Ecosystem Connect (IEC) Platform, a dynamic program to connect small businesses with national labs and research institutions for growth, development, and technology transfer.

Small businesses face the challenge of having limited to no access to federal entities. IEC will increase access to federal assets, small business lab engagement, and participation and engagement of underrepresented with labs and Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer opportunities.

The platform will be 100 percent virtual, inviting participants to complete a profile and short video, showcasing their idea or technology and describing their business. IEC will then match businesses to a federal resource, streamlining connections. Federal labs and research institutions will also have an opportunity to showcase technologies they would like to license. IEC will begin as a pilot project working within New Mexico, and because of its potential for replicability, will eventually expand into a nationwide program helping small businesses connect to federal resources.

The IEC is funded by an award from the Lab-to-Market Inclusive Innovation Ecosystem Prize Competition, an award granted by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the National Science and Technology Council. Watch the video that describes why the IEC is being created and how it will work.