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Phase I to Phase III Success through the Hawaii SBIR Program
With the help of: INNOVATE Hawaii
About
Amanda Crabtree-Loo, Premier Solutions HI, LLC (PSHI) President and Founder, along with her business partner, Rob Hardisty, knew that they could use technology to streamline operational management workflows and started out with a goal to do just that. Founded in 2007, PSHI became certified as a participant in the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) Business Development Program as a small disadvantaged business in 2010. PSHI was built on the foundation of communication, innovation, responsiveness, and the Aloha Spirit. These foundational pillars are what have led the company to experience explosive growth, particularly with Federal customers, such as the U.S. Navy.
Since its inception the company has grown and successfully transitioned from 8(a) contracts and into SBIR contracts with sustainable R&D revenue. PSHI is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, and has additional offices in Virginia and Washington D.C.
The Challenge
PSHI had found much success as an 8(a) company, however they wanted to continue to grow and move into SBIR R&D projects. In 2012, the company had launched their Financial Audit Compliance Enhancement Tool (FACET) with the U.S. Navy to great success. FACET focuses on eliminating paper waste while enhancing financial record management. It converts paper documents into text-searchable PDFs, extracting key data and exporting it into systems of record for future analysis. With the success of FACET the company was then awarded additional DOD SBIR contracts with the most recent moving into an SBIR Phase III in 2020.
The Hawaii Small Business Innovation Research Program matching grants have been immensely beneficial and provided invaluable support to our business. This additional funding has helped us overcome logistical challenges of being headquartered in Hawaii and provided the ability to hire top software development talent.
MEP's Role
The Hawaii Small Business Innovation Research Program (HSBIR), administered by Innovate Hawaii, part of the MEP National Network™, was able to provide PSHI with matching grants to further assist in their SBIR R&D technology advancements. The HSBIR programs provides up to 50% match for companies receiving SBIR awards.
Along with SBIR matching grant support, PSHI has also been able to work with the Innovate Hawaii team and their TDMI consultant to utilize a design thinking approach to help identify customers and explore commercialization. In addition, PSHI is also working with the Department of the Navy SBIR/STTR Transition Program (Navy STP) to identify partners within the Navy to transition further projects into Phase II and Phase III.