Outreach to and Engagement of Women by FAST and GAFC awardess (interviews)

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Qualitative Feedback on SBA Service Delivery” (OMB Control Number: 32450398)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Outreach to and Engagement of Women by
FAST and GAFC awardees [interviews]
PURPOSE:
To understand the extent to which two Small Business Administration (SBA) programs, the
Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program and the Growth Accelerator Fund
Competition (GAFC), successfully engage women entrepreneurs. Both the FAST and GAFC
programs fund organizations to provide varying levels of training and outreach to potential
applicants and awardees of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small
Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Both FAST and GAFC funding
announcements include language on supporting women entrepreneurs. Interviews will be
conducted with personnel from both programs to collect data, information, and best practices
regarding outreach to and engagement of women entrepreneurs with a specific focus on
involvement with the SBIR/STTR programs. These interviews will be used as a research tool to
obtain insights about efforts to engage women entrepreneurs that complements a quantitative
analysis on the participation of women in the SBIR/STTR programs.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:
1. Program managers or relevant personnel from FAST and GAFC awardees
TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)
[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form
[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software)
[ ] Focus Group

[] Customer Satisfaction Survey
[] Small Discussion Group
[X ] Other: Interviews

CERTIFICATION:
I certify the following to be true:
1. The collection is voluntary.
2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.
3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal
agencies.
4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.
5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential
policy decisions.
6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have
experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.
Name:________________________________________________
To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:
Personally Identifiable Information:

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1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No
2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the
Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No
3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No
Gifts or Payments:
Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to
participants? [] Yes [X] No
BURDEN HOURS
Category of Respondent
FAST Program Managers
GAFC Program Managers

No. of
Respondents
15
15

Totals

30

Participation Time

Burden

60 minutes each
60 minutes each

15 hours
15 hours
30 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $13,842 which is
attributed to the contractor that will be leading the discussions.
If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please
provide answers to the following questions:
The selection of your targeted respondents
1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential
respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?
[X] Yes
[] No
If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If
the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of
respondents and how you will select them?
Response:
Interviews will be conducted on behalf of the U.S. Small Business Administration by its
contractor Dawnbreaker. Organizational participants (SBA resource partners FAST and GAFC)
will be recruited for the interview by SBA OII personnel who have extensive knowledge of the
organizations and their likelihood to participate and add value to the interviews.
Using a purposive sampling method, SBA will work with the contractor to develop a
categorized, prioritized list of prospective research participants, with the expectation of 10
organizations from each type of resource partner to be represented, with 10 to 15 personnel to
show from each respondent group, as noted below.
Stakeholder Group
Group 1. FAST
Program Managers
and/or Marketing

Sampling Methodology
The team will select 10 FAST awardee organizations. Some
organizations may have specialized marketing personnel responsible for
outreach that will participate in the interview along with the program
manager, leading to potentially 10-15 individuals representing these 10
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Stakeholder Group
Personnel

Group 2. GAFC
Program Managers
and/or Marketing
Personnel

Sampling Methodology
organizations. Ideally up to half the sample will have had an expressed
interest in engaging actual and potential women entrepreneurs. Data on
the number of women entrepreneurs that each of these organizations
served will be requested, as well as insights into their programs and
outreach methods.

The team will select 10 GAFC awardee organizations. Some
organizations may have specialized marketing personnel responsible for
outreach that will participate in the interview along with the program
manager, leading to potentially 10-15 individuals representing these 10
organizations. Ideally up to half the sample will have had an expressed
interest in engaging actual and/or potential women entrepreneurs. Data
on the number of women entrepreneurs that each of these organizations
served will be requested, as well as insights into their programs and
outreach methods.

The SBA, through its contractor, will contact the selected candidates (FAST and GAFC program
managers) by email to elicit their participation. If candidates do not respond to up to three
attempts to contact them, we will select additional candidates using the same criteria described
above. Once individuals are recruited, the team will schedule the interview. Prior to the
interview, we will share the appropriate discussion guide with the participants.
Administration of the Instrument
1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[] Web-based or other forms of Social Media
[X] Telephone
[ ] In-person
[ ] Mail
[ ] Other, Explain
2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [] No
Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the
request.
Attachments:
• Email Invitation
• Discussion Guide

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