BOZEMAN — As part of a multistate collaboration funded with a new grant, Montana State University’s TechLink Center will expand its work to help small businesses apply for federal research and development funding to bring their innovative ideas to the marketplace.

With $150,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Techlink and its collaborating partners will offer the Mesas to Mountains program to guide participants in applying for early-stage seed capital through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs and explore opportunities to learn about technologies available for licensing from federally funded research labs and universities. These programs help businesses develop and commercialize new technologies.