Are you a small business looking for export counseling, training, and assistance? You’re in luck because Hawaii recently received the largest export grant award in the nation! The State of Hawaii’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) is administering an exciting grant program called the Hawaii State Trade and Export Promotion Program (HiSTEP).
The HiSTEP program is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In fact, Hawaii’s Federal Award amounts to $750,000.00 in which you can take advantage of through the following three programs:
1) HiSTEP – Export Readiness Program (HiSTEP-ERP)
Training program to prepare Hawaii companies to begin or expand their export market development. To register for Export University training please visithttp://invest.hawaii.gov/
2) HiSTEP – Assistance Program (HiSTEP-AP)
Hawaii companies can get up to $6,000 reimbursed for export market development costs! This includes travel, trade show costs, website marketing, and more!
3) HiSTEP – Hawaii Pavilions (HiSTEP-HP)
DBEDT and partners such as the Hawaii Department of Agricultural organize groups of Hawaii companies to participate in major trade shows in a Hawaii pavilion.
For more information (eligibility, detailed information about each program, who to contact etc.) visit http://invest.hawaii.
If your business is not located in Hawaii, and would like to find more info about STEP grants in your state visit https://www.sba.gov/content/