If you’re a small business owner, you’ll know how hard it can be to expand beyond a humble operation. A qualification like an MBA online is a fantastic way to learn about marketing and leading a business, but with the limited resources that many small businesses have, it can be hard to put this knowledge to use. At some point, it’s likely that your business will need to obtain outside capital to expand your operations or incorporate new systems that will help you grow. Luckily for businesses in Maryland, the state has teamed up with the US Small Business Administration (US SBA) to create a grant program designed to ease these growing pains and help propel promising local businesses to success.
In July, the Maryland Department of Commerce announced it had awarded more than 100 small and mid-sized companies with ExportMD grants between July 2023 and July 2024.
The ExportMD program, which has been running since 1999, is designed to reward small businesses local to Maryland that have the potential to help make Maryland known around the world. The grant can total up to $5,000, and is targeted at companies that meet a set of specific qualifications and criteria. An eligible company must have business operations in Maryland that are in good standing with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, must have been in existence for at least one year, must not have received an ExportMD award in the last year, and must be planning an international business initiative to commence and conclude within six months of the ExportMD application deadline. All qualified applicants must also be defined as a small business according to the US SBA. The SBA definition of what constitutes a small business varies depending on industry, but commonly means that its average revenue over the past three years does not exceed $7.5 million, and that it must have fewer than 500 employees. The SBA enforces this requirement as a condition that the Maryland Department of Congress must meet in order to receive the State Trade Expansion Program (aka “STEP”) grant from the federal bureau, which helps fund the ExportMD grants.
While the $5,000 is surely helpful to smaller businesses who often operate on tighter budgets and leaner margins than their larger competitors, the process provides other benefits, too. All qualified applicants receive an export counseling meeting with the International Trade and Investment office of the Maryland Department of Commerce. This meeting is designed to ensure that all motivated and qualifying entrants into the grant process get something out of the time they put into filing an application, namely expert advice from qualified trade specialists who can help inform these small businesses of potential obstacles that they might encounter in their international ventures, and ensure that they have access to all of the resources they might require in their international ventures.
As the name and criteria imply, this award is designed to improve global and public perception of the state of Maryland by offering much needed financial support and expert guidance. Through the combination of expert consultations and, for the chosen recipients, a helpful cash infusion, the ExportMD ensures that Maryland businesses going out into the world to do business have all of the tools they need to succeed and improve the international reputation of Maryland’s business community.
The businesses that win the grants normally do so because they have real promise and concrete plans for the winnings. Alertus Technologies, a software company from Baltimore that specializes in mass emergency notification systems, spent its grant on search engine optimization in the hopes that better exposure via search engines might help it win international clients. The efforts seem to be paying off, as Alertus has recently clinched a deal with Raptor Technologies, a leader in school safety software, to work together to build emergency alert button systems for schools.
Other winners include local hardware companies Groco and ABSI. Gross Mechanical Laboratories of Queen Anne’s County, aka Groco, produces marine, industrial, and automotive mechanical products. Groco plans to use their winnings to fund an international sales trip to the Netherlands. ABSI Aerospace & Defense is a defense contractor that produces unmanned aerial vehicles who used the grant to attend the Singapore Air Show alongside other Maryland-based aerospace companies with the Maryland Department of Commerce.
The ExportMD grant is an excellent model for states around the country, a fantastic example of how state governments can leverage the combination of federal funding and local expertise to foster growth in their local economies and give promising businesses exposure to international markets. This is exactly the kind of support that small businesses need, and a masterclass in creative and affordable ways to help them get exposure. After all, the most critical challenge for any small business is gaining the much-needed visibility to compete for contracts and sales with larger incumbents, whose names may already be known by potential customers. Small businesses sometimes need to take big risks in order to stand out amongst the fray and attract customers who might feel safer choosing a well-known brand, or benefit from the economies of scale that larger companies benefit from.
Any small business would be wise to read up on grants like ExportMD that might be available to them. While grants funded by the STEP initiative are available to many small businesses seeking to gain international exposure, not all small businesses are ready to take that leap of spending much-needed funds to make their products available overseas. Whether or not your small business plans to export products, there are many resources available that can help you find grants and other programs designed to help small businesses thrive and offer lively competition to larger incumbents. US Business Grants is a program founded during the COVID-19 pandemic that has pivoted to helping all small businesses qualify and apply for grants.
It’s not all about getting the money, though. Whether you raise money through grants, loans, or by raising capital through equity sales, at some point, you have to figure out how to put that money to work. There are a wide variety of resources available to entrepreneurs and small business owners for free: major consulting firms like Gartner and Accenture offer free tools and information that can help you start thinking about how to spend your capital optimally.
At the end of the day, building a successful company is about delivering a high quality product that customers want, and that’s between the business and its clientele. But without some effort put into marketing and growth, even the best products might never reach the hands of their target market.
