The Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is launching a state-wide grant program to help Maine’s businesses sell more goods and services to locations within the United States, including Maine.
Donor Name: Department of Economic and Community Development
State: Maine
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/11/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan (MJRP) is Governor Mills’ plan, approved by the Legislature, to invest nearly $1 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to improve the lives of Maine people and families, help businesses, create good-paying jobs, and build an economy poised for future prosperity.
This was exacerbated by the disruptions caused by the pandemic. In response, a domestic trade program was developed at DECD to help small- to mid-sized businesses in Maine identify and access new markets by providing market data, marketing support, and direct financial support to businesses.
Funding Information
- The minimum award is $10,000.
- The maximum award is based on the size of the business/organization:
- 0-1: $25,000
- 2-9: $50,000
- 10-49: $75,000
- 50-249: $100,000
- 250-499: $250,000
- Collaborative Initiative: $100,000
Qualified Activities
In general, the program is intended to support projects and activities that will expand the market for Maine’s businesses to sell goods and services. These project-based activities may include either one or a combination of the following activities:
- Sales Channel support
- Trade Shows
- preparing displays and materials to participate in trade shows, and conducting research for lead generation, industry, or product efforts.
- Marketing strategy
- working with consultants or other providers to create or refine a plan for increased domestic sales
- Technical Assistance and other Trade Assistance
The intent is that the funding is limited to discrete, actionable, measurable, time-limited, and results-oriented projects that bolster recovery from Pandemic-related impacts to the eligible industries. All businesses and organizations that receive funding will be surveyed to determine if sales increased due to receiving assistance from Maine’s domestic trade recovery grant program.
Eligibility Criteria
Financial support is only available to the following industries negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Agriculture – food and beverage
- Clean energy
- Construction
- Fishing, Seafood, and Aquaculture
- Forestry and forest products
- Information services
- Logistics, Transportation, and Warehousing
- Manufacturing
- Retail (includes wholesale)
All applicant businesses and organizations (501c3, 501c6, and Tribes) must have significant operations in Maine (be headquartered in Maine and have a minimum of 50% of employees and contract employees based in Maine) and have a Unique Entity Identification (UEI) number. To be eligible for funding, goods and services must feature Maine products or be a result of value-added activities that occur in Maine.
For more information, visit DECD.
