Enterprise Florida has
been awarded a State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) grant for $780,786 by
the U.S. Small Business Administration to help boost export
activity during the next year. Enterprise
Florida’s grant is one of many totaling $30 million that the SBA has presented
to states, territories and Washington, D.C. as a result of the 2010 Small
Business Jobs Act’s State Trade and Export Promotion Program.
“I
am on board with the President’s vision that U.S. companies and workers can
double U.S. goods and services exports during the next five years, which would
help support good, high paying jobs in manufacturing, services, and in agriculture,”
says the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Regional Administrator Cassius
Butts. “We are happy to be working with partners, such as Enterprise
Florida and other partners across the United States to increase both the number
of exporters and the number of countries they ship to. The Step Grant
exemplifies the dedication that Florida has to spurring economic growth and
assisting entrepreneurs to thrive from the international market.”
In using its grant
toward that purpose, Enterprise Florida has goals that include helping the
state’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) diversify their target
markets, and prompting infrequent and single-market exporters to expand their
overseas trade activity.
“Furthermore, we will
work to engage new SMEs, particularly manufacturers, in exporting,” emphasizes
Manny Mencía, senior vice president of Enterprise Florida’s international trade
division. “The grant will enable more SMEs to take advantage of overseas
tradeshows and missions because we will be able to provide them with funding to
offset their costs.”
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