On July 19, 2024, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 33 million small businesses, announced a funding opportunity for Native American-owned small businesses under its new pilot Native American Trade Expansion Program (NATEP). The new program will provide up to $240,000 in grants to expand exporting opportunities to Native American-owned small businesses. The deadline for eligible small business concerns to submit proposals to the NATEP Program is July 31, no later than 11:59 p.m. (EDT).

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the SBA has remained committed to increasing economic opportunities for tribal communities and creating pathways to entrepreneurship for Native American and Indigenous small business owners,” said Administrator Guzman in a press release. “With the launch of the Native American Trade Expansion Program, we can help Native American entrepreneurs grow their businesses through exports abroad. The more than 341,000 Native American-owned small businesses can help us lift communities and power U.S. global competitiveness for a brighter future for us all.”

The SBA’s Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA) established this funding opportunity as part of its mission to ensure that Native American-owned small businesses have full access to the business development and expansion tools available through the SBA’s entrepreneurial development, lending, and procurement programs.

Eligible organizations for this funding opportunity must meet the following criteria:

Must be located in or near Tribal lands and/or intend to primarily provide services to Native American-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs;

• Must be a for-profit or non-profit entity;
• Must have been in existence continually for at least three years;
• Must have substantive experience dealing with issues related to the Native American population and small businesses; and
• Must have a track record and capacity of providing assistance to Native American small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Eligible small businesses that are selected will be awarded up to $240,000 to directly support small businesses with grants and technical assistance to support for a project period of 24 months. Funds can be used by the awardee to directly fund small businesses to participate in opportunities that can increase exports, such as participation in foreign trade missions, a foreign market sales trip, website and product translation, and international marketing media design. Funds must directly support development of New-to-Export Native small businesses (NTE) and Market Expansion Native small businesses (ME). Accordingly, applicants must reflect in their technical proposal and budget narrative the use of at least 85% of their proposed federal award for the purpose of providing direct benefit to these exporting small businesses.

Applications must be submitted on or before July 31, via www.Grants.gov and must consist of the following elements (i) a cover letter; (ii) a technical proposal; (iii) budget information; (iv) certifications, forms and assurances; and (v) attachments and exhibits. To learn more about this grant opportunity, visit here.