State Trade Expansion Program

Business Support for NC Exporters

Funded in part through a grant with the US Small Business Administration (SBA), the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) is specifically designed to help small businesses in North Carolina fund costs associated with international trade. As a qualifying participant in STEP, you can be reimbursed thousands of dollars of expenses that your business would normally have to pay out-of-pocket. Because it’s grant money, you are under no obligation to repay any amount. In other words, the cost of doing business internationally becomes much less costly.