West Virginia STEP Program

Eligibility

To be eligible for STEP funding, West Virginia small businesses must meet the following criteria:

• For-profit Business
• Organized or incorporated in the United States
• Located in West Virginia and is registered with the Secretary of State
• Complies with The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) size standards

  (which vary by NAICS code based on either annual receipts or number of employees)

• Has a finished product or qualifying service with at least 51% U.S. content
• Has been in business for no less than one (1) year
• Has sufficient resources to bear the cost associated with trade, including the costs of packing, shipping, freight forwarding, and customs brokers

Note: The above eligibility requirements apply to all companies in a group of companies that are affiliated through having the same controlling owners. Owners of multiple businesses will only be considered to be awarded $15,000 per STEP cycle.

STEP Program Process – How Does It Work?

1. Prepare – Review Guidelines and Eligibility criteria to ensure the program is right for you.
2. Apply – Submit your STEP Client Registration.
3. Register for the Event – Each eligible export activity has to have a separate STEP Event Application submitted.
4. Await Approval – We will evaluate your application and notify you if you/your company has been approved for funding along with next steps.
5. Reimbursement – Submit a Post Event Survey along with your reimbursement documentation.
6. Closeout – Share your outcomes with our team through a Long Term Performance Survey a year later.

Preparation Checklist

Please have the following information ready for the application process:

• West Virginia Secretary of State Entity Number (for corporations or LLCs)
• Copy of Business License (for sole proprietors)
• Primary six-digit North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) (need to make the NAICS code field on the form mandatory along with other fields as needed)
• Total Number of Employees (including those of affiliated companies i.e., parent companies)
• Annual Receipts (including those of affiliated companies i.e., parent companies)
• History of exporting (if applicable)
• Past STEP funding results (if applicable)
• Review the Application Process before starting the application process

U.S. Commercial Service

There’s a number of additional tools and resources that could be helpful to prepare and set potential export goals. Through our partnership with the U.S. Commercial Service here are the two great services that can be a great start for your company globalization:

1. RAISE Market Research – an in-depth research that helps to find the best international markets and identify specific potential partners through a customized matrix report tailored based on the companies preferences and goals.
2. Website Globalization Review (WGR) – an assessment of how ready the company’s website is to help target the overseas customers and increase the number of international consumers online.

Please refer to each of the links for further information on the two services above and any other
available services tailored to each business.

Take a look at the Frequently Asked Questions here.

For program, application process or eligibility questions please contact one of our team specialists: