FY 2023 STATE TRADE EXPANSION PROGRAM (STEP) for South Dakota | SB OITST 23 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for SB OITST 23 001

The FY 2023 State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) for South Dakota is a discretionary federal grant opportunity administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under CFDA 59.061. The program sits in the Business and Commerce funding category and is designed to support state-level efforts that help small businesses expand into international markets. The core idea behind STEP is to strengthen export promotion and trade development activities by providing grant funding to the state entity that leads South Dakota's export and trade facilitation work.

Eligibility for this opportunity is intentionally narrow because of the governing statute, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. Under that law, STEP grants can only be awarded to "States," a term that is defined broadly to include U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. For this specific notice, the opportunity is explicitly limited to South Dakota. That means the applicant cannot be an individual business, a private nonprofit, or a local government acting on its own. Instead, the eligible applicant must be a non-federal entity that qualifies as the State for purposes of STEP: a South Dakota state agency or another organization that has already been formally and officially designated by the Governor (or equivalent authority) as the single, sole applicant and lead entity responsible for conducting the state's trade and export activities. In practice, this designation requirement is meant to ensure there is one clear statewide administrator that coordinates export assistance rather than multiple competing applicants.

From a funding standpoint, the notice lists an award ceiling of $175,000. The opportunity also indicates an expected five awards, which in the context of STEP generally reflects that the SBA is making multiple state or territorial awards under the broader national program, even though this posting is tailored to South Dakota. The funding instrument is a grant, and the overall opportunity category is discretionary, meaning applications are competitively reviewed and selected rather than awarded automatically based on a formula.

Timing details in the source data show that the opportunity was created on March 16, 2023, with an original closing date of March 17, 2023, and no explanation provided for that very short window. That kind of timeline often indicates a targeted or administrative posting tied to an already-identified designated state entity, or a situation where the intended applicant had advance notice through program channels. In any case, the key operational takeaway is that only the governor-designated statewide lead for export promotion in South Dakota would be positioned to apply and administer the award on behalf of the state.

Overall, this STEP notice is best understood as funding aimed at building and delivering statewide export assistance infrastructure and services, with the state-designated lead entity serving as the applicant and administrator. The grant is not directly open to individual South Dakota companies; rather, it is structured so the designated state entity can use the funds to run or expand programs that help small businesses pursue exporting and international sales opportunities.

• The Small Business Administration in the business and commerce sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2023 STATE TRADE EXPANSION PROGRAM (STEP) for South Dakota" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 59.061.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 16, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 17, 2023 No Explanation. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $175,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for SB OITST 23 001

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