This year, North Carolina will receive $746,800 in grant funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration to award to small businesses that want to step up their exporting. Paired with a state match of nearly $250,000, the State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) grant pool in North Carolina will total $995,733, according to information from the SBA.

That is substantially more than was available this past year, Alex Viva, international business development counselor for the N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center, said Monday.

In a recent news release, the agency announced it will give 39 states and Puerto Rico a total of $17.4 million in STEP funds in a new funding round.

The funds are designed to help states and territories assist small businesses with export-related activities or other export initiatives that are in line with the objectives of the program, the release stated. These objectives include participation in foreign trade missions, foreign market sales trips and subscription services provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, as well as design of international marketing campaigns, export trade show exhibits and training workshops.

Wilmington-based DryCASE used its recent grant to help pay travel expenses for company representatives to attend an outdoor show in Germany earlier this summer. The purveyor of waterproofing products partnered with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, which had a booth there, so company expenses were minimal, said COO Corey Heim.

DryCASE, which has already developed a European distribution network, got one new account and about 40 leads from attending the show in Germany, Heim said last week.

Five Star Hospitality and Restaurant Supply, another Wilmington business, got a small STEP grant late in the current fiscal year, according to Anne Brewer, the company’s director of sales.

“I got $950 to apply to the cost of travel and hotels for attending a trade show in Dubai, but after looking at the cost of attending, which was about $5,000 per person, we decided not to go,” she said Monday. Instead, a delegation from the U.S. Department of Commerce will take her made-in-USA linens and other products to the show.

Brewer said she was thrilled to obtain a grant, even though she ultimately declined it. She plans to apply for a grant from the new funding round that would enable her to attend a large textile convention in Germany this January.

“They love the small business owner,” she said of the SBA and the state’s economic development partnership. “They help us get our stuff overseas.”

STEP grants, first made available in fiscal year 2011, can be used for a variety of specific export-related efforts, but each state sets the parameters for grants it makes, Viva said. During last year's round, he said, North Carolina set a maximum of $2,000 per grant and required that the grants be used for travel cost reimbursement. That could always change this year.

"The actual specifics have not been released yet," he said.

Increasing export activity holds great promise for small businesses, SBA administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet said in the release.

"Exports are a central part of America's economic growth, with export-supported jobs paying 15-18 percent more. Yet less than 1 percent of small businesses export; and of those that do, 58 percent of them export to only one country,” she said. “Unlocking trade opportunities for small businesses is key to continued growth and expansion. SBA's STEP program ensures local resources are available to help small businesses tap global markets."