Alaska small businesses can apply for up to $10,000 to break into foreign markets

Alaska small businesses that want to sell overseas can apply for up to $10,000 in reimbursements through the State Trade Expansion Program, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development announced Tuesday.

The money can cover foreign trade missions and sales trips, trade show registration, booth costs and travel, U.S. Department of Commerce export services, export training, market research and international marketing. Website work can qualify too, including translating pages for foreign markets and setting up e-commerce.

Both first-time and experienced exporters can apply, as long as the activity helps them enter a new market or grow in one where they don't already have significant export sales, according to the application page.

Some costs a business has already paid may qualify. For the current grant cycle, costs as far back as Sept. 30, 2025, may be eligible, and the grant period has been extended through Sept. 29, 2027, according to the application page. It lists an Aug. 1, 2027, deadline.

The program is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and run by the department's Office of International Trade. In 2023, the office received a $100,000 SBA grant for the program, which the department said at the time was Alaska's first in six years.