SBA opens $10M manufacturing grant to Alaska Native-serving schools

Tribal colleges, community colleges near tribal lands, and trade schools primarily serving Alaska Native villages or organizations have until Aug. 24 to compete for a share of up to $10 million in federal manufacturing-training funding, under a grant opportunity the U.S. Small Business Administration announced Wednesday. The competition narrows a broader $50 million manufacturing workforce training opportunity the SBA announced May 6.

The agency will make up to five awards nationwide through its Manufacturing in America Empower to Grow initiative, formerly known as 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance, which offers free courses, workshops, and one-on-one advising for small businesses. The funded training targets employees of 8(a) and HUBZone-eligible firms in critical industries.

Eligible Alaska applicants must meet several institutional and experience requirements. An applicant must be a tribal college or university, a community college near tribal lands, a tribal-serving institution with manufacturing programs, or a trade school serving Alaska Native villages. Applicants must also have operated continuously for at least three years; have experience providing hands-on, in-person technical assistance, tools, or training related to manufacturing or skilled labor to small businesses on a regional or national basis; and demonstrate the capacity to provide manufacturing-related training and technical assistance to small businesses.

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the awards will "ensure Native American entrepreneurs and tribal enterprises play a leading role in America's industrial comeback."

No Alaska institution had publicly said whether it would apply. Alaska Native-serving trade and vocational schools are among the eligible applicants, and by the agency's description of the program, an award could expand skilled-labor and manufacturing training capacity for rural learners and employers. The SBA identifies Native-owned businesses and tribal enterprises as the intended beneficiaries of the added training and technical assistance.

Alaska News previously covered Iḷisaġvik College in Utqiaġvik, the state's only tribal college, purchasing land for a permanent campus.

Proposals go through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 24. A second SBA informational webinar is scheduled for Aug. 12 at 1 p.m. Eastern, and registration is required.