It’s that time of year again in Alaska! The season of blueberries and raspberries, as well as all of the late summer festivals and events! If you’re like me, you can’t wait for the Alaska State Fair to start so you can find all your favorite high calorie foods that you only get once a year (which is probably for the best).
Whatever event you’re planning on hitting this year, make sure to drop a few bucks at the various small businesses that make those events so fun…and fattening.
When you’re ready to get back to business the Alaska SBDC has you covered! We’ve got tons of new workshops and trainings that can help you with everything from building a new business plan to locking down your digital data. We’ve also got a ton of promotional opportunities and company discounts that you can take advantage of through our BuyAlaska program.
If you’re an Alaskan technology and innovation aficionado, you may be interested to read about this year’s winners of the TREND Phase 0 grant program. These intrepid innovators will receive up to $10,000 each to help them submit their ideas to various SBIR/STTR grant programs for hundreds of thousands of dollars in R&D funding. If you’re an inventor that didn’t get the Phase 0 funding but still want to try and develop your idea? No problem! We’ve also launched a new AI-driven online tool called TurboSBIR that can use AI technology and online data resources to help connect you with the best opportunities for your idea.
Speaking of funding, the team over at the Alaska SBDC’s SSBCI program have been working tirelessly to get their funding out the door and into the hands of small businesses. In the few short months since they’ve launched SSBCI has helped secure over $8 million in new loans and is helping to create $20 million in new equity funding for Alaskan businesses. Over the next few months they plan on working with lenders across the state to process an additional $19 million in loans. They’re particularly excited about a partnership with the Municipality of Anchorage’s Anchorage Community Development Authority to create a new $1 million frontage improvement loan program.
As always, our SBDC Business Advisors are ready, willing and able to work with your business one-on-one to not only help answer your business questions, but to tell you more about all of the amazing special programs and new tools we’re launching in 2023/2024. If you were able to attend the latest Anchorage Economic Development Corporation’s annual luncheon you heard that Alaska’s economy is poised to grow by leaps and bounds (congratulations on the retirement, Bill!).
The Alaska SBDC is here to help you and your business take advantage of that growth. Just reach out to one of our advisors and learn more about what we’re doing to ensure Alaskan businesses have the resources they need to succeed.
Jon Bittner
Alaska SBDC Executive Director