Harford County Workforce Training Grant

The Maryland Manufacturing 4.0 grant program provides grants to small and mid-sized Maryland manufacturers to invest in Industry 4.0-related technologies, machinery and robotics, and digital business practices in order to remain competitive and drive growth. 20% of the funds will be reserved for small manufacturers with 3-50 employees.

This funding opportunity is part of a suite of NOFOs within the NIH HEAL Initiative to support the development of safe, effective, and non-addictive therapeutics to treat pain. The goal is to encourage initial translational efforts that will support a drug discovery program and advance projects to the point where they meet the entry criteria for the Pain Therapeutics Development Program. The scope will therefore be focused on development of assays to support a distinct testing funnel, screening efforts to identify hits, and initial characterization of hits and potential therapeutic agents (including small molecules, biologics, and natural products).

The Build with Gemini XPRIZE is a 90-day hackathon that awards $2 million in total prize money across 25 winners to entrepreneurs, teams, and small organizations who build a real AI-powered business during the competition window. Sponsored by XPRIZE and powered by Google, with administrative support from Devpost, the competition was launched at Google I/O and challenges entrants to pick a problem worth solving, launch a real business, acquire real users, and generate real revenue within a 90-day window, all while running their business operations through AI. Submissions must fall within one of five categories: Education and Human Potential, Entrepreneurship and Job Creation, Small Business Services, Money and Financial Access, and Professional Services Access. Each project must use at least one Google Cloud product, and any project incorporating large language model functionality must use the Gemini API for at least one LLM call in the deployed application. The prize pool is structured into a 1st place award of $500,000, a 2nd place award of $200,000, three awards of $100,000 each for 3rd through 5th place, fifteen Runner-Up awards of $50,000 each, and five Category Prizes of $50,000 each (one per category). The competition is open to individuals who are at least the age of majority where they reside, teams of eligible individuals, and small organizations with fewer than 25 employees (including corporations, nonprofits, LLCs, and partnerships). Residents of countries restricted by U.S. law (including Russia, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, and North Korea) are not eligible. Submissions are judged on three equally weighted criteria: business viability (actual revenue achieved during the 90-day window and the sustainability of the business model), AI-native operations (the extent to which AI is live in production running key business decisions), and category impact (whether the project meaningfully moves the needle in its chosen category).

HSBIR provides matching grants to help companies further develop new products that solve critical issues for the nation. Applicants must have received Federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) /Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants or contracts to qualify for the state matching grant program. The HSBIR program provides up to 50% match for companies receiving SBIR/STTR awards. Companies may apply also for reimbursement for grant writing costs for their initial Federal grant application (Phase 0). The Hawaiʻi SBIR matching grant program is the longest state funded SBIR matching program in the United States. Initially the grant program only funded companies that received Phase I grants but in 2016, the program was expanded to help companies who are moving their advanced technology products from research into the market. Hawaiʻi’s SBIR Phase II and Phase III winners are creating the best technology solutions in the nation.

The Cybersecurity Adoption Program (CAP) is designed to support Connecticut manufacturing companies seeking Cyber Security assessments and CMMC Certification. The goal is to help companies striving to meet federal cybersecurity requirements. Up to $10K can used for a Cyber Assessment with the balance allocated to remediation. Eligible companies can apply for grant funding up to $35,000 in total to assist with cyber security assessments and CMMC adoption. Participating companies must pay half the cost. The program is administered by the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology with funding provided through the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development's Manufacturing Innovation Fund.