LiftFund Disaster Relief Program

The Advanced Industries Early-Stage Capital and Retention Grant helps Colorado-based advanced industries technology businesses develop and commercialize advanced technologies that will be created or manufactured in Colorado. Projects can receive up to $250,000. This grant award maximum can be lifted for projects that impact more than one advanced industry. The market typically under-invests in early-stage technologies. The grant’s goal is to fill the gap left by the market. The grant is not meant to compete with existing funding.

The Commercial Energy Efficiency Grants provide small businesses and nonprofits in Charlottesville (with limited availability in Albemarle County) with up to $5,000 in incentive funding to make energy-saving upgrades to their location. Administered by the Community Climate Collaborative (C3) in partnership with the City of Charlottesville, with additional private-donor funding available for Albemarle organizations, the program is structured across three tiers of qualifying improvements, with each tier capped by both a dollar amount and a percentage of project cost, whichever is lower. Level 1 (Insulation and Weatherization) provides up to $1,000 or 50 percent of project cost and covers weather stripping, storm windows, attic insulation, and air-sealing. Level 2 (Small Business Improvements) provides up to $1,500 or 30 percent of project cost and covers LED lighting fixtures and sensors, solar window film, refrigeration improvements, and programmable thermostats. Level 3 (HVAC and Appliances) provides up to $2,000 or 30 percent of project cost and covers HVAC heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and Energy Star appliances. Nonprofit applicants can add up to $500 to any level in excess of the cost cap. Level 2 measures match Dominion Energy's Small Business Improvement Program, so utility rebates from Dominion stack on top of the C3 incentive to further reduce out-of-pocket costs. To qualify, applicants must qualify as a small business under the Code of Virginia (or as an equivalent nonprofit), be headquartered with a physical location in Charlottesville or Albemarle, and operate no more than three physical locations in the area. Home-based businesses are not eligible. Before accessing the grant, organizations must first receive an energy walkthrough performed by C3 or another certified contractor to identify eligible upgrades.

CanGrow farmer training and farmer loan financing grants will help eligible organizations provide educational resources, guidance, and low-interest loans for farmers who want to be part of the legal cannabis industry. While grants will be awarded to eligible organizations, Minnesota farmers will ultimately benefit by expert mentorship, compliance training, business planning resources, and low-interest loans. Grant awards for technical assistance in the second round of funding are expected to range from $10,000 to $100,000 per project. Grant awards for loan financing are expected to range from $200,000 to $500,000 per eligible organization (individual farmer loans will range from $2,500 to $50,000 or up to $150,000 for projects with matching funds). OCM intends to fund investments in eligible communities throughout the state. This is a competitive grant program.

The State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) is a national SBA program to help small businesses enter or expand into international markets. Funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and administered at the state level, this program provides direct reimbursement for the costs associated with "going global." Most states offer reimbursement grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 per year (though some states offer more) to offset export-related expenses. If your business currently makes any exports, or is looking to start exporting internationally, this is a fantastic program to explore. Please note that while this is a national program, the grants themselves are administered at the state level. The grant page that we have linked to provides a directory of the individual state websites where you can apply. Just click through to your state’s page to find specific details and eligibility criteria for your business.

The Theories, Models and Methods (TMM) initiative will support the development of computational tools for understanding dynamic brain circuits that are made broadly accessible to the greater research community. This program supports applications focused on tool building and dissemination in the domain of theories about neural circuit mechanisms, models of circuit structure and function, and/or computational methods of analysis spanning across scales from neurons to behavior. The development of novel theories, computational models and methods for understanding brain function will help characterize fundamental principles of brain function and organization, characterize cellular and circuit-level neural computations over time in different regions, and understand how interactions of multiple brain circuits enable flexible behaviors and contribute to brain-wide neural dynamics. These tools will be critical for developing treatments such as closed loop systems for brain disorders including Parkinsons disease and major depressive disorder.