Nantucket Rock Solid Grants

The Hiring Our Heroes Small Business Grant Program awards five veteran and military spouse-owned small businesses with one-time cash grants to help grow and support their businesses. Administered by Hiring Our Heroes, the program distributes a total of $65,000 in grant funding each cycle: one business receives a $25,000 grant and four additional businesses each receive $10,000. The program is supported by the FedEx Founder's Fund through the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. Eligible applicants are for-profit small businesses with at least 51% veteran or military spouse ownership, 3 to 20 employees, annual revenue under $5 million, and a location in an economically vulnerable community (or otherwise demonstrating financial need). The grant honors the contributions of veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs while providing capital to fuel continued growth and community impact.

The DBIA Dairy Grants provide dairy farms and dairy manufacturing and processing businesses across 11 Midwestern states with reimbursement grants of up to $150,000 to support value-added projects, business diversification, and industry-wide initiatives. Administered by the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA) and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service, the program serves for-profit dairy businesses based in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Funding is offered through two grant tracks. -The Dairy Business Builder Grant: Awards reimbursements of up to $150,000 to small-to-medium farmers and processors for projects focused on dairy farm diversification, the creation of value-added products (such as cheese, yogurt, and beverages), enhancement of dairy by-products, or expansion of dairy export programs. -The Dairy Industry Impact Grant: Awards up to $100,000 for projects in targeted topic areas (e.g. dairy exporting and sustainability) that have the potential to positively impact the dairy industry as a whole. Applicants may apply to both grant programs in the same cycle if they have two separate qualifying projects, and may receive awards from both. Grants are issued as reimbursements after eligible project expenses have been incurred and documented; recipients have 12 months from the date of award to complete spending and submit reimbursement requests. Since launching in 2020, DBIA has distributed nearly $24 million across more than 290 awards to dairy farmers and processors throughout the region.

The Biosensing program is part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, which also includes 1) the Biophotonics program; 2) the Cellular and Biochemical Engineering program; 3) the Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering program; and 4) the Engineering of Biomedical Systems program. The Biosensing program supports fundamental engineering research in the monitoring, identification and/or quantification of biological analytes and phenomena using innovations that exist at the intersection of engineering, life sciences, and information technology. Projects submitted to the program must advance both engineering and life sciences. The Biosensing program encourages proposals that, in addition to advancing biosensing technology, address critical sensor needs in biomedical research, public health, food safety, agriculture, forensics, environmental protection, and homeland security. Proposals are especially encouraged in areas of critical need: sensing technologies that can enable monitoring and surveillance of the environment and/or individuals for novel infectious agents; platform technologies that can readily be modified as soon as new agents are detected, sequenced, and/or otherwise characterized to enable rapid deployment of sensors in clinics and the environment; and adaptive and/or multiplex sensing technologies that can help the nation prevent the spread of the next global pandemic. Major areas of interest for the program include: -Novel signal transduction principles and mechanisms that enable sensitive and specific biosensors, suitable for measurements in multiple areas; -Design of novel biorecognition elements and appropriately designed transducing systems to enable adaptable and/or reconfigurable operating parameters in response to environmental changes or application needs at levels of device, system, or data analysis; -Development of adaptive and/or evolvable biosensing systems for detection of novel target analytes or analytes under novel conditions; -Novel synthetic biology approaches for the development of cell-free and cell-based biosensors; and -Combining biosensors with artificial intelligence (AI) methods to improve sensor specificity and response time.

The Facade Improvement Program provides eligible project funding from $3000 up to $34,500 for facade repair and restoration. A 5% match is required and can be satisfied via in-kind monetized amounts for grant application preparation, site plans including approval compilation, estimates, architectural rendering costs, as well as total project cost cash match. The goal of this program is to encourage building restoration, historic preservation, and improved economic vitality by improving building facades. Eligible buildings are commercial and mixed commercial/residential with facades visible from the street. New construction will not be considered for this program.

New Mexico has one of the most generous training incentive programs in the country. The Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) funds classroom and on-the-job training for newly created jobs in expanding or relocating businesses for up to 6 months. The program reimburses 50-90% of employee wages. Custom training at a New Mexico public educational institution may also be reimbursed. Businesses eligible for consideration include: -Companies that manufacture or produce a product in New Mexico -Non-retail service companies that export a substantial percentage of services out of state (50% or more of revenues and/or customer base). Software development companies, customer support centers and product testing laboratories are three examples of businesses that have qualified in this category -Certain green industries