Funded in part through a grant with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The World Trade Center Arkansas secures funding for Arkansas companies through the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) Grant provided by the United States Small Business Administration. We then award it to eligible Arkansas small businesses to fund export initiatives such as trade shows and exhibitions, inbound and outbound trade missions, consulting, website translations, marketing media, and other export initiatives. The testimonials below illustrate the effectiveness of the STEP Grant. For more information on applying for funds, contact Trish Watkins, our STEP Grant director.

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STEP Grant | 10th Anniversary Celebration

The World Trade Center Arkansas proudly joined the U.S. Small Business Administration as it celebrated 10 years of the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) grant, which has been instrumental in helping Arkansas small businesses find global success.
Watch STEP Highlight Video
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Todd Maines | ZÜM Toyz

“The World Trade Center Arkansas and the SBA STEP grant have been fantastic resource partners and a catalyst to begin and now expand substantial growth on our international exports. Without the STEP grant, we would have never started exporting in the first place. Now, we are increasing our sales even more by expanding our exports to additional countries. We are extremely appreciative of all of it!”
Visit ZÜM Toyz
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ZÜM Toyz | Small Business All-Star

ZÜM Toyz was also honored this year as a small business All-Star for its proficiency in expanding digital business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Melvin Torres, director of Western Hemisphere trade at the World Trade Center Arkansas, moderated the panel where ZÜM Toyz was the featured company.
Watch Breakout Panel

Gina Radke | Galley Support Innovations

“Utilizing the STEP funds, GSI has been able to attract new international customers from countries such as Canada, Brazil and Switzerland. It was a trip to EBACE made possible by STEP funds that opened GSI up to the VVIP aircraft market, increasing our domestic and international sales.” Gina Radke. President and CEO, Galley Support Innovations
Visit Galley Support Innovations

Mike Baker | Catfish Pro

“Our Facebook marketing has helped us grow to over 62,000 people who like and follow us. We continue to sell our catfish bait to all Scheels stores here in the US. This happened because of ICAST2019. So the STEP funds are helping in more ways than we know.”
Visit Catfish Pro
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Iliana Sutton | Aha! Interpreting Solutions

“My team set themselves up with goals to hit the floor running and to not stop until we reached our goal. That is exactly what we did within 24 hours of my team arriving in a country that we had never been to and with no business contacts we successfully exported Professional face to face language services.”
Visit Aha! Interpreting Solutions

William Burgess | Power Technology, Inc.

“In 2016, we introduced our new Cinema laser products into Europe. The STEP grant helped us attend the largest Cinema show in Europe by offsetting our cost significantly. Since then, we have gotten a lot more traction with our European customers. ” William Burgess. VP of Operations, Power Technology, Inc.
Visit Power Technology, Inc.

CATSquared | Food Tracability System

“We used the funds to cover a portion of costs to attend international trade shows in North America and Latin America. These trade shows generated approximately $1.5 million in revenue for our company.” Kathy Barbeire, Marketing Manager at CATSquared
Visit CATSquared

Paris Air Show | June 2015

“The STEP Grant enabled us to bring many pioneering Arkansas companies to the Paris Airshow with Governor Asa Hutchinson in June 2015 for B2B meetings and to develop strategic relationships.” Dan Hendrix. President and CEO, World Trade Center Arkansas.
Visit the Paris Air Show