MONTANA OFFICE OF TOURISM AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

International Travel Stipend

When applying for our STEP grant for exhibiting at an international trade show or traveling to a foreign market for a US Commercial Service Program, you are also eligible to apply for an International Travel Stipend, up to $2,000.

Deadline

Submit your application at least 30 days before starting the program.

Reimbursement

• For travel within the U.S., reimbursement up to $500 of travel expenses
• For travel outside the U.S., up to $2,000 of travel expenses

Eligible Small Businesses

To be eligible for the Montana STEP grant, you must:

• have been in business for more than 1 year
• meet the SBA’s definition of a small business
• market products that are of U.S. origin or have at least 51% U.S. content
• show in the STEP application your understanding of the costs associated with exporting and doing business with foreign purchasers, including the costs of freight forwarding, customs brokers, packing and shipping, etc.
• agree to provide the program with export activities/results from the grant activities

Eligible Expenses*

• Hotel
• Airfare
• Mileage
• Taxi

* To request eligibility consideration of other online expenses, contact ExportMontana.

Ineligible Expenses

Any cost not directly related to international trade development and preapproved by this program.

Application

• Download the application here.  You may apply for any of the STEP-eligible activities at the same time (trade show, translation, USCS services, etc.).
• STEP grant priorities are:
  • Companies new to the STEP grant
  • Companies with more than 2 employees
  • For trade show applications:
    • A new international trade show for your company OR
    • Up to the first 3 times exhibiting at the show in the same market OR
    • if a domestic show, then it must be considered the premier show specific to your industry that brings in international buyers
  • For each company, 1 STEP grant award for each of the 6 activities per year.  Should there be any remaining monies once these priorities are met, funding a company’s applications for additional shows or other activities will be considered.
• If you need help with any aspect of the application, contact ExportMontana.

Submit

• Submit the application by email, fax, or mail (addresses in the application). 
• The State email server rejects emails with attachments larger 5 MB, so you may need to break up the attachments into more than 1 email or consider faxing or mailing. 
• We will confirm receipt of the application within 7 days and notify you of approval within 14 days.

Review

• ExportMontana will evaluate applications.
• ExportMontana makes the final decision, at its sole discretion, whether to fund an application, request additional information, and request SBA review of the application.
• Upon award, ExportMontana will send the company an agreement email which will outline processes and procedures. 

Reimbursement

To receive reimbursement for the international travel stipend, submit to ExportMontana the following:

• Use the appropriate form below:
  • Travel stipend for an international trade show
  • Travel stipend for US Commercial Service Activity
• W9 form – due with reimbursement request
• Copies of receipts of expenses

Yearly Progress Reports

ExportMontana will contact you annually to receive updates on results from the activity.

ExportMontana may request additional report updates if needed to monitor the activity and satisfy SBA reporting requirements.

Montana STEP grant is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration.