California Community Colleges Acting Chancellor Erik Skinner on Tuesday announced that a $1.62 million State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration has been awarded to the agency to help increase California exports and create more jobs.

The funding for the two-year, $60 million national initiative was authorized in 2010 under the federal Small Business Jobs Act, which aims to increase the number of small businesses that want to export and increase the value of exports for those small businesses that already export.

Centers for International Trade Development, which are on community college campuses throughout the state, will act as coordinating entities for training and technical assistance.

“This grant will help our community colleges provide more training and technical assistance for small businesses that have valuable products, but may need help getting them to markets outside of our borders,” Acting Chancellor Skinner said. “Opening up those new markets will spur demand for skilled workers and that’s where our world-class training comes in and helps boost our state’s economy.”

Preliminary results for the STEP program are very strong, the U.S. Small Business Administration said.

In Fiscal Year 2012, the federal agency is expected to report a 10-to-1 return on investment of federal grants.

The Small Business Jobs Act provided $60 million for the STEP Program for use over a two-year period.

The California Community Colleges received $2.54 million in STEP funds in 2011 and because California received almost $1 million less in the second and final year of funding the goals are smaller in scope but no less important.

Those goals include assisting 430 small in expanding exports to new markets of which at least 50 percent of those businesses will be owned and operated by minorities, women and veterans., assist at least 100 small businesses to begin exporting products and track $26 million in new international sales.

The STEP services are meant to meet the specific international trade development needs of state and local small business communities and vary from state to state.  

Along with the training programs set up at California community colleges, STEP services include support for participation in foreign trade missions, foreign market sales trips, subscription to services provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Web site translation fees, design of international marketing media and trade show exhibitions.

California depends heavily on STEP program assistance for its overseas trade missions for small businesses to participate in more than 28 trade export promotion efforts.

Those efforts highlight the following sectors in high demand on a global scale: advanced technologies, biomedical manufacturing, food & agricultural products, health and beauty products and California wines.

Small businesses that promote export opportunities to the People’s Republic of China also are targeted for the grant funding.

“Helping California small businesses win new sales in foreign countries is an important way to boost local job growth,” said Paul Oliva, deputy director, international affairs and business development for Gov. Brown’s Office of Business & Economic Development. “Thanks to the U.S. Small Business Administration STEP grant, together with our federal and local partners, we anticipate hundreds of small enterprises to reap tens of millions of dollars of new business. That's a great return on investment."

The California STEP partners include:

•       California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development;
•       California Department of Food and Agriculture;
•       California Chamber of Commerce;
•       California Community Colleges Centers for International Trade Development at El Camino College, Long Beach College, Los Rios Community College District, Rancho Santiago Community College District, Riverside Community College District, Southwestern College, State Center Community College District;
•       City of Los Angeles, Metropolitan Export Initiative;
•       UCLA Anderson School of Management, Center for International Business Education & Research;
•       USC Marshall School of Business;
•       Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce;
•       World Trade Center, San Diego;
•       Los Angeles County Business Federation.