Small Business Grants in New York

A top up on a federal award you are already chasing, not a grant you can win on its own. New York matches an SBIR or STTR award up to $100,000 at Phase I and $200,000 at Phase II, and never more than half of the federal money. You need to be a New York small business with 100 or fewer staff, either applying for a federal award now or holding one granted since the last round closed. The money pays for what SBIR will not, business planning, commercialisation, patents and marketing studies. Read the string attached before you take it. You have to stay headquartered and operating or manufacturing in New York for two years after the product sells, or return every dollar. One application per business per round.

Up to $10,000 a year for export trips, for a New York firm that already sells its product. The state pays back half the cost of up to three trade activities a year, at $2,000 to $5,000 each. That can be a foreign trade mission, a trade show abroad or a qualifying one in the US, or a paid US Commerce Department export service. Money goes first come, first served until it runs out. This round funds activity from July 24, 2026 to September 29, 2027. Apply at least 30 days ahead and before you spend anything, because costs already paid are not covered. You need a year of trading and staff in New York. Your product must already be on sale, with at least 51 percent US content. You must also count as small under SBA size rules. Retail firms, law firms, cannabis firms and middlemen cannot apply. Pay every cost from the business account. Only one employee's travel is covered, and flights must be basic economy on a US airline.

A town has to apply for this, not you. FAST NY pays for the work that gets a site ready before anyone builds on it, and Empire State Development takes applications from local governments and the bodies they name rather than from companies. By April 2026 it had awarded over $333 million to 44 projects. A company benefits when the site it wants is prepared, so the useful move is a conversation with the local economic development office, not a form. Tracks B and C take letters of intent and applications all year.

Training, not money. This is 18 months of classes, mentoring and contract matchmaking, run by regional incubators. It is only for certified MBE, WBE or MWBE firms in construction, construction consulting or chip plant building trades. You also need two years of trading and at least two staff. Revenue last year has to sit between $500,000 and $5 million. Apply to the incubator for your region.

Capital money for a building, land, machinery or equipment project that creates or keeps jobs. A for-profit business can apply. Requests under $100,000 are not reviewed. Retail development, training and costs paid before the award are not funded. You apply through the Consolidated Funding Application, which pools more than 20 programmes from eight state agencies. The scored 2026 round closed on 31 July. Empire State Development may still take an off cycle request where money allows.