Alaska for Small businesses Grants

This program provides mentorship and resources to early-stage Alaskan startups, helping them refine their business models and prepare for investment without taking any equity.

The Storefront Improvement Program (SIP) is to revitalize Soldotna’s commercial areas by stimulating additional private investment in the local economy. Donor Name: City of Soldotna State: Alaska City: Soldotna Type of Grant: Grant | Reimbursement Deadline: 06/30/2024 Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000 Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned Details: By partnering with local business owners and lessees to share the cost of beautifying the exterior of a business, the program aims to boost traffic, increase property values, and improve the overall look and vitality of the city’s commercial districts. The program was established in 2012 to meet several goals of Envision Soldotna 2030, the City’s long-range plan, including: Promoting development of the “downtown area” to attract both visitors and residents; Encouraging redevelopment of key areas, particularly along the river and major highways; Ensuring a healthy economy by supporting a diversity of local businesses; and Improving the streetscape along the Sterling and Kenai Spur Highways. The SIP is a discretionary reimbursement grant, which can be used for exterior improvements to businesses in the City of Soldotna.  Funding Information The amount available for each property is 50% of the cost of eligible improvements, up to a maximum of $7,500. Eligible Work  Rehabilitation of building facades that are visible to the street, including the following elements: storefronts; windows; exterior lighting; canopies and awnings; painting and masonry work; permanent landscaping; decorative, artistic or unique signs and graphics and accessibility improvements. The emphasis of the grant program is to encourage the transformation of building facades through improvements to one or more of the elements listed above.  Greater weight is awarded to projects that incorporate multiple elements.  The grant program is not intended to provide financial assistance for routine upkeep and maintenance (e.g., painting) or to satisfy required updates (e.g., signage resulting from change in ownership or business type, franchise requirements to change paint scheme, etc.). Applications are competitive and the highest ranking proposals will be funded first. Eligibility Criteria Eligible participants include property owners and business lessees. Ineligible participants Properties primarily in residential use (ex. apartments or condominiums); Structures not facing or visible from the right-of-way; Government offices and agencies (non-governmental tenants are eligible); New construction, less than 5 years old. For more information, visit COS.

Applicants are invited to apply for thegBETA Alaska Accelerator Program. Donor Name: Gener8tor State: Alaska County: All Counties Type of Grant: Program Deadline:  09/09/2024 Size of the Grant: Not Available Grant Duration: Less than 1 Year Details: gBETA runs multiple times every year in cities across the United States. Up to five companies from a range of verticals are selected from a competitive applicant pool to participate in the free seven-week program. Participating companies receive: Individualized coaching and mentorship from the team of nationally ranked accelerator gener8tor on company growth and investor readiness Weekly “Lunch & Learns” and “Mentor Swarms” Investor and accelerator pitches $1M+ in deals and perks from vendors like IBM Cloud, Rackspace, Amazon, Paypal, Zendesk, Hubspot and Microsoft Ongoing post-program support and gener8tor community involvement and offerings Eligibility Criteria You’re based in Alaska gBETA Alaska is an accelerator for early-stage companies with local roots in Alaska. You’re Committed While they don’t expect you to be full-time on your business yet, programming is about a five-hour commitment each week, and expect that you will be spending additional time working on your business each week outside of the program. You’re Ready to Grow gBETA companies range from “I have an idea” to “I have significant revenue.” Although most gBETA companies are post-product, pre-scale, as long as you are ready to make use of coaching on customer growth and investor readiness, mentor meetings, and investor and accelerator pitches, they’re ready for you! For more information, visit Gener8tor.

The Beautification Commission is accepting a second round of applications for the 2024 Beautification Matching Grant Program. Donor Name: City of Valdez State: Alaska City: Valdez Type of Grant: Grant Deadline:  05/31/2024 Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000 Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned Details: The Valdez Beautification Matching Grant Program offers a financial incentive designed to assist local businesses or commercial property owners in improving the business setting for investors as well as providing an overall upgrade in appearance for residents and visitors. 2024 will be the ninth year of the program and continues with the expansion of eligible properties outside the core downtown district. The 2024 matching grant program’s goal is to improve the overall aesthetics of Valdez through: Improving the overall quality of building/structure façades in order to attract more local residents and visitors to shop, eat, and do business in Valdez. Encouraging businesses to invest in additional aesthetic and design improvements including landscaping and art. Encouraging and incentivizing property/business owners to reinvest in community. Encouraging grant applicants to strengthen the local economy through utilizing local vendors, contractors, and materials. Funding Information Applicants can apply for a grant rebate to pay for up to 50 percent of the cost of improvements, with a maximum reimbursement of $12,500 per building. Projects involving corner buildings or spanning more than one lot/parcel may request larger grant amounts, not to exceed a maximum reimbursement of $25,000. Eligible Properties Properties located in the following zoning districts1 are eligible to apply for funding: Central Business District, General Commercial, Waterfront Industrial and Light Industrial. Properties must be used primarily for a business purpose to be eligible for grant funding. Properties must be up to date on their property taxes and may not have open code violations to apply. For more information, visit City of Valdez.