Small and medium-size businesses within Alabama’s Appalachian Regional Commission district will receive assistance marketing their products overseas thanks to an $86,365 grant, announced by Gov. Robert Bentley.
The Alabama Department of Commerce will use the award to tout Alabama businesses when department representatives embark on overseas trade missions. The department also will provide training for businesses that are seeking to sell their products to foreign markets.
“Alabama businesses produce excellent products that are sold around the world,” Bentley said. “This grant will help our Alabama Department of Commerce market Alabama made goods that can be sold to companies abroad."
Businesses located in thirty-nine Alabama counties, extending north from Macon County to the Tennessee border, are within the ARC region and eligible for assistance.
Bentley notified Hilda Lockhart, state Commerce director of international trade, that the grant had been approved.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs administers the ARC program in Alabama. The department manages numerous programs that support law enforcement, economic development, workforce development, recreation, energy conservation and water resource management.
Congress established the ARC in 1965 as a supplemental grant program to raise the standard of living, improve the quality of life and promote economic development in portions of 13 Appalachian mountain states.
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Contact Jim Plott or Larry Childers