Showing posts with label Federal grants in the United States. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Federal grants in the United States. Show all posts

Friday, September 11, 2015

Governor McAuliffe Announces U.S. SBA Grant to Support Virginia’s International Trade Program

~ Program increases exports for Virginia’s small businesses ~

RICHMOND – Governor Terry McAuliffe announced today that Virginia has received $578,500 in grant funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Grant Program.  The STEP grant is designed to increase the number of small businesses that are exporting and to raise the value of exports for those small businesses that are currently exporting. 

Speaking about today’s announcement, Governor McAuliffe said, “International trade is a key part of my plan to create private sector jobs and build a new Virginia economy that is less reliant on the federal government.  By providing resources and services to increase international trade, we help Virginia businesses find new customers around the world and, in turn, create new jobs for VirginiansWe are pleased to continue this effective partnership with our federal partners to provide assistance to even more of Virginia’s small businesses.”

“In 2014, more than 86 percent of Virginia’s exporting companies were small and medium-sized companies with fewer than 500 employees. These firms generated more than 28% of Virginia’s total products exported,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones.  “Helping Virginia small businesses sell their products and services abroad is one of our most effective business expansion strategies.”

The STEP Grant will generate international sales for Virginia’s small businesses by providing the following international trade promotion services for eligible small businesses:

·         Opportunities to participate in international trade shows
·         Face-to-face meetings with potential customers and partners by travelling to international markets
·         Website translation, search engine optimization and localization
·         Advertising and translation services

Receipt of this federal grant was made possible by Governor McAuliffe’s $1.0 million funding of the Virginia International Trade Alliance (VITAL), which was announced in July 2015.  To date, two federal grants totaling over $2.4 million have been awarded to Virginia to increase international trade.   VITAL’s goals are to increase Virginia’s exports by $1.6 billion and to create 14,000 trade-supported jobs over the next 5 years. The SBA grant will be administered by the International Trade Division of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Gloucester, VA School Board, Federal and State Grants (Part 4)

Armand A. Fusco, Ed.D.

About the Yankee Institute for Public Policy

The Yankee Institute for Public Policy, Inc. is a nonpartisan educational and research organization
founded more than two decades ago. Today, the Yankee Institute’s mission is to “promote
economic opportunity through lower taxes and new ideas for better government in Connecticut.”


Question 4: Federal and State Grants 

How are grants being managed in the school district? Who is responsible for
monitoring the grants for proper implementation? How is the monitoring actually
done?

Background: Grants are another common and significant source of
corrupt acts. There are two types of grants: entitlement (specific dollar amounts
allocated to a district for specific reasons) and competitive (schools are not
required to apply for such grants). All too often, districts do not take advantage
of the latter because they involve extra effort and work -- a poor excuse
considering the additional resources such grants could provide.

It is extremely important to note that grant monies cannot be used to
replace previously budgeted dollars. The monies must be used as an add-on to
the budget. One common grant abuse is that schools use funds to supplant
the budget (replace previous budgeted dollars) -- a corrupt act. What must
also be reviewed very carefully is to see who has received any of the monies.

Since grants usually do not involve local dollars (some do require
matching funds or resources), local oversight is shoddy at best. State and
federal education bureaucrats are responsible for monitoring the grants, but
are too often ineffective in uncovering mismanagement and fraud. This is why
grants dollars are abused so easily.  

Proposed Solution: During each budget presentation, a list of all grants
that were available to the school district should be listed, as well as the dollar
amounts involved. Next to each should be indicated whether the grant was
applied for and whether it was approved (with dollar amounts). If some were
not applied for, the reason should be given. The State Department of Education
will also have a list of all such grants (unless they are foundation grants).

Approved grants are public documents and must be forensically
examined to determine whether they are and have been used for the purpose
intended. If funds have not been spent according to the grant application, the
reasons must be given.

Any citizen can sue the district (as a person) if federal grant dollars have
been misused and receive a third of the recovered amount. School Corruption:
Betrayal of Children and the Public Trust gives the citation of the unanimous
U.S. Supreme Court ruling on this issue.

This is part 4 in our 10 part series on avoiding school corruption.  It's time to ask a lot of questions.
Enhanced by Zemanta