The U.S. Small Business Administration will award another $18 million through the State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Program to help individual states promote small business exporting.

“Last year, the SBA surpassed our record for trade finance, supporting $3.3 billion in export sales,” SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet said. “I believe we can do even more to help our small businesses reach the 95 percent of consumers who live outside our borders.”

The 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands are eligible to apply for the funds, which can be used to pay for trade missions, international marketing, export training and other services for small exporters.

SBA’s hopes is that the STEP awards will allow states to help more small businesses become exporters and expand the export sales of companies that are already selling internationally. In the process, these small businesses will be able to create jobs and strengthen their communities.

Past results for the STEP program have been strong. Awardees reported a return on investment of federal funds of over 19:1 during the first two award years. Missouri and Kansas are both past recipients of STEP grants.

Applications will be accepted through March 17.