By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting Is your manufacturing company diversifying markets by promoting your products overseas?  If so, your state may be happy to support you in this endeavor! Trade Show Grants: An Introduction The State Trade Expansion Program, or STEP, is a federal program funded by the Small Business Administration (SBA).  State entities apply

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting Since the pandemic, I have frequently gotten inquiries like this: “I saw on the news (or in the press, or on the internet) that the federal government is putting money toward reshoring manufacturing.  We plan to bring work back to the United States, so how can we get some of

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting Does your manufacturing business have the next big idea? Do you wish to utilize Industry 4.0 technologies such as automation and big data to improve the efficiency of your operations?  If you are a forward-thinking company, you may be eligible to receive grants to reward your innovative nature! As more

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting America is going green! From a greater variety of electric vehicles to choose from to increased solar installations, many Americans are enjoying the benefits of reduced reliance on fossil fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions presented by these technologies. With the increased purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) and the hesitance

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting We love to partner with our manufacturing and trade association clients to create a grant strategy. We truly believe that, just as organizations should have a strategic plan, they should also have a grant strategy. We find, however, that companies tend to set rather unrealistic expectations for grant success and

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting With a national focus on clean energy and zero emission initiatives, it is not surprising that the number of sources of grants for renewable energy and energy efficiency grants has dramatically increased at the state and federal level.  However, there are also some long-standing programs to help fund manufacturing renewable