The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) is participating in a virtual trade mission to introduce Colorado aerospace products and services to select European markets.
Every year, our Global Business Development division selects strategic trade shows to showcase Colorado’s many economic strengths. The benefit of attending a trade show with OEDIT is that all booth costs and exhibitor fees are paid, and companies that participate receive a travel stipend to attend the show.
Europe is home to some of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the world including BAE Systems, Safran, and Thales. The industry in Europe currently accounts for $309 billion and continues to grow.
Supported by Kallman Worldwide, the trade mission will include presentations from potential buyers and in-country officials followed by one-on-one meetings between interested parties and businesses.
Small aerospace companies can apply to join the digital trade mission at no cost through the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP). For medium and large companies, the cost will be between $2,000 to $3,000 per company as they do not qualify for STEP funding. Interested companies should contact OEDIT’s Nicole Gunkle.
Apply now for STEP funding
To qualify for the State Trade Expansion Program, your company will need to:
- be registered with the Colorado Secretary of State and in Good Standing
- have headquarters in Colorado or have at least 50% of your employees based in Colorado
- be a U.S. company seeking to export goods or services of U.S. origin or with at least 51% U.S. content
- be at least one year old as of the date you would begin using STEP grant funds
- be new to export or expanding to a new export market
- have a commercialized product or service to export
- be export-ready (see below)
- meet the applicable industry-based small business size standard established by the U.S. Small Business Administration
Applications for the State Trade Expansion Program are open through mid-May or until it fills up. Apply online in the OEDIT application portal. Log in to your account or create a new account. To protect your personal information, we manually add new users to the portal, so it may take several days to activate your account.
Other international business development opportunities
The State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) offers a number of ways outside of trade missions to support Colorado businesses in their efforts to expand internationally. The max amount a company can receive in a year is $15,000, and can be used for any of these global business development activities, including but not limited to:
- consulting services through our Global Consultant Network
- attending trade shows
- holding international business meetings
- researching new markets
- updating marketing materials for new markets
- compliance testing
These U.S. Commercial Service programs, all of which are virtual, are also eligible for STEP funding.
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