Vermont Small Business Grants 2026: What's Open Now

Vermont small business grants open or recurring in 2026

Grantsights verified 7 Vermont grant or reimbursement programs that a for-profit business can use and that were open, rolling, or scheduled on October 18, 2026. Only one has a hard deadline this fall, and that one is limited to working lands businesses. It's a short list, and that's honest: Vermont's pandemic and 2023 flood grants have closed.

Left out: the BEGAP flood grants, the ARPA-funded Capital Investment Program, and Community Recovery and Revitalization grants, which ACCD lists as closed with no new round. The Rural Industry Development Program is rolling but only local development corporations can apply. The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board's viability grants ($1,000 to $8,000 for past advising clients) had no 2027 date posted, and the Arts Council's Artist Development Grant (up to $2,000) reopens in late November 2026 for individual artists. Efficiency Vermont's incentives couldn't be loaded, so they aren't listed.

Loans, credits, and free help for Vermont small businesses

These are loans, investments, or advising, not grants. For many Vermont owners, the first row or the last row is where the conversation should start.

Last updated: 2026-10-18

Vermont's state money for businesses comes mostly as reimbursement for things you were going to do anyway: train workers, show products to buyers, export, or clean up a site. To see which Vermont routes fit your town and industry, run the free eligibility checker, or browse open listings in the Grantsights grant database. Nonprofits and towns should use the Vermont grants guide, and the small business grants by state hub compares Vermont with the other 49 states and DC.

---

Working Lands: the one big Vermont grant with a fall deadline

The Working Lands Enterprise Initiative has $508,000 for Business Enhancement Grants this round, in awards of $10,000 to $50,000, and applications close December 10, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. According to the Working Lands grant page (opens in a new tab), decisions come in late February or early March 2027, and funded projects run from April 2027 to April 2028.

Eligibility is wider than "farms only." Farms producing food or fiber qualify, from maple and dairy to hops, mushrooms, and outdoor hemp. So do forest businesses and some value-added food makers, as long as at least half their ingredients come from Vermont. The business must be based in Vermont, have operated at least a year, and have revenue in calendar 2025. Excluded sectors include cannabis, Christmas trees, equine, flowers, horticulture, topical CBD, and indoor-only growers.

There's no match requirement, which sets this grant apart from most state programs. But the application has to show you can carry project costs the grant doesn't cover, and past grantees must sit out three fiscal years. For example, one company in Vermont, say a maple producer in Franklin County that wants a reverse-osmosis upgrade, could ask for up to $50,000, but only if it didn't win a Business Enhancement Grant in the last three fiscal years. A common mistake is waiting until December to register in WebGrants, the state's grant portal; the page warns registration can take up to two business days.

The Vermont Training Program and VEGI: money for growing employers

The Vermont Training Program covers up to 50% of a trainee's wages during on-site training, or 50% of an outside trainer's or vendor's cost, and it's open to every sector. ACCD says decisions take about 18 business days. The catch is the job quality bar: at the end of training, the worker must earn at least Vermont's livable wage, which the page lists as $19.53 an hour in Chittenden County and $17.68 elsewhere (2024 figures), and the employer must offer at least three benefits from a list that includes health insurance with 50% or more of the premium paid, paid vacation, retirement, and child care.

VEGI works on a longer clock. The Vermont Economic Progress Council's VEGI page (opens in a new tab) says there's no minimum business size or job count, but the incentive pays nothing up front. Once approved, it's earned in five annual installments, and only for years when job and payroll targets are fully met; there's no partial credit for coming close. It's taxable income, it can't reward jobs you already created, and a qualifying job must be permanent, 35 or more hours a week, paid above VEGI's wage threshold, and not held by an owner. Through June 30, 2026, a labor-market enhancement applied in every county except Chittenden and Washington.

The council meets on the last Thursday of each month, with filings due by the first Friday. Grantsights' read: VEGI suits a 15-person manufacturer adding 10 jobs over three years, and rarely suits a three-person business adding one hire, because the annual claim requires a claim form, a benefits form, and four Excel workbooks.

Export and SBIR grants: STEP and the SBIR/STTR match

STEP reimburses up to 75% of pre-approved export costs, up to $30,000 a year across as many as four activities, such as international trade shows, trade missions, and translated marketing. ACCD runs it with SBA funding. The business must be registered in Vermont with employees there, have operated at least a year, meet SBA size standards, have 51% U.S. content, and carry $1 million in general liability insurance. You pay the 25% share and the full upfront cost, then claim reimbursement, and quarterly reports follow.

ACCD's SBIR/STTR Matching Grant pays up to $50,000 to a Vermont for-profit that has already won a federal SBIR or STTR Phase I or II award. It's non-competitive and first come, first served, with one state grant per federal award and five per company over its lifetime. The project must finish in six months, and 51% of the research has to happen in Vermont. ACCD also offers a free consultant to Vermont companies writing their first SBIR proposal, which is the more useful offer for most startups. Our SBIR grants complete guide explains how the federal side works.

Which federal grants reached Vermont small businesses in FY2025

Vermont small businesses received $8.05 million in federal grant obligations in FY2025, across 25 awards to 16 recipients, according to USAspending.gov records. That's from a Grantsights analysis of USAspending.gov (opens in a new tab) FY2025 grant awards to small-business recipients in Vermont, pulled from the public USAspending.gov API (opens in a new tab) on October 18, 2026, using grant award types 02 to 05, the "small business" recipient type, a Vermont recipient location, and October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025.

HHS sent $3.10 million, DOE $2.40 million, NSF $1.73 million, and USDA $725,000. No single recipient dominated; the largest took about 35%, and only 10 recipients ended the year with positive net obligations. Nearly all of it is research money or narrow sector programs. The two USDA lines are the closest to Main Street: Wood Utilization Assistance fits a sawmill or wood-pellet business, and the Veterinary Services grant fits a rural vet practice.

Two limits apply. "Small business" is self-reported in each recipient's SAM.gov registration (opens in a new tab), so the list can include firms that have outgrown the size standard, and these are obligations, net of deobligations, not payments.

What ACCD's website doesn't tell you about Vermont small business grants

ACCD's and the Agency of Agriculture's pages describe each program accurately. What they don't say plainly is how the programs feel to a small business with tight cash flow.

Almost everything reimburses. STEP and the Trade Show grant each need a 25% cash match and pay after you've spent the money. Brownfields grants need a 10% match and pay on proof of payment. VEGI pays a year or more after you've hired. If your bank balance can't front the cost, line up a VEDA or CDFI loan first.

Timing rules sink applications. The Vermont Training Program won't pay for training that started before the agreement was signed, and VEGI won't count jobs created before approval. Both are a red flag for owners who apply after the fact.

Job quality is the real test. The livable-wage floor and three-benefit rule mean a seasonal or part-time workforce usually won't qualify for training money, however much training it needs.

The flood and pandemic grants are gone. Many search results still point to BEGAP or the Capital Investment Program. ACCD lists both as closed, and VEDA's disaster loan fund only opens after a declared disaster.

Nobody legitimate charges for a grant. According to the Vermont Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program (opens in a new tab), no legitimate grant requires a processing fee, and its scam line is 802-828-3171. VEDA also says it never asks for payment online or texts about bills. Treat any "grant access" service that wants money upfront as a scam.

SSBCI in Vermont: $57.9 million, almost all of it credit or equity

Vermont's SSBCI allocation is $57.9 million, according to Treasury's SSBCI capital program summaries (opens in a new tab), updated in April 2026. None of it is grant money.

VEDA's own page puts it bluntly: these are loans, not grants. For a Main Street business, the loan participation program matters most. It lets a bank make a loan it would otherwise shrink or decline, because VEDA takes up to 40% of project costs. Ask your banker whether they work with VEDA before you assume a "no" is final.

How to apply, step by step

1. Decide which activity you're funding: farm or forest upgrade, training, hiring, exporting, or cleanup. Each points to one program.
2. For Working Lands, register in WebGrants this month and apply by December 10, 2026.
3. For training, call ACCD's training team and sign the agreement before the first session.
4. For hiring plans, file a VEGI pre-application before you commit to the project.
5. For capital, ask your lender about VEDA participation, or apply to a CDFI directly.
6. Book a free Vermont SBDC session to check projections and loan documents.

Owners near the borders can compare. The Massachusetts small business grants guide covers a state with a much larger list of grant programs, and the New York small business grants guide covers the state across Lake Champlain.

Sources

• Working Lands Business Enhancement Grant (opens in a new tab)
• Agency of Agriculture Trade Show Assistance Grant (opens in a new tab)
• ACCD Vermont Training Program (opens in a new tab)
• ACCD VEGI (opens in a new tab)
• ACCD STEP (opens in a new tab)
• ACCD SBIR/STTR Matching Grant (opens in a new tab)
• ACCD state brownfields program (opens in a new tab)
• VEDA Loan Participation Program (SSBCI) (opens in a new tab)
• VEDA Small Business Loan Program (opens in a new tab)
• Treasury SSBCI capital program summaries (opens in a new tab)
• Vermont Attorney General scam prevention (opens in a new tab)
• Vermont SBDC (opens in a new tab)
• SBA microloans (opens in a new tab)
• USAspending.gov API (opens in a new tab)
• SAM.gov entity registration (opens in a new tab)