Small Business Grants?

[RexAir]

Just started a small aerial imaging business in a rural town in Northern California. I have filed my FBN, I have my part 107 and am operating a M2P. I have completed a couple of jobs but have had request for jobs that the M2P just cant handle. SAR with thermal for an example. Is there a good source for small business grants for drone operations. I want to use and be able to offer thermal imaging and potentially LIDAR to aid in SAR, wild fire management, fire prevention etc. The cost of the platform and payload to complete these types of missions is out of my range right now but if there is a grant that is available it would help me expand my services. I have heard that grants are available for community services such as CERT (community emergency response team) but my question is, if I join my local CERT acquire at sUAS with thermal imaging capabilities can I use that same drone for profit at my personal business?

 

[BigAl07]

Good morning and CONGRATS on your accomplishments.

Grants for UAS are VERY tough to get with the current "security concerns" etc and many insurance/financial institutions leery of anything to do with AVIATION.

I want to caution you about spending a lot of $$ for SAR operations. That's a money pit with zero ROI for you (speaking from experience).

On the FLIP side... an existing Emergency Services Agency (not a service provider) has a ton of options available for grants etc but they are for Agency/Dept owned equipment.

 

[realvue]

Why should my tax dollars be given to you in the form of a GRANT to buy better drones? If the market will support the services you wish to provide, write an SBA business plan and apply for a loan. If you can’t justify it on paper and you wouldn’t buy it with your own money...

just sayin.

Everything seems like a great idea when you’re spending other people’s money.

 

[RexAir]

Why would I not take advantage of policies or Grants that are made available regardless of my views on the policies or Grants? It would be a poor business decision to turn down free money in order to put myself/the business in debt. I think it is a valid question and avenue to explore for any small business startup before taking on debt.

 

[realvue]

I have 28 trillion reasons why this is a bad thing. Taxpayers shouldn’t be funding businesses of any size.

https://usdebtclock.org/

 

[reaperman]

You have to think big, try solar, Solyndra was able to get the govt to cough up 1/2 billion.