Editor’s note: If the budget passes in its current form, they could qualify for matching grants of up to $100,000 from the One North Carolina Small Business Program, a grant program that was suspended for the last three years, reports ExitEvent Editor Laura Baverman. ExitEvent is a news partner of WRALTechWire.

If it seems like the North Carolina budget talks will never end, then it especially feels that way for the 70 or so N.C. companies that apply for and earn federal Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer grants each year.

If the budget passes in its current form, they could qualify for matching grants of up to $100,000 from the One North Carolina Small Business Program, a grant program that was suspended for the last three years. That could mean more equipment, additional staff, help seeking or defending patents or other critical research and business-building needs.

The current (not-yet-passed) budget reallocates $2.5 million for the program—funds left over from the broader One North Carolina program. Both the House and Senate Budget committees have included the reallocation in their budgets and Governor Pat McCrory has recommended it.

Read the full story at ExitEvent.