Made in California Program

Made in California Program

Funds marketing visibility initiatives for goods branded as made in California.

Made in California 2026 is a single-award $500,000 grant from the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), a division of GO-Biz, to one California-based organization to execute a statewide marketing and outreach campaign promoting the Made in California label. The label supports California's manufacturing sector by building consumer awareness and encouraging manufacturers to use the designation. The performance period for the 2026 award is March 15, 2026 through June 30, 2027 — approximately 15 months. The 2026 cycle's application deadline has passed (February 17, 2026 per web sources; the authoritative date is in the program announcement PDF at calosba.ca.gov).

Of the $500,000 total award, a minimum of $300,000 must be allocated exclusively to media buys across advertising channels and markets — not administrative costs. Each sub-recipient engaged by the lead awardee for outreach to diverse manufacturers may receive up to $20,000. The program selects one awardee in a competitive process; eligible applicants are California-based businesses or organizations with demonstrated manufacturing-marketing capability. Specific workforce and economic impact scoring criteria are published in the program announcement PDF. For-profit organizations and nonprofits may apply; universities, research organizations, and individuals are not eligible.

The Made in California label program (administered at camade.ca.gov) is designed to be marketed both to manufacturers considering adoption and to consumers seeking California-made products. A winning applicant will typically be a marketing organization, trade association, or established California business advocacy group with statewide media relationships and prior experience running coordinated multi-channel campaigns. Organizations interested in competing for the 2027 cycle should track CalOSBA's annual program announcement cadence, given the February-March application deadline pattern established in 2026.