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February 2026

Incentives, Grants & Opportunities

FedEx Small Business Grant Contest (2026 Cycle)

FedEx awards grants annually to U.S.-based for‑profit small businesses through a competitive national contest focused on growth, innovation, and community impact. Multiple winners are selected, with tiered cash awards and added business support.

Deadline: March 9, 2026

Amount: Up to $50,000 cash + up to $7,500 in FedEx Office services

Your business must be an active FedEx customer

to be considered for this opportunity

Amber Grant for Women

The Amber Grant supports women‑owned, for‑profit businesses across the U.S. and territories, including Puerto Rico. It focuses on the founder’s story and how funding will fuel growth.

Deadline: February 28, 2026

AMOUNT: $10,000 monthly; $25,000 annual opportunity

Puerto Rico enacts several laws amending the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011 and the Puerto Rico Incentives Code

EY explains the enactment of several laws affecting Puerto Rico’s Internal Revenue Code and Incentives Code. Key provisions include:

• Creation of ABLE (disability savings) accounts under Act 177‑2025, allowing up to $5,000 in annual contributions.
• Expansion of deductions for education savings accounts, increasing from $500 to $1,000.
• Increase in allowable deductions for Individual Retirement Accounts to match federal thresholds.
• Amendments to Act 180‑2025 clarifying the income‑tax exemption applicable to gains realized on the sale of a primary residence under Puerto Rico’s housing promotion program.
• Updates designed to help individuals and companies leverage new tax incentives more effectively.

More Information

Puerto Rico Supreme Court Confirms Enforcement Authority of the Office of the Women’s Advocate Over Private Employers

The Puerto Rico Supreme Court’s decision in Oficina de la Procuradora de las Mujeres v. Corteva Agriscience Puerto Rico, Inc. confirms that the Office of the Women’s Advocate (OPM) has broad authority to investigate private employers and impose administrative fines for violations of workplace laws protecting women, including those governing maternity, pregnancy, and sex discrimination. The Court held that OPM’s jurisdiction extends beyond public agencies and includes private entities, allowing it to conduct administrative investigations and levy fines of up to $10,000 per violation even while parallel civil lawsuits proceed in court. While only the judiciary may award remedies such as damages, reinstatement, or back pay, OPM’s enforcement powers function alongside court actions, meaning employers may now face simultaneous administrative and judicial exposure from the same set of facts. The ruling underscores OPM’s longstanding mandate under Law No. 20‑2001 and highlights the heightened compliance risk for employers, particularly in cases involving temporary workers and claims of pregnancy or sex‑based discrimination.

READ MORE

• House bill 420
• Puerto Rico proposes legislation aimed at reducing personal property tax on inventory

Create offerings that solve tomorrow’s problems, not yesterday’s.

Many companies update products reactively, but the strongest growth in 2026 will come from anticipating customer needs before they appear. That means:

• Interviewing your best clients quarterly to understand the challenges they expect in the next 6–12 months, not the ones they faced last year
•  Building “fast‑prototype” versions of new services so you can test interest without heavy investment
• Aligning offerings with major shifts—AI adoption, regulatory changes, supply‑chain redesign, and customer‑experience automation

This positions your business as a forward‑looking partner, not a vendor—making you the first call when new spending budgets open.



References: IBM Insights Business and technology trends for 2026 | IBM

Alliances: Authoring Collective Wisdom

This essay is the first in a three-part series on collaboration and alliances, leading into our Collaboration: Alliances, Joint Ventures and Enterprise Transformation session at the NMSDC 2025 Annual Conference & Exchange in Miami, FL. Across these explorations, I develop why many collaborations fail, what makes them thrive, and how leaders can build alliances that author new futures. Each essay stands on its own, but together they form a progression: the why, the who, and the how of collaboration. A fourth essay, “What We’ve Learned,” will close the series with reflections on the journey and the lessons that endure.



Collaboration and Alliances: Authoring Collective Wisdom — The Pivot Mind

Collins Aerospace in Puerto Rico: 30+ Years of Building What’s Next

Collins Aerospace has spent over 30 years expanding its operations in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, growing from a single Westinghouse building into a multi‑building campus producing advanced electronics and electromechanical components for the aerospace and defense sectors. The company highlights Puerto Rico’s highly skilled workforce, U.S. regulatory alignment, and strong talent pipeline—shaped by decades of expertise in regulated industries—as key reasons the island has become a pivotal strategic site. Leaders emphasize that ongoing investment is driven not only by operational advantages but also by the strong community and quality of life that make Puerto Rico an attractive place for both work and family.

[🔍Puerto Rico: A Pivotal Site for Collins Aerospace - InvestPR]

(HBR) – Nine Trends Shaping Work in 2026 and Beyond

The Harvard Business Review article outlines nine major trends reshaping work in 2026, emphasizing the widening gap between CEOs’ high expectations for AI‑driven growth and the limited real‑world returns most organizations are currently achieving. Although AI continues accelerating workplace transformation, Gartner data indicates that only 1 in 50 AI investments delivers transformational value, creating new tensions around premature layoffs, workforce readiness, and unrealistic efficiency assumptions. The piece highlights how rapid technological change, economic volatility, and political uncertainty are disrupting traditional employment norms while organizations simultaneously face emerging risks such as AI‑triggered job restructuring, misaligned productivity gains, and the need to rehire talent cut too early. It stresses that companies must balance human–machine workforce strategies, navigate evolving threats, and redesign work models to fully capture AI’s future potential.

[🔍 9 Trends Shaping Work in 2026 and Beyond]

(Deloitte) - The State of AI in the Enterprise – the Untapped Edge

Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise 2026 report identifies a pivotal moment in enterprise AI adoption, where organizations have rapidly expanded workforce access to AI—rising from under 40% to nearly 60% in a year—yet still struggle to turn this access into sustained, transformative impact. While AI pilots are abundant, only about 25% of companies have successfully scaled 40% or more of their experiments into production, creating a persistent “proof‑of‑concept trap” in which enthusiasm outpaces operational readiness. The report highlights a widening gap between rising investment and lagging ROI, noting that most firms are using AI for incremental efficiency rather than reimagining business models or redesigning core processes. Key trends such as sovereign AI, agentic AI, and physical AI underscore growing concerns around governance, autonomy, and safety, emphasizing that organizational success will increasingly depend on embedding AI into workflows, strengthening data and infrastructure foundations, and aligning technology adoption with human capabilities.

[🔍StateofAI_Report_vF]

(McKinsey) - How pharma is rewriting the AI playbook: Perspectives from industry leaders

The McKinsey article explains that while pharmaceutical companies are rapidly increasing their investment in AI—projected to grow the pharma AI market from over $4 billion today to nearly $26 billion by 2030—meaningful results will require more than simply adding AI tools onto existing processes. Industry leaders from Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Boehringer Ingelheim, AbbVie, and Genentech emphasize that AI’s real impact comes from fundamentally redesigning R&D workflows, modernizing data and technology infrastructure, cultivating cross‑functional talent, and building a culture that encourages experimentation within a highly regulated environment. Instead of “bolting on” AI, they stress the need for strategic clarity, reimagined end‑to‑end discovery and development processes, and thoughtful implementation guided by six key enablers that align culture, technology, and organizational goals.

[🔍How pharma is rewriting the AI playbook: Perspectives from industry leaders | McKinsey & Company]

Business Opportunity Exchange 2026: Impact Sourcing

Where Business Meets Purpose

April 17, 2026

Wyndham Grand Río Mar, Puerto Rico

🔗 More information

📩 iharrington@prmsdc.org | 📞787-705-7756

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