PORTLAND – Fritz Grobe knows how to inspire an audience. He knows how to psych himself up for a performance. But he doesn’t know how to break into the business world.

Fortunately, a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will help the performing artist and others like him hone entrepreneurial skills to assure success in business as well as the art world.

“Before you try to climb the ladder of success, you have to find it,” said Grobe, who is half of a juggling/performing group in Portland.

The grant, the largest ever awarded to the state by the endowment, will be used to provide workshops and other professional development opportunities to visual and performing artists across the state.