More than $20M Dedicated to Michigan's New Economic Gardening Programs

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced last week five new programs under the Pure Michigan Business Connect initiative established last year to provide small businesses in emerging industry sectors with economic development incentives, startup capital and support services (see the June 8, 2011 issue of the Digest).

The new programs focus mostly on providing access to capital and making connections. They include:

• Develop Michigan Inc. — A $20 million, nonprofit public-private partnership to bring financing tools and financial expertise to community redevelopment projects.
• Grow Michigan LLC — A public-private partnership that provides equity features to help companies finance aggressive-growth strategies.
• Michigan Corps/Kiva.org — A microloan program initially focused on the city of Detroit to link individuals willing to lend small sums of money with prospective small business owners who will use the funds to grow businesses focused on improving the community.
• Pure Michigan Business Connect B2B network — A web-based system that links companies together, including a directory of businesses and an online procurement marketplace.
• State Trade Export Program (STEP) and Export Now — STEP provides financial assistance for companies with fewer than 500 employees for export-related activities. Export Now is an online platform for consumer-product companies in the state to sell their products directly to Chinese consumers.

Pure Michigan Business Connect is a more than $8 billion, multi-year initiative. While additional funds are provided for the new initiatives, specific funding levels were not available at press time. More information is available at: http://www.michiganadvantage.org/Press-Releases/MEDC-announces-new-business-initiatives-at-Mackinac-Policy-Conference/.