We love seeing small businesses succeed, so we’re as thrilled as anyone that Michigan is taking steps to help lots of them. Let’s see what’s happening with hubs and jobs!
Here are Five Fast Facts on entrepreneurial hubs in Michigan:
- 🤝 The Hubs - Gov. Whitmer and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) have designated 27 organizations as entrepreneurial hubs across the state. They will provide key resources and guidance to small businesses in their areas. It’ll be like having a sherpa, but without the mountain and freezing cold.
- 💰 The Money - The funding for this program comes from $75 million in state money from last year. It’s a one-time carve out from ARPA funds used to help businesses impacted by COVID. We’re pretty sure COVID/ARPA funds have been used to fund literally everything for the past couple of years.
- 🏆 The Awards - A committee reviewed over 80 applications for a total of $275 million in requested funding. The 27 organizations that were selected will receive grants averaging $2.7 million each. Not a bad chunk of change!
- 📝 The Stipulations - Michigan state law requires at least 20% of the businesses served by the hubs to be minority-owned, but it’ll probably end up being more like 50%. Because DIVERSITY.
- 😀 The Benefits - These hubs will provide many services to small businesses, including individual coaching, cohort-based learning, mentoring, networking events and partner referrals, access to capital, and assistance navigating state resources. Seems a little odd to get government help to navigate the government, but the rest of it sounds pretty good.
🔥Bottom line: All of this should add up to some major help for our state’s small businesses, and that means job protection and/or job creation. We’ll take it!
What do you think of this program?
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