Displaying items tagged: Michigan Economic Development Corp

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has unveiled a $5.6 billion pandemic recovery spending plan that primarily uses federal funding to help control the spread of COVID-19, which state officials and economists say is crucial to ensure broader economic recovery.

The latest state effort to provide financial aid to Michigan small businesses and entertainment venues that are ailing from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions has a relatively short application window based on previous demand.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. plans to open applications next week for the $58.5 million in grant funding to aid small businesses and entertainment venues that were closed or curtailed by the most recent state-ordered restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MANISTEE — The lakeshore city of just more than 6,000 people is seeing multiple new downtown developments that local officials and investors say are critical for reinvigorating empty storefronts, diversification and emerging better off after the pandemic.

GRAND RAPIDS — Randy Thelen describes the COVID-19 pandemic as an “inflection point” that can shift the course of economic development in West Michigan.

Mark Burton took over the Michigan Economic Development Corp. just days before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued her first state of emergency to curb the spread of COVID-19. Since then, the agency’s strategic plan has shifted dramatically. It has overseen 20 programs that delivered more than $170 million in relief funds, including a $10 million small business grant program last week in which demand far exceeded program limits. Burton has worked with Whitmer for years, including as her chief strategist prior to joining the MEDC and as her chief of staff while she served in the Senate.

The Whitmer administration is expected to announce in the coming days whether to extend, alter or allow state-imposed restrictions on business activity to expire.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced Friday that it would soon start accepting applications for up to $15,000 relief grants from small businesses “disproportionately impacted” by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

GRAND RAPIDS — Acrisure LLC expects to complete its new global headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids’ Studio Park in the first quarter of 2021.

Calls to support small businesses during the holiday shopping season have perhaps never been louder than this year.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought ups and downs for West Michigan’s construction industry — activity and competition has increased in areas like school bond projects, while the hospitality and office sectors saw major slowdowns.

The Michigan Strategic Fund has approved a $10 million COVID-19 relief grant program for small businesses that were harmed by recent state restrictions affecting restaurants and entertainment facilities.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met virtually today with small business owners who received support from a state grant program and discussed the importance that additional federal support would have on their businesses. 

Under the guidance of Executive Director Marty Gerencer, the West Michigan Food Processing Association incorporated as a 501(c)(6) in February with a multi-pronged approach to support the food industry across a five-county region.

The Pure Michigan campaign that touts the state as a travel destination should return soon to spur fall and winter travel and help tourism-reliant small businesses that were hit hard this summer by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dozens of Michigan farms and food processors have been awarded $15 million in COVID-19 relief grants to create safer work conditions for employees and protect the food industry as a whole, state officials announced Wednesday.

Thousands of small businesses across West and Southwest Michigan have received grant funding from a state COVID-19 relief program.

FREMONT — The Michigan Strategic Fund has approved a 10-year Renaissance Zone tax abatement for Gerber Products Co.’s $36 million expansion at its Fremont facility.

GRAND RAPIDS — A tax incentive the city of Grand Rapids and an Indianapolis developer unsuccessfully pursued to transform publicly owned riverfront property has only been used twice in Michigan.

In a business climate in which manufacturers are pressured to stay up on the latest technology, there is little wonder why Michigan-based companies might look to Israel for best practices.

As the COVID-19 pandemic battered Michigan’s economy through the spring and early summer, the number of people forming their own businesses grew exponentially.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. is launching $1.25 million in grant funding for to help small farms mitigate pandemic-related costs.

A pair of state grant funds totaling $115 million launches today as another source of financial assistance for small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As they’ve taken steps to diversify their revenues away from casinos in recent years, Michigan’s Native American tribes have built growing business ventures that in 2019 contributed nearly $288.8 million to the state economy. 

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. plans to launch new grant funds next week totaling $115 million to provide financial assistance to small businesses, farms and agricultural processors recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two Michigan congressmen behind legislation that would create a $50.5 billion relief fund for small businesses nationwide hope to get it included in the next federal aid package that may come before Congress this summer.

Forming a relief fund to aid small businesses hurting from the COVID-19 pandemic was an early idea Kent County commissioners pursued when they began considering two months ago what to do with $114.6 million in federal aid funding. 

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has awarded $4.3 million in low-interest relief loans to 74 small businesses statewide affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shared transit presents unprecedented risks as communities and businesses around the state reopen and people come out of isolation following a months-long shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Plagued by high water, COVID-19 business closures and canceled festivals, officials in lakeshore communities are developing plans to bring visitors back to restaurants and lodging in hopes of tourists’ return this summer.