By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) last week announced a new program that will allocate $1.5 million to communities and non-profits that want to start or expand a business incubator. Business incubators give entrepreneurs a leg up in getting a business idea off the ground.
“Our goal is to create jobs,” says Michael Shore, MEDC spokesperson. “We’re looking for people who can help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into businesses.”
Grants of up to $500,000 are available through the federal Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) to communities that don’t already have a pot of CDBG monies. And the MEDC says there are at least 1,655 of those, mostly in smaller towns.
West Michigan incubators—such as Lakeshore Business Garden, Accelerating Michigan Entrepreneurs, and Venture Center, to name a few—support entrepreneurs through a wide variety of services offered pro bono or at nominal costs. Those services often include office, lab, or product development space, technical support, intellectual property development, start-up financing, and business counseling services. They also help business owners locate and land investors.
Shore says the MEDC will give priority to applicants who “demonstrate that they have the capability to operate a business incubator and submit a plan that shows their financial viability.”
Source: Michael Shore, Michigan Economic Development Corporation
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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