Contending that the small business community in Michigan’s Great Southwest has “borne the brunt of the assault of COVID-19,” the team at Market Van Buren has moved into a full court press to help those small businesses overcome the hurdles that have been thrown into their way.
Market Van Buren is the economic development organization serving Van Buren and Cass Counties, and their top exec is urging small businesses across the region to complete applications for the Michigan Small Business Restart Program before the deadline for consideration runs out on August 5th.
Market Van Buren Executive Director, Zach Morris says, “Small businesses have borne the brunt of the assault of COVID-19, and the ReStart program is a great way to get some working capital, cover expenses like rent, staffing and other costs.” Morris worked with the state to secure more than $100,000 of help to local companies in an earlier grant program in April. The ReStart program has substantially more resources than that earlier initiative.
Southwest Michigan will receive $7.5 million of the $100 million dollar statewide program. To be eligible, businesses and nonprofits with 50 or fewer employees located in Michigan must have the following:
- Be part of an industry or nonprofit that can demonstrate it has been impacted by the COVID-19 emergency…
- Need working capital to support payroll expenses, rent, mortgage payments, utility expenses and similar costs…
- Demonstrate an income loss because of COVID-19 emergency as determined by the Michigan Strategic Fund…
Additionally, at least 30-percent of the funds awarded under the program will be provided to women-owned, minority-owned, or veteran-owned eligible businesses. The State projects more than 5,000 businesses across the state will benefit from the program.
The maximum grant is capped at $20 thousand dollars, and Morris says, “We were able to work with the Legislature and other economic developers to change the rules and make companies that received funding the first time also eligible for this round as long as the amount does not exceed the $20 thousand dollar cap.” He adds, “We are ready to assist our area companies as this pandemic lingers and impacts small businesses. We project that one-third of our small businesses are teetering on the edge, and this could be the lifeline.”
Market Van Buren, a subsidiary of Benton Harbor-based Kinexus Group, is an economic development organization dedicated to the advancement of economic growth in Van Buren County. The organization was formed to bring the public and private sectors together to advance the economic interests of Van Buren County. For more information, you can follow Market Van Buren on Facebook or visit pnline at: http://www.MarketVanBuren.org
