By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
About 62 Kent County companies were among the 195 small businesses in West Michigan negatively impacted by Executive Orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic that received grant support from the Michigan Small Business Relief Program.
This program was made possible by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) releasing $20 million in grants and loans through the Michigan Strategic Fund. MEDC allocated the 11-county West Michigan region $1,000,000 in grant funding to be administered by The Right Place, Inc. This region included Barry, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana and Osceola counties.
The demand for funding throughout the region was staggering with over 3,300 applications received, requesting over $71 million in both grant and loan funding. Each county formed committees to accept and review applications for the extremely limited grant funding. A full list of the review committees can be found at this link. Grant applications were evaluated based on the criteria set forth by MEDC.
Of the $1,000,0000, $615,000 went to 62 companies in Kent County. Ionia received $40,715 grants for seven companies and in Muskegon County, $140,000 was awarded to 30 companies.
These grants may be used for working capital to support payroll expenses, rent, mortgage payments, utility expenses, or other similar expenses that occur in the ordinary course of business. To respect the privacy of our region’s small-business owners during this challenging time, The Right Place, Inc. will not be releasing the list of individual grant recipients.
As well, The Right Place, Inc. received and forwarded 33 loan applications to MEDC for evaluation under the loan portion of the Michigan Small Business Relief Program. MEDC will make final determinations for loan applications.
