Impact You Can See —
Where Consistency Meets Progress
Discover how sustained commitment and steady advancement come together to create lasting economic growth and meaningful community transformation.
tesa tape
Originally opening its first plant outside of Europe in 1982, tesa tape grew its West Michigan footprint in 2021 with a $36 million expansion of its Sparta plant—supported by a 100% tax abatement and a $1 million Michigan Business Development Program grant. In 2024, with assistance from The Right Place and an additional $500,000 MBDP performance-based grant, the company moved its North American headquarters from Charlotte, NC to downtown Grand Rapids, bringing about 60 high-wage jobs and $1.2 million in investment.
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Flint Commerce Center
Flint Commerce Center—once the vast Buick City brownfield—emerged through a public-private partnership that remediated the site and cleared it for redevelopment, supported by $5.9 million in MEDC Strategic Site Readiness Program (SSRP) funds for storm-sewer infrastructure, along with ARPA contributions from Genesee County and the City of Flint, an $8.5 million loan from the Michigan Strategic Fund, and $2 million from the Mott Foundation. The Detroit Regional Partnership’s Verified Industrial Properties (VIP) program expedited the project by delivering diligence-ready data on utilities, site conditions, and zoning, dramatically boosting marketability and enabling swift development
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Sartorius
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sartorius redeveloped an obsolete building into a cutting-edge facility with the help of Brownfield Tax Increment Financing (TIF), a PA 198 Property Tax Abatement, and a Michigan Business Development Program (BDP) grant from the MEDC. Additional support included a $100,000 MEDC grant for marketing and brownfield preparation, plus MDOT’s Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF) assistance to repave Research Park Drive—ensuring modern infrastructure for the site.
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Northern Hardwoods Facility Upgrades
A $4.75 million investment, supported by the MEDC and USDA, modernized Northern Hardwoods’ Houghton County sawmill with a biomass boiler and steam turbine, cutting emissions, lowering costs, and generating on-site power. The project preserved 85 good-paying jobs and strengthened the U.P.’s role in Michigan’s forest products supply chain.
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Three Towers Project
The Three Towers project in downtown Grand Rapids is a bold mixed-use development comprising a hotel with condos, a residential tower, and an office building, all poised to transform the city's riverfront skyline with over 600 housing units and significant commercial space. The project is enabled through the state’s Transformational Brownfield Program—allowing developers to recapture a portion of state and local taxes over time, positioning it to drive both urban revitalization and economic returns.
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UP Michigan Works! - 22 U.P. Businesses Receive Going Pro Funds
​Over $661,000 in Going PRO Talent Fund grants is helping 22 U.P. employers train more than 300 workers for high-demand careers. Through partnerships with Upper Peninsula Michigan Works!, this investment boosts wages, builds in-demand skills, and helps build the region’s workforce pipeline. ​
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Detroiter goes from Novice to Developer with DEGC support
The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) successfully supported Detroit resident Eddy Carrington's transition from single-family redevelopment to completing an $8.2 million mixed-use development through comprehensive technical assistance and financing guidance. DEGC helped Carrington navigate critical tax incentives including PA 210 tax abatements, MEDC CRP assistance, and Brownfield TIF support, while providing strategic coaching on city council presentations, application preparation, and proforma adjustments to ensure the Ribbon Project met both financial and community development objectives in East English Village.​
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Your Strategic HR partner: Flint & Genesee Education & Talent
Flint & Genesee Education & Talent successfully partnered with Miller Industries, a growing Fenton-based manufacturer, through the Make Your Move talent attraction initiative and comprehensive workforce development programs including Flinterns, Summer Youth Initiative, and TeenQuest. The partnership provided Miller Industries with recruiting support, marketing tools, customized training, and access to high school interns at reduced costs, demonstrating how Education & Talent's strategic HR services help companies scale their workforce while building Genesee County's talent pipeline from high school through career placement.
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No Label Juice
​SPARK's small business support program successfully connected No Label Juice founder Nashia Frye with Jewish Family Services (JFS) for comprehensive business coaching, helping transform her pandemic-era juicing hobby into a thriving enterprise serving farmers' markets across Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, and Detroit's Eastern Market. The partnership provided crucial guidance on hiring practices, pricing strategies, and business scaling, while facilitating connections with local partners like Old City Acres farm and the A2Y Chamber, demonstrating the impact of SPARK's regional network of entrepreneurial support hubs.
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The Next Center
Lakeshore Advantage successfully developed and opened the Next Center in downtown Holland, an innovation hub with over $11 million in total project investment funded through an $8 million state incubator grant, $1 million in Holland SmartZone support, $600,000 in Brownfield TIF reimbursement, and over $2 million from private investors. The 20,000-square-foot facility housed Lakeshore Advantage's new headquarters alongside incubator spaces for up to 50 startup tenants.
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Acrisure
Acrisure’s $33 million headquarters expansion in downtown Grand Rapids — supported by Michigan’s Good Jobs for Michigan program and a Michigan Business Development Program grant — created more than 400 new high-paying jobs while relocating 280 existing positions. Since then, the company has continued its rapid growth, raising over $3 billion in total funding to accelerate its transformation into an AI-powered financial services platform.
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