Impact You Can See —
People
Experience how sustained commitment and steady progress transform communities and create lasting economic growth for residents.
Small Business Support Hub
Smaller-Scale Handyperson Service, shows how economic developement programs like Michigan's Small Business Support Hub helps power entrepreneurs. Specifically spotlighting a local handyperson’s growth, this story proves that economic development programs strengthen businesses, fuel community resilience, and demonstrate the lasting impact of investing in local talent.
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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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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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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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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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Fessler & Bowman’s investment in the future
Fessler & Bowman’s new 102,000-sq-ft Grand Blanc Township headquarters underscores its commitment to workforce development, bolstered by two Michigan Going PRO Talent Fund grants—$175,840 in 2022 and $498,000 in 2024—that trained over 130 apprentices and supported hiring from underrepresented groups.
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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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Gentex Expansion
Gentex Corporation is investing $300 million to expand its Zeeland operations, supported by $11.1 million in state incentives from the MEDC and 12-year Industrial Facilities Tax Exemptions from local governments. The project creates 500 new high-tech jobs while retaining the region’s largest employer. Competing with states including Alabama, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, Michigan secured the project through a competitive incentive package that underscores the importance of coordinated state and local tools in keeping major manufacturers in the state.​​
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Harmony Counseling Center
Harmony Counseling Center leveraged the Small Business Support program to develop a formal business plan and strengthen operations, helping the therapist avoid closure. This sustainable growth preserved a local mental health service provider, supporting the region’s small-business ecosystem and maintaining essential community health resources.
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DEGC Feature: GANAS Manufacturing finds its Niche in the Motor City
GANAS Manufacturing expanded into a 30,000-square-foot facility in Detroit with the help of Brownfield TIF tax credits and financing facilitated by the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and Invest Detroit. The full-service fabrication shop, which has doubled in size four times since 2015, now employs 22 workers and specializes in architectural millwork and custom buildouts for clients including the Siren Hotel and Market by Macy’s.​
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