Emerge Innovation Hub in Benton Harbor says a $930,000 grant announced this week for Southwest Michigan First in Kalamazoo is going to make a difference for entrepreneurs throughout the region.
Southwest Michigan First says the Small Business Support Hubs 2.0 grant through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation will be distributed to business support organizations across the seven-county region, including Cornerstone Alliance, the South Haven Regional Business Hub, and Emerge Innovation Hub.
Emerge Innovation Hub’s Andrew Robinson tells us the organization has been working with Southwest Michigan First all year as it sought the grant. This will help Emerge continue its mission.
“We take individuals who need the support and we provide them with the wraparound services ecosystem needed to be able to help them build successful business platforms,” Robinson said.
Robinson says many new small businesses need support from organizations like the Emerge Innovation Hub. It can start even before the business is founded.
“A lot of entrepreneurs that we work with, they don’t know where to begin. They know they have this vision, they have this dream, they have this desire to start their own business. They just don’t know how. Is that form an LLC? Is that S-corp or C-corp?”
Emerge Innovation Hub will help them with that. It also helps entrepreneurs secure credit and support marketing and accounting.
Robinson says Emerge appreciates the support announced by Southwest Michigan First this week because entrepreneurial support organizations are so often overlooked when the state makes funding decisions, and yet they’re key to helping new businesses find their footing.
