The Eastern Michigan Small Business Network (EM-SBN) is pleased to announce it has completed its first round of funding for Region 6 small businesses in Shiawassee, Lapeer, Tuscola, Huron, Sanilac, and St. Clair counties to support their growth and development.
Over 500 small businesses applied for 2024 grant funding, with four businesses in the Thumb being awarded. A second round of grants will be awarded in 2025. The recipients for this year’s funding in Sanilac County include:
- Elk Street Brewery & Tap Room in Sandusky, awarded $7,192;
- Polly’s Alterations in Lexington, awarded $6,242;
- S.J. Organic Farms in Peck, awarded $2,625; and
- Steaks & Cupcakes LLC of Ubly, awarded $11,050.
“We are so proud to partner with the St. Clair EDA to bring this opportunity to our Sanilac County Small Business Community,” said Samantha Schnettler, Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation serving Sanilac County. “Our office received forty-two applications seeking support and while we couldn’t fund them all, we are hopeful that those companies that were not funded will reapply next year. The selection committee’s focus for these dollars was to award applicants whose plans demonstrated a strong economic and community impact, clearly identified growth potential, and a proven track record. The anonymous scoring via a weighted rubric identified four clear front runners. We are very excited to award these dollars to businesses that will have an immediate impact on the local economy.”
Schnettler said the scoring committee prioritized fully funding applicants who scored high on the scoring rubric as opposed to partially funding a lot of businesses with smaller award amounts. Due to the grant requirement that businesses must complete the plans in their application even if they aren’t awarded the full amount, a lot of small awards would have meant that the businesses would have to come up with the difference on their own to fund their growth plans detailed in their application. “We did not want to burden our local business community to have to close the gaps on their project funding with partial awards if possible. The average request from our Sanilac County businesses was over $10,000; by focusing on fully funding our top scoring businesses, we were able to guarantee these businesses would be successful in their efforts with these dollars and not burdened with the need to take on debt to execute their growth plans. We’re excited to see the growth and expansion these small businesses will experience as a result of this funding.”
The 2024 Small Business grant program is being administered by the Economic Development Alliance (EDA) of St. Clair County, Michigan. The EDA is working closely with participating Region 6 partners and key partners such as the MI-SBDC to successfully promote and administer this grant opportunity.
