KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo City Commissioners are once again putting their money where their mouths are to try and bail out local businesses hit hard by the pandemic.
During a virtual city meeting Monday night, the board voted in favor of allocating $300,000 out of the Foundation for Excellence to help Micro-businesses stay afloat.
City Development Coordinator Antonio Mitchell says this program is designed to help out the businesses that are too small for their small business loan program and will also be Administered by the United Way.
“This program is really for folks with very small businesses that might have one or two employees that need some assistance,” Mitchell said. “This fund will be a $5,000 grant for those businesses.”
This business grant is similar to, but separate from another United Way grant issued last month.
According to city documents, the Kalamazoo Micro-Enterprise Grant Fund (KMEG) has the following guiding principles in its grant funding:
- Equity. The Grant Fund is intended to support community members living below the ALICE threshold, with a focus on providing support to BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color)-owned and women-owned businesses where there has been disproportionate effects from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Collaboration. Whenever possible, dollars from the Grant Fund will be used to leverage federal, state and other local resources.
- Short-Term Use. The Grant Fund is designed to provide immediate, short-term resources for businesses experiencing negative effects from COVID-19.
- Flexibility. The Grant Fund is designed to be flexible in terms of how the resources are spent to meet the most critical needs of businesses and their employees.
Mitchell also added that with this fund, combined with $200,000 donated by Consumers Energy, a half-million dollars will be available to lend a hand to the micro-businesses.
(John McNeil contributed to this report).
