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Michigan small businesses to get $237 million in federal investments


 Heather Turner, co-owner of Something’s Brewing in downtown Kalamazoo, Mich., makes a latte for a customer May 19, 2022. The company says it could benefit from federal dollars coming in to help small businesses that suffered losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Aldair Zepeda/WWMT)
Heather Turner, co-owner of Something’s Brewing in downtown Kalamazoo, Mich., makes a latte for a customer May 19, 2022. The company says it could benefit from federal dollars coming in to help small businesses that suffered losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Aldair Zepeda/WWMT)
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Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal investment is on its way to Michigan's small businesses. Michigan is one of the first five states in the nation to have its plans for in State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding approved by the federal Treasury.

Kalamazoo's Something's Brewing coffee shop has a prime location in the downtown of one of Michigan's biggest cities, but that still hasn't been enough to bring in a line of customers over the last two years, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s been dead. There’s nobody down here anymore,” said Heather Turner, co-owner of Something’s Brewing. “When we first got shut down, we thought we would come back after the six weeks and everybody would be back to work and we’d be good to go and it just didn’t happen. Nobody came back. A lot of our customers work from home now.”

Turner says the shop, which she co-owns with her mother, is down about 80% in sales since March 2020. Turner, who hasn't been able to give herself a paycheck in two years, says that steep downturn in sales has translated to losing about $250,000 in profits.

"We’re stubborn," she says when asked how she keeps going. "We’re not gonna leave.”

That stubbornness can't pay the bills forever.

Both the federal and state governments have stepped in over the course of the pandemic to bring financial relief to businesses through grants and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

The U.S. Treasury is now opening up a $10 billion fund for very small businesses across the country, with Michigan's SSBCI receiving $236,990,950 in funding for businesses most impacted by COVID and business owners who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

The investments will boost the capital businesses have access to through loans and equity investments.

In Turner's case, though, she says it's not just government handouts that will save the day, it's more hands in her store picking up coffee.

Turner says Something's Brewing received a $5,000 grant from the government a year and a half ago was, but it was just a drop in the $250,000 bucket of Turner's lost profits.

“We needed to just get people back out to work and that hasn’t happened yet, so if I were part of the government I definitely would have pushed that a little bit more,” she said, adding she hopes more events coming back could bring in at least a temporary boost in income for the shop."

The Michigan Strategic Fund is expected to receive the first round of funding in the next 30 to 60 days, according to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office.

"Lenders interested in supporting borrowers through the collateral support and loan participation program may begin contacting MEDC Capital Access immediately related to those programs at businessloans@michigan.org," a statement from Whitmer's office reads. "CDFIs and small business lenders seeking support through the loan guarantee support may also begin contacting MEDC Capital Access immediately. MEDC is anticipated to announce an open application to venture capital funds at some point this summer. Small businesses seeking new financing should contact their local bank, credit union, or CDFI to discuss possible financing including SSBCI support."

Follow political reporter Rachel Louise Just on Twitter and Facebook. Send tips to rjust@sbgtv.com.

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