Grand Rapids Business Journal
Jamiel Robinson
CATEGORY: Economic Development
WINNERS: Guillermo Cisneros and Jamiel Robinson for The Right Place, Mike Ramirez and Holly Johnson for Lakeshore Advantage
ORGANIZATIONS: The Right Place and Lakeshore Advantage
The region’s two foremost economic development agencies, The Right Place and Lakeshore Advantage, leveraged community leaders’ input in 2020 to administer state and federal funding to hundreds of small businesses to help them survive the COVID-19 pandemic and economic fallout.
The Michigan Strategic Fund, through the federal CARES Act and Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), made available a total of $100 million in grant funds to eligible small businesses and nonprofits in Michigan through the Small Business Restart program, and The Right Place and Lakeshore Advantage were in charge of awarding a combined 1,488 grants totaling over $12.3 million across 13 counties in October 2020.