LANSING – A program that will make $130 million available in “mezzanine financing” to small businesses in Michigan was promoted Monday by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow at a meeting of small business executives in Lansing.
Stabenow praised the program, InvestMichigan, for not focusing on one particular industry sector.
The InvestMichigan program, which consists of funding from the state, the federal Small Business Administration, and Dow Chemical Company, is geared at helping companies get funding for expansion at a point when they have grown beyond the need for venture funding (which typically goes to companies as the start) and more traditional bank funding (which generally wants to see that a company has developed a track record of revenues).
Stabenow said the program was a “very important thing happening in Michigan.”
And Rob Fowler, executive director of the Small Business Association of Michigan, said the program could go a long way towards “reinventing the state” by promoting the economic gardening concept his organization has promoted.
The program will invest as much as $130 million over five years with companies headquartered in the state and intending to grow in the state.
The investors in the program, including Dow, anticipate a long-term return on their investment, officials said.
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