GRAND RAPIDS ? The Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center has won a $1,622,560 grant to expand access to programs to help entrepreneurs start or grow their businesses and create jobs.

The head of Michigan?s program, Carol Lopucki, said the grant will be a big help to that state?s Small Business and Technology Development Center and the small businesses it serves.

?This Jobs Act award will allow us to bring onboard nine finance and strategy specialists to work directly with existing companies,? she said. ?We are off and running. The hiring documents started spinning the moment this hit the ground.?

The money will be used to:

Hire nine new finance and strategy specialists to work with the existing Manufacturing Assistant Team and the Growth Group Team to provide no-cost counseling services to Michigan manufacturers and other industries;

Help small manufacturers diversify into new industries and reduce their automotive reliance;

Double the work force of high-level assistance throughout the state, and focus on small businesses in the growth phase, in strategic alignment with the state of Michigan?s initiatives.

The grant was one of six announced last week by Deputy Administrator Marie Johns of the U.S. Small Business Administration. These first six grants are part of $50 million in funding included in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 signed by the President last September.

A key provision of the Jobs Act provides separate one-time funding to the SBDCs to support job creation and retention within the small business community through in-depth business counseling and advising entrepreneurs and small business owners. SBDCs in Alaska, California (Northeastern SBDC program), Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, and South Carolina are the first to receive funding grants from the Jobs Act to expand training and business advisory services.

?The Small Business Jobs Act is the most consequential piece of legislation affecting small businesses enacted in more than a decade,? Johns said. ?It provided an array of tools to help small businesses continue to drive economic growth and create jobs, including these grants to expand access to SBDCs around the country which provide valuable business counseling and technical assistance. Whether you?re an entrepreneur working on a business plan to start your own business, or a small business owner who?s looking to take your firm to the next level and add more employees, SBDC counselors are in a position to help.?

Funding is allocated to each SBDC under a statutory funding formula based on state population. Additional awards to remaining SBDCs will be issued throughout the coming weeks.

The Jobs Act grants will help to cover SBDCs? costs of aiding small businesses seeking capital and credit, federal procurement opportunities, energy efficiency audits to reduce energy bills, opportunities to export products or services to foreign customers, invest in broadband technologies, and other assistance.

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