Two CMF members are collaborating to support local entrepreneurs in St. Clair County.  

Last year, the Community Foundation of St. Clair County made an investment to Michigan Women Forward (MWF) for the purpose of providing microloans to local entrepreneurs.

The MWF Microloan Fund provides access to capital in the form of microloans between $2,500 and $50,000.

“We provided MWF with a $250,000 investment so that they could bring their expertise, loans and staffing support to the Blue Water Area,” Hale Walker, board chair of the community foundation said. 

An aspiring local food entrepreneur was recently approved for a loan from MWF and plans to purchase a second food truck to grow their business.

Earlier this year the community foundation celebrated the success of another local micro-business entrepreneur as they purchased the building formerly known as Studio 1219 from the community foundation to support their growing small business.  

According to a press release, over the last several years the community foundation has been fine-tuning its emphasis on the growth and prosperity of the downtowns throughout the region, and the micro-businesses that are such a key element of economic development.

Randy Maiers, president and CEO of the community foundation shared that now that the community foundation has been doing this work for more than a decade, they have recognized the need for partnerships. 

“Most community foundations just don’t have that kind of internal capacity to actively manage and cultivate a pipeline of potential investments. We need more than one bucket of funds available and multiple partners at various levels of investment,” Maiers said.  

Want more?

Read the full press release.