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LEAP | Ingham County Announces $11M Sunrise Small Business Grant Program

Pure Lansing
June 15, 2021 11:00 AM

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to Open Online Application June 28 for Ingham County Businesses

LANSING, Mich. — In April 2021, Ingham County took action to assist small businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and allocated $11 million from the county’s first tranche of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to create the Ingham County Sunrise Small Business Grant Program. The county selected the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) to design and administer the program, focusing on the short- and long-term economic effects of COVID-19 in Ingham County. Yesterday, the Ingham County Board of Commissioners and LEAP announce the Sunrise Grant Program application period will open June 28 at 9 a.m. until July 30 at 11:59 p.m. Businesses and nonprofits with 100 or fewer employees with a physical business location in Ingham County may apply. Complete eligibility requirements are available at purelansing.com/sunrise.

“We are excited to be partnering with LEAP on the Ingham County Sunrise Small Business Grant Program,” said Ingham County Board of Commissioners Chair Bryan Crenshaw. “There is no question; small businesses are the backbone of our communities and economy in Ingham County. As we are emerging from more than a year of crisis, this support is critical to the recovery and sustainability of our businesses and the communities they support.”

The Sunrise Grant Program will deploy funds to those most profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and position the region’s largest county for a sustainable long-term recovery. LEAP, Ingham County, and numerous community organizations, including organizations focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, are working to finalize applications, scoring criteria, the review process, and application help materials with an intentional effort to minimize bias and ensure underserved populations disproportionally harmed by the pandemic receive equitable funding.

bobt“I want to recognize the extraordinary leadership of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners for acting quickly to equitably and strategically deploy these ARP funds. We must embrace this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address the immediate impact of this crisis while acknowledging longstanding economic inequities that have worsened the economic impact on specific populations more than others,” said Bob Trezise, president, and CEO of LEAP (left). “In addition to the short-term assistance, funds will also create more sustainable economic development small business programming for Ingham County into the future, creating a real transformational county program. LEAP is working closely with Ingham County leaders and partners across the community to ensure this happens.”

In the short term, the Sunrise Grant Program will address the immediate pandemic-related financial harm to small businesses and nonprofits with targeted grants that address ARP funding gaps, historic economic harm to socially disadvantaged populations, and the areas of greatest need in Ingham County. Standard grant amounts range from $5,000-$25,000, based on employment level, for the following business types:

  • Traditional retail/services (non-food)
  • Tourism and hospitality service providers (non-food)
  • Nonprofits (non-government, non-food)
  • Sole proprietors
  • New businesses opened during the pandemic
  • Restaurants/eateries/taverns

Additional grants will focus support on bolstering opportunities for sustainable small-business growth for incubators/entrepreneurial support agencies and childcare providers (non-in-home) via targeted geographic expansion of childcare facilities through the remainder of 2021.

The Ingham Sunrise Grant Program also includes longer-term technical assistance for succession planning, for the reopening of businesses that permanently closed during the pandemic, and to establish a new revolving loan fund under the Ingham County Economic Development Corporation.

The application for childcare providers and incubator/entrepreneurial support agency grants will be open June 28 at 9 a.m. until July 30 at 11:59 p.m., while other long-term programs will be available in the coming months.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, LEAP has administered $10,320,000 in local, state, and federal COVID-19 relief funding to 792 businesses throughout the Lansing region.

Additional program details and application access will be available at purelansing.com/sunrise.

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About LEAP
The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) is a coalition of area leaders partnering to build a stronger community for all—working every day to grow, retain and attract business to the Lansing, Michigan, region.

Pure Lansing, hosted by Bob Trezise, focuses on positive news and events coming out of the Greater Lansing area.

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