Economic Development Grants to Impact Northeast Michigan
The lot at 400 W Chisholm St. has sat vacant despite the five million dollar Michigan Economic Development Corporation grant received in 2022. With interest rates, costs, and securing tenants causing the project to come to a pause, we spoke to Michael Mahler, director of Economic Development at the Alpena Chamber of Commerce, to hear about where the project stands, “MEDC indicated ‘we need to know, is this project moving forward or not?’ The developer said, ‘right now, we just don’t have that anchor tenant, so we really don’t have an option here, we need to leave this thing on pause.’ So with that being the case, the MEDC said, OK we’re going to take these grant funds back and try to find another home for them.”
While the grant will no longer go to the 400 W. Chisholm St. project, Mahler’s team is lobbying to keep the funds in the region. With affordable housing a high priority in the community, there is hope the development will be picked up in the future by a different group. MEDC hasn’t committed to funding other projects in the region, but are currently in discussion with the Chamber, “But again, they have not wanted to make a commitment to us until they have all the data in front of them,” said Mahler. “If we can’t keep it in Alpena, certainly we want to keep as much of that five million in Rogers City, Presque Isle, in the region, as possible.”
The Chamber is also bringing economic opportunities to the region after recently being awarded over two million dollars in grants for small businesses. They applied amongst 70 groups and were one of the few to receive the funding. Mahler is excited to extend the opportunity to small businesses of Alpena, Alcona, Iosco, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan counties, “there’s funding coming that we can spend on your behalf on your small business, so whether that’s helping you with advertising, help you with enhancing your social media presence, we’ll pay for that expertise on your behalf so you can take your business to the next step or at least get it established.”
The grant will apply to small businesses from startups to mature operations looking to expand. To ensure efficiency with the grant distribution process the Chamber has already dedicated a staff member experienced with small businesses to lead the process. Grant applications are expected to be available in the upcoming months and interested individuals can contact Michael Mahler at the Alpena Chamber of Commerce with any questions.
