Small Business Development Man speaking at event Seminar Meeting Manufacturing tour There’s never been a better time or a better place than Michigan to start and nurture a small business. Lower costs and pro-business policies have made the state a welcoming and profitable home for entrepreneurs and others. According to Forbes magazine, between January 2020 and January 2022 Michigan’s small business revenue rose 24%, compared to the 6.9% average for the rest of the nation. And with its welcoming local business community Shiawassee is the best place to make the most of Michigan’s pro-business advantages, thanks to the dedicated and specialized support of the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership (SEDP) where a small business consultant is on staff ready to provide timely and strategic expertise. Connections that make the difference. Shiawassee County’s close-knit business community provides meaningful connections that are initiated and facilitated by the SEDP. Gabrielle Feighner-Baker, co-owner of the family-owned Feighner Boat Lifts and Docks, describes it this way: “You’re part of this really unique network. Everybody is local and they’re all very innovative hard workers in trying to get their products or services to market. It’s really helpful to be introduced to people like that.” Since opening as an 8,000 square-foot workspace, the Feighner business has grown to a 36,000 square-foot storage and manufacturing facility. A powerful partnership for information, promotion and knowledge. The SEDP is a strategic partner in promoting small business and in supplying essential education and information. Colleen Stowell, an agricultural grower and vendor, owner of Colleen’s Greens, relied on the SEDP to help publicize her business, and to help her learn about e-commerce. The SEDP, she says, is “a wealth of information and a great distributor of that information. They have it all, and they share it with all of us.” The SEDP is also an easy conduit to access resources at the national and state level, including the Michigan Small Business Development Center (MISBDC), a collaborative effort of U.S. Small Business Association and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, located at Kettering University. The MISBDC offers a range of services from business and marketing plan development to capital access to market research to export strategy.
