How can Grand Rapids shift out of a charity mindset and see a blue ocean opportunity by investing in and scaling more entrepreneurs and their businesses?
This was the question at hand on March 26 as over 90 partners, investors, business leaders, philanthropic organizations and Kent County residents gathered for our Opportunity Marketplace focused on entrepreneurship and innovation.
We began by engaging with a sober look at the current state of opportunities for business owners and entrepreneurs:
Despite consistent investment in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the last decade, Grand Rapids fails to attract, retain and scale entrepreneurs and their businesses. This is even more evident in the geographical areas that suffer from low access to opportunity.
“The city is built on relationships and if you are part of an underrepresented community, you don’t have those connections. We have to figure out the right way to connect so that these business owners can thrive.”
- Jamie Dionne, Board President, Arts Marketplace
Next, we presented key strategies with existing and new initiatives aimed towards unlocking more opportunities for business owners and entrepreneurs.
Strategy 1
Engage cross-sector partners to design infrastructure and incentives that support resource sharing and synergies in the entrepreneurial ecosystem
- MEDC Grantees: Bring together MEDC grantees 1x a month. Develop a shared 3-year strategy to pilot Salesforce/data sharing with the team and explore who can be an implementor for other key projects.
- Arts Marketplace: Provides premium retail space and back office resources and support to small, local businesses owned by women and people of color.
Strategy 2
Support businesses with the potential to scale by supporting them through developing and accessing the right capital stack
- Opportunity Ventures: Gain investment commitments to support 3-5 entrepreneurs annually with an average investment size ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 and facilitate introductions at unique for-profit investment meetings in 2024.
- New Community Transformation Fund: The New Community Transformation Fund (NCTF) is a venture capital fund which invest in companies owned/operated by business leaders of color. They work with scalable, early to mid-stage businesses and transitioning succession companies in various industries
- Cincinnati Minority Business Accelerator Partnership: The Align and Design Team is establishing a partnership with the CMBA to learn best practices and lessons learned in hopes of developing a model to alleviate barriers to assist in scaling businesses of color.
Strategy 3
Support businesses with the needed access to buyers/contracts and back office supports to scale
- MI Minority Supplier Development Council: Expand MMSDC Business Solutions Group (government contracts, back office supports) to open up a physical presence in Grand Rapids.
- Jireh Metal: Growing manufacturer of metal components, partnering with leading companies in the Furniture, Security Hardware, Outdoor Power Equipment, and Heavy Truck industries.
Strategy 4
Develop a plan to attract larger and scalable minority-owned businesses to Grand Rapids
- The Right Place: Support The Right Place in helping companies gain the right access to capital, contracts and potential relocation to Grand Rapids.
To close the event, table groups representing multiple sectors of our community engaged in robust communication and collaboration to refine, support and expand the presented initiatives. The Align and Design team will meet in April to examine the feedback received and develop action plans for implementing each strategy. KConnect will reach out to marketplace attendees who expressed interest in the work and the strategies of the Align and Design team for further engagement.
