West Michigan Black business coalition gets state grant

A group of West Michigan Black-led economic development organizations that formed a coalition during the COVID-19 pandemic received a $300,000 state grant that will help them collaborate more across the region.

The West Michigan Black Economic and Business Development Group is made up of Grand Rapids Area Black Businesses, Battle Creek-based Sisters in Business, Black Wall Street Kalamazoo and Black Wall Street Muskegon. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. administers the Trusted Connector Grant program, which awarded a total of $6.8 million to 23 organizations statewide. 

The recently awarded $300,000 grant affirms the coalition’s mission of connecting business owners with local leaders and resources, said Nicole Triplett, founder of Black Wall Street Kalamazoo. 

“Our focus isn’t on replicating the models of large organizations, we’re building systems that don’t create gaps in the first place,” Triplett said. “We center the lived experiences, resilience and resourcefulness that have sustained Black communities for generations while producing scale, even when those efforts fall outside of conventional frameworks.”

U.S. Black-owned businesses remain generally underrepresented, with smaller employee counts and revenue than other businesses, according to findings from the 2024 State of Black Business report from the Center for Entrepreneurial Opportunity and the Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity.

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Black-owned businesses make up 2.5% of all businesses in the U.S., up just slightly from 2% in 2018. Most Black-owned businesses have one to four employees, and 97% of all Black-owned businesses have less than 20 employees. As well, Black-owned businesses, on average, make less than other demographics, with the majority of Black-owned companies (58%) making under $100,000 in annual revenue, according to the report. 

“Despite advancements in civil rights and the emergence of affirmative action policies, disparities persist in access to capital, markets, and resources,” according to the report. “The consequences of these disparities are far-reaching, contributing to lower rates of business ownership, limited growth opportunities, and higher rates of business closures among Black-owned enterprises.”

Much of the West Michigan coalition’s work of connecting business owners with resources has been happening behind the scenes, said Jamiel Robinson, president and CEO of Grand Rapids Area Black Businesses (GRABB). 

The state funding will help them work better regionally and form an official organization, as well as help businesses they serve scale up across the region, Robinson added.

“What this grant will allow us to do is to continue to serve who we serve, but also allow us to look at ways in which we can collaborate more closely from a regional perspective,” Robinson said. “Especially coming out of COVID, when resources were being allocated, a lot of the state and federal funding was being awarded by region, not necessarily by individual community or city. There wasn’t really a voice from the urban areas within and it was not as equitable, especially as relief was administered very early on in the first couple of rounds.”

For its part, GRABB has been leading the District 2012 project on Grand Rapids’ south side, which will serve as an incubator for Black-owned businesses to give entrepreneurs coworking resources and space to sell their products. Construction had been delayed multiple times, including during the pandemic, but Robinson expects to be able to move into the building by mid-2026.

Forty-four applicants sought a total of $15 million through the Trusted Connector Grant program, according to a press release from the MEDC. 

“Receiving a grant isn’t just funding, it’s a launchpad,” Lashae Simmons II, founder and president of Black Wall Street Muskegon, said in a statement. “We take that opportunity, multiply it, build on it, and pass it forward so under-represented entrepreneurs can rise higher.”

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