SBA Road Tour – Agenda

The ODAI supports a defense industry that contributes $30 billion in economic activity for Michigan, with more than 116,000 jobs and nearly 4,000 Michigan businesses serving the defense, defense aerospace and homeland security industries.

https://www.michiganbusiness.org/industries/defense/

The SBA Michigan District Office provides help with SBA services including funding programs, counseling, federal contracting certifications, and disaster recovery. We can also connect you to our partner organizations, lenders, and other community groups that help small businesses succeed.

https://www.sba.gov/district/michigan

MichBio is the non-profit trade association devoted to serving and being the voice of the biosciences industry in Michigan. The organization’s mission is to drive bio-industry growth through education and resources, business connectivity and promotion, and advocacy and policy engagement.

https://michbio.org/

SURGE is business incubator and startup hub that provides product and technology startups with the tools and resources needed to launch and grow successful companies. From concept to commercialization, our membership includes access to customized programs, a network of seasoned mentors, and a community of like-minded innovators. Located in the heart of beautiful downtown Holland, The SURGE Center is a startup hub that offers open coworking, conference rooms and community space. Additionally, SURGE provides programs and resources to support startups from concept to market.

https://lakeshoreadvantage.com/surge/

Target Alpena is a regional economic developmemt agency covering Northeast Michigan. Our region has unique assets including a world class concrete technology program and federally designated drone/UAS airspace.

http://www.targeralpena.com/

The WMed Innovation Center is the place to start and grow your life science, technology, or engineering venture. The 69,000-square-foot, purpose-built incubator and co-working space was created to support the earliest startups to maturing companies with subsidized, low-cost laboratory, office and conference space, high quality scientific equipment and expertise, and a wide range of support services.

https://wmed.edu/node/373

Housed in Flint, Michigan, we are a non-profit with a mission to relieve the innovator of the entrepreneurial burden. We know entrepreneurship can be difficult, and that’s why we’re here to help. As a community of student professionals, lead by a dynamic leadership team, we vet entrepreneurial ideas to provide a helping hand in business development to anyone regardless of their prior experience or background.

http://www.100kideas.org/

Based in Traverse City, 20Fathoms is Northwest Michigan’s hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. Our team has deep expertise in what it takes to launch a business and we offer comprehensive startup services including valuable connections to capital and people, education, pitch competitions, and a coworking space. We work to uplift entrepreneurs and open doors to help you achieve your dreams.

http://20fathoms.org/

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is at the forefront of creating and preventing strategic surprise within an ever-changing national security landscape. To break down barriers of entry for new potential performers, the agency launched the DARPAConnect initiative to broaden DARPA’s reach with small businesses and educational institutions. DARPAConnect hosts pop-up events, educational opportunities, workshops, one-on-one coaching programs, an online community, and more to support you at any stage of your DARPA journey.

https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/darpaconnect

The Michigan Small Business Development Center (Michigan SBDC) helps small businesses launch, grow, and transition. Our statewide network of experts provides 1:1 consulting and live and on-demand training to small business owners at no cost.

Our services include financial planning, market research, business plan development, technology commercialization, export assistance, cybersecurity resources, and more.

Michigan SBDC services are available through the support of the US. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

https://michigansbdc.org/

The NSF I-Corps Hub: Great Lakes Region is part of the National Innovation Network, a national network of NSF-funded researchers from I-Corps Teams and Hubs. Working together, this network of thinkers addresses America’s need for innovation education.

To achieve the goal of creating a collaborative network across the region, the Innovator Advisor Community (IAC) was created to introduce early-stage Researchers to Industry Experts, with an emphasis on promoting, generating, and shaping Use Inspired Research!

https://www.greatlakesicorps.org/

The Michigan Small Business Development Center (Michigan SBDC) helps small businesses launch, grow, and transition. Our statewide network of experts provides 1:1 consulting and live and on-demand training to small business owners at no cost.

TechTown Detroit, Wayne State University’s entrepreneurship hub, is a nonprofit business service organization that provides programs, education and resources for early- to growth-stage small businesses and tech entrepreneurs. By building bridges for entrepreneurs to succeed, TechTown is accelerating an inclusive economy for Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Since its inception, TechTown has supported more than 6,000 companies, which created 2,340 jobs and raised more than $408 million in startup and growth capital.

https://techtowndetroit.org/

Gateway Grand Rapids is a vital resource for the Grand Rapids tech startup community. Located within The Bridge incubator at the Michigan State University Innovation Park, Gateway Grand Rapids is operated by the MSU Research Foundation and Grand Rapids SmartZone. They provide tech startups with collaborative workspaces and access to essential resources, including early-stage funding, accelerator programs, mentorship, and other entrepreneurial support. Gateway Grand Rapids enhances this ecosystem by connecting early-stage tech companies to key programs like the Business Accelerator Fund (BAF), Michigan Rise Pre-Seed Fund III investments, and Michigan Rise Purchase Order Financing.

http://msufoundation.org/

The Michigan Emerging Technologies Fund (ETF) is designed to expand funding opportunities for Michigan technology-based companies in the federal innovation research and development arena. Since 2008, the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has dedicated more than $23 million to match federal SBIR/STTR funding opportunities for exceptional research and technical innovation generated in Michigan.

http://www.mietf.org/

Innovation Partnerships helps amplify the impact of the research being conducted at the University of Michigan. We manage two pre-seed/seed stage venture funds (ABF and MUICF) in addition to providing early stage support for university innovations. MUICF can invest in any statewide licensed public university startups while ABF is limited to investing in U-M licensed startups only.

https://innovationpartnerships.umich.edu/

Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Regional Network – Midwest is a new initiative from the Air Force tasked with driving innovation through collaboration, funding technology transitions, and increasing awareness and availability of workforce development opportunities. Within this mission space, we are tasked with building a network of partners (including industry (both small and large business), academia, AFRL and other DoD ecosystem stakeholders, venture capitalists, economic development partners, etc.) across the 12-state Midwest region.

http://regionalnetworkmidwest.com/

NSIN is an unrivaled problem-solving network in the U.S. Department of Defense that adapts to the emerging needs of those who serve in the defense of our national security. We are dedicated to the work of bringing together defense, academic and entrepreneurial innovators to solve national security problems in new ways.

http://www.nsin.mil/

We help startups and small businesses with their people needs through affordable recruiting and fractional Human Resources support. Our HR and recruiting services are designed to support growth and help your people to thrive. Together, we build better teams through talent acquisition, policy/handbook development, employee engagement, culture building, compensation and benefits planning, training and development and more.

http://www.amycelltalent.com/