Business Funding Programs and Loans

Funding and loan programs are an instrumental piece to each and every new business. They help give you the money you need to purchase property and equipment, renovate infrastructure, capture clientele through advertising, etc. Some examples are:

SBA 504 Loan Program
This program provides small and medium sized businesses with long-term fixed rate financing for the acquisition or construction of fixed assets.

Tax Exempt Bond Programs
These are extremely low interest financing for fixed assets ranging up to $10 million. They can be used for manufacturing and Non-Profit 501(c)(3) corporations’ projects.

CEED Microloan Program
To assist startup and expansion of a business. Microloans may be used for equipment, inventory, supplies and some working capital.

Capital Access Program
This program uses small amounts of public resources to generate private bank financing, providing small Michigan businesses access to bank financing that might not otherwise be available.

Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund
The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund was established to support high-tech startup companies as they near commercial viability. The purpose of the fund is to provide access to capital at an early stage of development and to position the company for external investment.

SBA 7(a) Loan Program
The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides a repayment to banks making loans under this program. This allows the lender to recover a portion of what it lent from the SBA if the borrower can’t make the payments. The borrower is still obligated for the full amount. The reduced risk permits lenders to give small business owners access to the same kinds of reasonably priced, long-term financing available to large businesses.

Business Incentives Programs

The programs below help individuals to bridge the gaps in financing their new business. Often, they are specific to the property’s location, whether it is a certain site, city or county, monies are allocated differently. The following programs are contingent upon where you want to locate your business, so please pay attention carefully to the requirements noted:

Property Tax Abatements
These exemptions are offered solely at the discretion of the local unit of government. Policies and formulas for determining the term of years to be granted and other qualifications vary with each community. Follow the link to determine whether or not your property is eligible for tax abatements:

City of Ferndale Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
Under state law, a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority is the way to access Tax Increment Financing.  Tax credits, grants and loans are available to businesses that reuse contaminated, functionally obsolete or blighted properties. To find out more information, follow this link: http://www.michiganadvantage.org/Brownfield-Redevelopment/ and contact Derek Delacourt, Director of the City of Ferndale’s Community and Economic Development Department.

Michigan Collateral Support Program
This program will supply cash collateral accounts to lending institutions to enhance the collateral coverage of borrowers.

Michigan Loan Participation Program
The MLPP will participate with lenders to finance diversification projects when faced with borrowers whose projected cash flows are considered speculative by the lender.

Federal Historic Tax Credit Program
The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program encourages private sector investment in the rehabilitation and re-use of historic buildings.

Alternative Energy Tax Credits
Tax credits are available for businesses engaged in research, development or manufacturing of alternative energy technology.

Centers of Energy Excellence (COEE) Program
$45 million has been authorized from the 21st Century Jobs Fund to promote the development, acceleration and sustainability of energy excellence sectors in Michigan.

21st Century Jobs Fund
This provides over $2 billion over the next ten years to spark new investment, creating high-tech companies and jobs through loans, grants and equity investments.

Emerging Technologies Fund
This fund is designed to expand funding opportunities for Michigan technology based companies in the federal innovative research and development arena. To that end, the Small Business & Technology Development Center (SBTDC) through the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) is dedicated up to $1.4 million to match federal funding opportunities for exceptional commercial opportunities in Michigan.

OU INC
Oakland University’s SmartZone Business Incubator (OU INC) provides entrepreneurial resources and strategic business solutions to develop intellectual property.  The incubator supports existing and grows new technology-based and life science businesses with university resources, decision support technology, business counseling services and financial/capital acquisition assistance.

Michigan Saves
With Michigan Saves financing, you can power your food related business with less energy. Upgrading costly refrigeration units or HVAC systems, replacing old light fixtures, or even adding insulation to your commercial space can help you save. As a nonprofit dedicated to making energy improvements easy and affordable, Michigan Saves has negotiated hassle-free, fast financing up to $150,000 as low as 5.9% for up to 5 years. As a special incentive for businesses in the food industry, Michigan Saves offers a 1.99% rate for a limited time, and if you cut your building’s energy consumption by 20%, we’ll give you a $2,000 rebate.

GRANTS

With the possible exception of those listed under Grants.gov, there are No grants for the general startup and operating costs of a mainstream for-profit business. However, business owners locating in Downtown Ferndale may benefit from any one (or several) of the following grant opportunities:

Small Business Innovation Research Grants
Grant program for small business concerns to engage in research/research and development that has the potential for commercialization.

Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs (MCACA) Regional Regranting Program/Minigrants
Oakland County Arts, Culture & Film is the local administrator of the Minigrant program, which awards grants of up to $4,000 to Michigan nonprofit organizations for high quality, locally developed projects that increase public access to art and culture.

Emergency Solutions Grant
The Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program, administered by the Oakland County Community & Home Improvement Division, is designed to allow non-profit agencies to provide services for Oakland County residents who are currently homeless (sheltered or unsheltered) as well as those at imminent risk of homelessness.  Allowable programs include funding for emergency shelter operations and services as well as programs for homeless prevention and rapid re-housing services.

OTHER RESOURCES

Crowdfunding
Different crowdfunding site could have different a purpose or approach, but overall the concept is simple – you post your project to a large group of site users, or “potential investors”, and they will fund your project with money if they are interested in the project. Popular crowdfunding sites include: Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/), Indiegogo (http://www.indiegogo.com/), RocketFund (http://www.rockethub.com/) and GoFundMe (http://gofundme.com/).

Oakland County Main Street’s Design Assistance Program
The Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) Program provides complementary conceptual design assistance to property/business owners in officially designated MSOC communities, The intent of providing these services is to enhance the appearance of downtowns through a sustainable/preservation based ethic delivered as a cost effective solution for the owner. For additional information contact your local MSOC Manager or visit the MSOC Website:

Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is distributed problem solving. By distributing tasks to a large group of people, you are able to mine collective intelligence, assess quality and process work in parallel. Your most complex business problems are broken down into microtasks and completed efficiently by an on-demand, scalable workforce! Try CrowdSource (http://www.crowdsource.com/) for creating specialized content for brands, retailers and media companies, CrowdSPRING (http://www.crowdspring.com) for website and design assistance or Cambrian House (http://www.cambrianhouse.com) for product innovation, market prediction, cost savings discovery, etc.

SCORE
SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship. They have been doing work for nearly fifty years and, through support from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and thanks to their network of 12,000+ volunteers, they are able to deliver our services at no charge or at very low cost. Services include mentors, counseling, tools and workshops. Please visit:

PLEASE ALSO CHECK:

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation: http://www.michiganadvantage.org/

Oakland County: http://www.advantageoakland.com/Pages/default.aspx

The City of Ferndale: http://www.ferndalemi.gov/Doing_Business/Incentives_Resources

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