St. Clair Today

With recent grants totaling $12,000 for Blue Water Startups and Entrepreneurs, the St. Clair County’s Community Foundation is continuing its efforts to bolster the prosperity of downtown districts across the Thumb Coast, according to the Community Foundation of St. Clair County.

“The top strategic priority area of the Community Foundation is community and economic growth and prosperity, which includes supporting our small businesses and our downtowns throughout the Thumb Coast,” said Randa Jundi Samman, chair of the Community Foundation Board.

“What’s exciting is the shared commitment of our Community Foundation and other key organizations like the EDA (Economic Development Administration) to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem in this community,” said Matt Brooks, founder of Blue Water Startups and Entrepreneurs, according to the Community Foundation's website. “The Foundation’s voice, positive outlook, genuine curiosity and encouragement of the entrepreneurial journey -- and desire to attract more of it to this region -- is greatly appreciated.”

The Foundation is also extending the work of small business consultant Kanchan Wankhede, who previously started working personally with local minority- and women-owned businesses in late May. Her work is addressing the needs of small business owners by assisting them to put critical business documents together to be eligible for future rounds of local, state or federal funding. Originally a 12-week commitment backed by pandemic-related funding provided by the Community Foundation, a grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation has enabled the Community Foundation to extend Wankhede’s work through at least the end of 2020.

These endeavors are just the most recent efforts by the Community Foundation, which has supported downtown growth and prosperity for years. Past projects have included a $50,000 loan for the Black River Harbor Place in downtown Port Huron in 2008; over $750,000 to Riverview Plaza in downtown St. Clair for redeveloping the Plaza’s courtyard; and loans to Port Huron restaurants such as the Atrium Café and Casey’s, and more recently St. Clair’s Anchor Point Bistro.

“We’re grateful the Community Foundation was able to support our dream to reopen Anchor Point Bistro,” said Kim Stevens, co-owner of the restaurant, according to the Community Foundation's website. “The community wanted us back, and we needed financial support to do so. Even in the continued challenging environment we’re working in, our restaurant has been able to survive.”

“The Foundation will continue to leverage philanthropy through our COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Fund and other sources to help our local economy and small businesses continue to recover,” said Jundi Samman, according to the Community Foundation's website.

Community members who can venture out safely are invited to come out and support local downtown-area businesses that are currently open. The Community Foundation will continue to be a staunch ally in its efforts to the support economic recovery of the Thumb Coast region.