St. Clair Today

Macomb County issued the following announcement on Dec. 18.

Macomb County Planning and Economic Development (MCPED) is marking the end to a busy year, which included the distribution of $42.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds to 7,300 organizations, $12 million in additional programming and the completion of several business projects that total $212 million in local economic investment.

“No one could have predicted what this year would bring,” said Vicky Rowinski, director, MCPED. “But our job was to respond to the crisis, and our team worked around the clock to do so. Over the last ten months, we launched grant programs, distributed relief funds and helped local businesses adapt to the constantly changing environment created by the pandemic. At the same time, we continued our work helping organizations make economic investments here in Macomb County that not only benefit our business community, but also our skilled and talented workforce.”

MCPED’s relief work began in March, when the State of Michigan, Macomb County and First State Bank made $930,000 available to local businesses with the Michigan Relief Grant. Since then, the department has created, launched and/or managed several additional grant and loan programs funded through state allocations and federal CARES Act dollars, including:

• MEDC Relief Loan

  This program awarded loans to 11 Macomb County businesses totaling nearly $750,000.

• CARES Act Sustainability Grants

  Four separate rounds of funding were made available to small (50 employees or less) brick and mortar businesses, businesses with 50 – 500 employees, home-based businesses and startups. Macomb County awarded over 4,100 businesses grants totaling more than $21 million.

• Michigan Restart Grant

  Macomb County awarded grants to more than 1,600 businesses totaling more than $7.1 million.

• CARES Act Workplace Safety Reimbursement Program

  Funding was made available to reimburse eligible businesses for personal protection equipment and technology. Macomb County awarded more than 830 businesses over $5.2 million.

• CARES Act Online Business Connect Program

  Funding was made available to help public-facing businesses improve their online presence. Macomb County awarded 525 businesses nearly $5.2 million.

• CARES Act Nonprofit Grant Program

  Funding was made available to assist eligible nonprofit organizations. Macomb County awarded 89 nonprofits $1.5 million.

• CARES Act Agriculture Grant

  Funding was made available to assist eligible agricultural businesses with expenses associated with preventing the spread of COVID-19. Macomb County awarded 22 businesses totaling almost $500,000.

• Additional $12 million in CARES Act funding supported:
  • Back to Business PPE Kits
  • Workforce Training Programs
  • K-12 Virtual Programming and STEM kits
  • Higher Education PPE and technology reimbursement
  • Manufacturing PPE Resiliency Programs

To ensure the above funding opportunities were efficient and fair, MCPED partnered with several local organizations which provided various levels of support, including Advancing Macomb, the Anchor Bay Chamber of Commerce, the Eastpointe-Roseville Chamber of Commerce, First State Bank, the Greater Romeo Washington Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Macomb, Macomb Community College, the Macomb County Chamber of Commerce, the Macomb Intermediate School District, Michigan Works!, MSU – Extension, the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and the Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“Our partners played an important role in helping us distribute aid to local organizations in need,” Rowinski said. “Their work was invaluable and we appreciate their ongoing commitment to ensuring Macomb gets through this crisis.”

Outside of COVID-19 relief, MCPED’s business development team continued its work with businesses and organizations looking to invest or expand in Macomb County. That work, which is a normal function of the department, resulted in projects totaling more than $212 million, with projections of more than 1,800 jobs created and 1,600 jobs retained.

For instance, Paslin, a full service design and build organization serving the global automotive industry through the concept, design, construction and deployment of complex automated assembly and welding systems, made an investment at its Warren facility totaling $45 million. It is projected that the Paslin project will create 200 new jobs, while retaining nearly 700 existing roles.

“Macomb County has the skilled and talented workforce that companies like Paslin need to thrive in a competitive global marketplace,” Rowinski said. “So our department was thrilled to help them make this investment in our community.”

In 2021, MCPED’s business development team expects to provide assistance on 17 new investment opportunities. Work supporting businesses through the ongoing pandemic will continue as well.

For more information on MCPED, visit www.macombbusiness.com. Additional data on grant funding can be found on the Macomb County grants dashboard.

Original source can be found here.