• Welcome back Dwayne and Marcel. Please remind the Michigan business community about Kalamazoo Forward Ventures and the Tsunami Lab?
   
• Many small business owners are nearing retirement. Why is buying an existing business becoming an attractive alternative to starting one from scratch?
   
• Tsunami Lab focuses on helping entrepreneurs acquire established businesses rather than launch new ones. How does that approach help protect jobs, preserve local businesses, and strengthen the regional economy?
   
• Access to capital is often one of the biggest barriers to business ownership. How is your program helping more entrepreneurs, including women, veterans, and underrepresented founders, overcome that challenge?
   
• The first cohort included professionals from a wide range of backgrounds, from engineering and military leadership to nonprofit management. What qualities make someone a strong candidate to successfully take over an existing business?
   
• Looking ahead, what are your goals for the next Tsunami Lab cohort, and what would you say to Michigan business owners who may be thinking about selling their companies or entrepreneurs interested in becoming the next generation of owners?
  
  

Thursday July 30th, Kalamazoo Forward Ventures graduated the first cohort of Tsunami Lab, an accelerator built to change that math. Thirteen local operators, including a sitting city commissioner, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, a Detroit-native nonprofit exec, and a Kalamazoo Promise grad-turned-tech-sales-pro, completed 14 weeks of training in the mechanics of buying an existing business, from financial due diligence to regional bank financing.

• Alonzo Wilson II, a Kalamazoo city commissioner, is targeting a legacy business to scale using his industrial engineering background
• Dave “Brew” Brewer, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, is bringing 29 years of large-organization leadership to a Michigan legacy business
• Stacey R. Ledbetter, Executive Director of the Douglass Community Association, wants to prove small business success can directly fund nonprofit resilience
• Shantonio Birch, named 2026 Black Engineer of the Year, is eyeing an HVAC company to modernize for the clean-tech future.
  
  

About Kalamazoo Forward Ventures Kalamazoo Forward Ventures, KzFV, is one of the largest Black-founded investment firms in the Midwest, managing more than $50 million in assets. The firm deploys venture capital, Mainstreet acquisition capital, and strategic real estate investments to expand ownership, preserve local businesses, and strengthen Michigan’s economic foundation. Operating with institutional discipline, KzFV pairs capital with operational support, strategic partnerships, and leadership development to facilitate business succession, protect local jobs, and create durable pathways to generational wealth.

By investing in both growth-stage companies and established businesses in transition, KzFV is building a scalable model for inclusive economic growth that is measurable, investable, and transformative. About Kalamazoo Valley Community College Established in 1966, Kalamazoo Valley Community College offers certificate programs in more than 50 areas of study and associate degrees in 60 others.

These include business, healthcare, human and public service, and technical occupations, culinary arts and brewing training. The college has four Kalamazoo, Michigan locations, including the Texas Township Campus, the Groves Campus, the Arcadia Commons Campus, and the Bronson Healthy Living Campus. Classes are available during the day, evening, online, and weekends. Learn more at kvcc.edu