President & CEO’s Message
We continue to see positive results of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding awarded to Bay Future and our partners by the Bay County Board of Commissioners to support small businesses.
In April, at our Annual Meeting, we celebrated the 141 small businesses that received grant funding through the Bay County Small Business Grant Program and we expressed our appreciation for their commitment and efforts to continuing to operate their business here in our community.
In May, we have seen a continuation of that recognition and celebration, beginning with Michigan Celebrates Small Business in East Lansing, Michigan. Three distinctly different Bay County small businesses were recognized and awarded at the state’s premier small businesses gala.
We also saw two of the programs established in the ARPA support working collaboratively for the betterment and for the elevated visibility of small businesses and entrepreneurs- the Workforce Talent & Attraction Retention Initiative, come to be known as Hey Bay City! and the Bay County Small Business and Entrepreneurial Support with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Consultant. Hey Bay City! featured a local entrepreneur who was a success story of the SBDC and the Bay County Small Business Support Program in our community.
“If you are going to start a business, you need to go to the SBDC. They have honest advice because they want you to succeed,” said Maria Otto, Owner of Little Pastry Shop.
Check out her story and more below!
We are grateful for the partnership we have with our community partners that help drive these efforts forward and are so fortunate to be servants to the flame of entrepreneurship and ingenuity that burn so brightly in our community!
Happy reading,
-Trevor Keyes, EDFP
President & CEO
Bay Future, Inc.
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