Contact: Renee’ Ihlenfeldt
Executive Director, Alliance for Economic Success
or
Deborah Nale, Micro Business Income Development Specialist
Alliance for Economic Success
231-723-4325

For Immediate Release

17 NEW MICRO BUSINESSES UNDERWAY IN FIRST SIX MONTHS OF
MANISTEE-BENZIE COOPERATIVE EFFORT 

Manistee and Benzonia, Michigan – Seventeen new micro businesses have been created as a result of the first six months of the Manistee-Benzie County Micro Business Initiative, managed by the Manistee-based Alliance for Economic Success under a grant from the Manistee-Benzie Community Health Department. The goal of the Initiative is to help people who are recovering from disabilities develop and manage micro businesses. The grant will fund the pilot Initiative through the end of 2008.

“We began the Initiative to test several assumptions,” said Ingemar Johansson, Director of Operations for MBCMH. “First, we wanted to demonstrate that people recovering from disabilities can and want to manage small businesses that support their financial and emotional well-being. Second, we wanted to see if we could build an organization that could provide the support and environment for these entrepreneurs to succeed with their business ventures. Third, we were curious to see how the community would respond in support of this enterprise.”

Based on the first six months of the Initiative, Johansson says, all expectations are being exceeded and efforts have begun to identify sources of funding to continue and expand the effort.

In addition to the 17 new micro business start ups, Johansson said that the following has been accomplished: 

• Two local banks and Easter Seals of Michigan have made donations to create a micro business loan fund for program participants. 
• A statewide resources support team for the Micro Business Initiative has been formed, including two certified public accountants, three bankers, two directors of Chambers of Commerce, the CEO of Michigan Easter Seals, representatives from the Department of Labor and Economic Growth, the Manistee County Community Foundation and director of the Manistee-based Alliance for Economic Success. 
• A Micro Business toolkit has been completed, including business development modules, business forms, checklists and procedures. 
• A Micro Business Workshop has been developed for all program participants. 
• Marketing strategies for micro business products are being developed.

And Deborah Nale, who has coordinated the effort as the Micro Business Income Development Specialist says program participants are enthused by their progress.

“The achievements to date are a direct reflection of the work and persistence of the program participants,” Nale said. “With a helping hand and some useful tools, we are finding that people can find their way, become entrepreneurs in their own right and make meaningful progress in both their recovery and financial well-being.”

“The program has helped me take my ideas and turn them into products and a way to supplement my income,” reports Victoria Bennett who makes custom designed jewelry. “I never thought of myself as a business-person but here I am, making and selling products!”

“We jumped on board to support this because the opportunity in Michigan and nationally to learn from this initiative is critically important,” said John Cocciolone, CEO of Easter Seals of Michigan. “We estimate that 150,000 people in Michigan are in some state of recovery from mental illness. We need to understand how public and private organizations can work together to encourage and foster that recovery process and, in many cases, that recovery can include micro businesses and an opportunity for people to take an active role in our economy. The results in Manistee County are impressive. We need to learn from the methods as well as the results.”

“Throughout Michigan and even the country, businesses are looking for new products, new ideas and new ways of doing business,” said Renee’ Ihlenfeldt, Executive Director of the Alliance for Economic Success. “Based on the results to date, we believe that there are unlimited opportunities for micro businesses throughout every sector of our population. We are beginning the process now to look for added resources for the next phase of this Initiative and to expand the program toward additional populations. People, families, businesses and organizations define prosperity in ways that are important to them. This Micro Business Initiative is helping people in some difficult circumstances find prosperity in new ways that are of immeasurable benefit.”