TRENTON, Michigan-Jessica Bazner knew that something was wrong with her business plan, but every time she tried to invest in better technology something else came up.
Bazner, owner of Kevin James Menswear, said that she needed an ecommerce website to help draw business from a wider area after two DTE coal-fired power plants closed in the area. Her store, elegantly furnished with men's cologne scenting the air, features a mix of tuxedos, suits, sport coats and casual wear. While 80% of her business is in tuxedo rentals, she hopes to grow her casual clothing sales.
She qualified for small business assistance administered through the Downriver Community Conference and the University of Michigan's Economic Growth Institute that paid for a company to design her website, do a photo and video shoot, the ecommerce platform and training.
"Basically what we needed, small business wise, was a website," she said. "So getting that visibility has been absolutely amazing. And so is that giggly feeling that you get when you're like, 'Oh my gosh! Somebody from New Jersey ordered through me, and I'm going to fulfill a suit order.'"
For nearly 40 years the U-M Economic Growth Institute has addressed economic emergencies in times of crisis, supporting companies and communities.
The downriver communities of River Rouge, Ecorse, Wyandotte, Riverview and Trenton were sandwiched between the two DTE plants that closed in 2021 and 2022. Businesses were also trying to recover from the pandemic.
The 15 businesses, that included a bakery, furniture store, frame shop, grocery story, hardware store and banquet center, benefited from grant funds that went toward increased marketing presence online, search engine optimization to attract new customers, professional websites and social media, professional logos and branding, and the use of data for decision making.
Bazner's grant also covered photography and videography for the website along with training on how to utilize the ecommerce functions.
"I'm still just extremely honored that I have something that's professional that makes me stand out," she said.
All of these interventions led to increased sales, foot traffic and profitability. U-M's Economic Growth Institute also supported the Downriver Community Conference as it created a robust economic development function for the region.
The institute began work with the Downriver Community Conference in 2021 to help with strategic planning around the grant application to the Economic Development Administration.
"EGI provides extra capacity behind the scenes, keeping me on track, helping me facilitate meetings and taking minutes," said Jazmine Danci, economic development administrator for the Downriver Community Conference. "So for me, I know that I could not have done my job these last three years without their help. I mean, we wouldn't be anywhere near the level of achievement that we have seen without that foundation."
Danci provides regional support to downriver communities as most do not have economic development staff. She also advances the strategic plan created with the institute that includes the small business technical assistance program, redevelopment of the riverfront and finding new uses for brownfields.
A combination of federal, state and DTE contributions of $2.1 million are funding the overall program. Danci plans another round of small business grants with an anticipated state appropriation that will help businesses in all 20 downriver communities.
"This is a true example of how to pair community engagement with economic development and that it can work," Danci said. "We're going about things the right way, and economic development doesn't happen overnight."
For example, a lot of effort goes into determining what a particular business needs. Danci's staff pairs the business owner with a provider who does a business assessment, helps educate them and shares what other financial resources may be needed to achieve their goals.
"It's a real learning process step-by-step where the business owner is gaining capacity and knowledge through the process rather than just giving them money and walking away," Danci said. "Our small business owners are experts in what they do, but they're not always expert business people, and that's what we are trying to do to support them."
Carmen Wells Quigg, director of community development for the institute, said support is important at all stages of the work.
"By partnering with the Downriver Community Conference, the Economic Growth Institute has been able to guide their team in benchmarking and creating milestones around the strategic planning as well as setting metrics so that we know that the impact to those investments is both clear and sound and tells the story for the change that is happening in downriver," she said.
Quigg said that EGI's impact across Michigan communities is helping organizations build a deeper, more versatile bench of leaders and capabilities.
"We focus on building capacity and delivering services that strengthen organizations for the long term-by expanding leadership depth, operational capability and resilience," she said.
EGI vetted the vendors that worked with small business owners like Bazner and were part of the contract for services to ensure they were completed. Bazner said that took away a lot of the worry and uncertainty.
"Having someone like the EGI come in, do it professionally, take that burden off of me and knowing that it works was like, 'Okay, this is a game changer,'" she said. "It's been almost a confidence boost-'You can do this, girl, keep going. Don't quit.'"
