Initiate Business Retention Training Series

Small businesses across the state now have access to new tools and resources to help them launch and grow in Michigan, including an online small business learning platform called Initiate. The Initiate resource portal covers topics such as money, marketing, management, and COVID-19 resiliency resources by using a variety of learning methods including videos, templates, and guides. To best position our business community to access these tools, the MEDC is partnering with community and economic development organizations, financial institutions, and other small business support organizations to work one on one with businesses at the local level.

As our state emerges from the pandemic, we have learned just how important business retention efforts at the local level are. Through a “Train the Trainer” model, partner organizations that serve small business customers will learn how to establish a consistent business retention program locally, how to build trust with business owners, how to use available tools to understand business needs, where to direct businesses using the MEDC.Initiate portal, and how to develop consistency, accountability and follow through in your organization’s small business support and development services.

Over the next year, the MEDC in partnership with Northern Initiatives, will be offering three training cohorts, each lasting about 12 weeks, that will provide four strategic learning sessions for trainers. Registration is required and space is limited. Northern Initiatives is the creator of the Initiate platform and a Community Development Financial Institution based in Michigan. They have trained community and economic development organizations serving 33 states on how to utilize the Initiate platform and enhance their business retention programs.

Each training cohort will serve as a shared learning community, in which program participants will have the opportunity to meet throughout the year with Northern Initiatives staff and other cohort members as part of a peer learning group. In addition, cohort participants and the businesses you serve will have access to the online resource platform MEDC.Initiate.

Program Deliverables

As a participant in the Initiate Training Cohort, you will be able to:

Program participants will join four live, virtual learning sessions, each approximately 60-75 minutes long. The first 30 minutes of each session will focus on training and the remaining time on facilitated peer group discussions. For a detailed summary of each session, click here.
Access to support tools including a Business Performance Plan, Guide on how to use the Business Performance Plan, and the accompanying Recommended Resources Guide.
Access to the MEDC.Initiate platform as a “trainer”, which includes additional useful information for program participants and MEDC.Initate platform access to the small business owners you serve.
Small business training for the small business customers you serve on how to use the MEDC.Initiate platform. This is offered as a live virtual training.
Aggregated data on platform usage to help your organization understand what additional supplemental resources might be helpful for the business community you serve.
An opportunity for continued peer to peer learning with other program participants and small business support organizations, facilitated by Northern Initiatives.

Participant Eligibility

Organizations interested in participating in a learning cohort and accessing the MEDC.Initiate portal must meet the following eligibility requirements:

Identify as one of the following organizations types:
- Local unit of government, downtown development authority, main street program, chamber of commerce, community development corporation, or other neighborhood business association that serves a downtown, historic commercial corridor, or area planned and zoned for concentrated commercial development.
- Financial institutions or CDFIs which have obtained loan funds provided or supported by the MSF.
- Other non-profit small business support organizations, headquartered in Michigan. Priority will be given to organizations who do not receive direct federal funding on an annual basis.
Can demonstrate a history of small business support programming and/or a desire to expand support resources.

Program Dates

Cohort – Spring 2021

Cohort – Fall 2021

Cohort – Winter 2022

May 12, 2021

May 19, 2021

June 2, 2021 *Sm. Business Training

June 9, 2021

June 16, 2021

Trainings will take place from 1 - 2pm for participants. *The training for small businesses will take place at 7pm.

September 15, 2021

September 29, 2021

October 6, 2021 *Sm. Business Training

October 27, 2021

November 10, 2021

Trainings will take place from 1 - 2pm for participants. *The training for small businesses will take place at 7pm.

January 19, 2022

February 2, 2022

February 9, 2022 *Sm. Business Training

February 16, 2022

March 9, 2022

Trainings will take place from 1 - 2pm for participants. *The training for small businesses will take place at 7pm.

The Spring 2021 Training Cohort participants have been selected. Registration remains open for the Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 Cohorts.

Participant Expectations

Complete the Program Registration Form, space is limited and will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. (Cohorts will be limited in size).
Attend each training session. Trainings build upon one another. Prep work that will help your organization implement a successful Business Retention program will be assigned following each training and should be completed prior to the next class. This work should take no longer than 1-2 hours.
Complete and sign an Associate Subscriber Agreement for the utilization of the Initiate platform.
Engage with the small business community and share Initiate resources. Invite businesses to small business training. Work directly with a handful of businesses to complete a Business Performance Plan and provide them recommended resources.
Participate in discussion, bring questions, and share your challenges and opportunities with your cohort.
Join the “learning community” and attend quarterly meetings with your cohort to collaborate on how to best support entrepreneurs using Initiate.

How to register

Program participant registrations will be accepted through noon on Monday, April 19th for the Spring 2021 training. Participants will be notified by Wednesday, April 21^st as to their registration status. Registration forms will be submitted online.

The Initiate Cohort Trainings will fill on a first come, first serve basis with eligible program participants, based on the selected dates indicated in your registration form. Consideration may be giving to ensure each cohort represents diversity in location, organization size, and organization type.

As part of the MEDC’s continued effort to support small business directly as well as organizations that support small businesses, the Business Retention Training Series and usage of MEDC.Initiate is available to eligible organizations at no cost.

Contact Information

To learn more about MEDC’s Community Development Small Business Services, please contact Suzanne Perreault at perreaults@michigan.org or visit https://www.miplace.org/small-business/.

For information about MEDC’s Capital Access Program, please contact Chris Cook at cookc@michigan.org or visit https://www.michiganbusiness.org/services/access-capital/.

About Northern Initiatives:
Northern Initiatives is a Community Development Financial Institution. They provide loans and business services to small business owners and entrepreneurs who create jobs and enable the communities of Michigan and neighboring Wisconsin to thrive.