Plans are underway for the next Great Lakes International Innovation Summit. The 2019 GLIn2 Summit will be held in Kalamazoo, MI. The likely date is sometime in October. In addition to the GLIn2 Summit, MBIA will piggy-back a quarterly member meeting the day before the Summit, ending in time to participate in the GLIn2 opening reception. The proposed activity for the member meeting will be to complete a business model canvas for MBIA, focusing on the value proposition for various customer/member segments. We hope many members will be able to join us for the member meeting and the GLIn2 Summit. We'll provide more details on both events as they become available.

MBIA will once again schedule member meetings across the state as a way to provide live networking and to discuss relevant topics of interest to members. Exact dates are yet to be scheduled, but the general timeframes are as follows:

March 20, 2019. The MBIA annual member meeting takes place during the annual conference which is open to anyone who wants to register. There is a fee to attend, but MBIA members receive a discount. The University of Michigan-Flint will host this event. More details will be sent to members via email soon.

June 4, 2019. MBIA will host a Legislative Day in Lansing. MBIA members are invited to bring a client and visit with their state legislators. We are hoping to schedule time to address the two chambers. MBIA will reserve a space in the capital building and provide lunch/refreshments for participants.

October, 2019. MBIA is coordinating a member meeting for the afternoon of the day before the GLIn2 Summit in Kalamazoo, date still ot be determined. MBIA will provide lunch/refreshments for members who attend. The tentative activity idea is to complete a business model canvas for MBIA.

December, 2019. We are seeking a location and date for this final member meeting of 2019. The tentative topic idea is "Next Steps for Startups: Programs to Help Companies Scale." MBIA will provide lunch/refreshments for members who attend.

As MBIA members, you know that over the past decade, accelerators have become an essential part of the new business startup and scale up journey.  The Brookings Institution found that startups assisted by the top accelerators gain funding sooner, are more likely to be acquired, and will draw higher levels of seed financing to their regions. ACRE AgTech has worked in the agtech start up space for four years. The agriculture industry is facing greater challenges than ever before, and relying on technology to meet many of those challenges. In the summer of 2019, the ACRE AgTech is planning the launch of Michigan’s first agtech focused accelerator to draw innovators from across the nation to focus on challenges that Michigan’s food and agriculture industry have yet to solve.  The ACRE AgTech Accelerator will offer cohort innovators funding, mentoring, curriculum, and agriculture expertise to help them develop their technology and their business. As a launch member of GAN, the Global Accelerator Network, ACRE AgTech will have access to numerous additional resources that will help cohort companies navigate the startup journey.  Corporate partners in the Accelerator will have the opportunity to work closely with this cohort of agtech innovators as they develop technologies that can solve challenges specific to their industry, and then invest in those businesses if they so choose. ACRE is looking forward to adding this new and much needed component to our organization.  To learn more, contact Doug Huesdash – doug@acreagtech.com.
 

We are happy to welcome the Centrepolis Accelerator as our newest member. Lawrence Technological University and the City of Southfield are teaming up to help grow small manufacturers and entrepreneurs via the Centrepolis Accelerator. Housed in the Mark Plaza building on Lawrence Tech's campus, the 6,300-square-foot center is set to open in the springto provide companies access to high-tech resources. Dan Radomski, who is leading the partnership, said while the state of Michigan has a strong incubator system for software development, the Centrepolis Accelerator will fill a gap for those who want to create a physical product. The accelerator will replace the LTU Collaboratory, a similar program to support small businesses. Southfield's investment, Radomski said, is helping the university to broaden and rebrand the collaboratory and add shared working spaces and a product prototyping lab.
 

Section 88k(2) of the Michigan Strategic Fund (“MSF”) Act, MCL 125.2088k(2), allows the (“MSF”) Board to award grants and loans from the 21st Century Jobs Fund for “ … basic research, applied research, university technology transfer and commercialization of products, processes and services to encourage the development of competitive-edge technologies to create jobs in the state.”

The RFP is designed to provide potential bidders with sufficient information to submit a proposal that meets the MEDC’s minimum requirements, but the minimum requirements contained in this RFP are not intended to limit the proposal’s content or exclude any information the bidder feels is relevant or essential to their proposal.

Timeline
December 19, 2018 – RFP release
January 2, 2019 – Applicant questions due via email
January 7, 2019 – Q & A posted to MEDC website
January 31, 2019 – Electronic proposal submission deadline

Questions regarding the RFP should be sent to: contractsandgrants@michigan.org. All questions must be submitted via this email address or they will not be answered.

Click here to view the full details of the RFP.