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Grants available for mid-Michigan small businesses

Posted at 7:55 PM, Mar 27, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-27 19:59:11-04

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The owners of Groovy Donuts in Williamston and East Lansing say business was booming for them at the beginning of the year until the coronavirus pandemic hit Michigan, which is why they knew they had to apply for a Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) grant.

Faithful MSU student customers went home, less people stopped by because of the stay-at-home order, and profits went on the decline.

“In a time like this when revenue just disappears into the ether because no one wants to leave their house and nor should they because of the stay-at-home order. It just makes it that more difficult to find a solution," said owner Andrew Gauthier.

Gauthier says he had to layoff one of their 13 employees and has been getting creative just to stay open.

"We've already applied for the Federal SBA Disaster Loan. I'm looking into every other financing opportunity, working with our lenders to defer payments, working with our landlords to defer payments but that only goes so far because we're just kicking the can down the road and we'll eventually have to pay that back," said Gauthier.

The LEAP grant offers $10,000 to select businesses in the tri-county area for emergency relief. However, it’s limited to only 60 recipients.

"What's the chances of us, a donut shop, having enough impact on our community to qualify for a grant," said business partner Monica Lucas. "We know that there's only 60 that go out to the Lansing area and I felt helpless."

Lucas’ concern led her to create a video on Facebook pleading for the community to share the impact Groovy Donuts has had in their lives so they could add their testimonies to the application.

“We've had over 150 letters emailed to us so far. It's been shocking and overwhelming for us," said Gauthier.

They sold out of donuts at both of their stores the next day just hours after opening. Gauthier and Lucas say they are grateful.

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