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Entrepreneurs Benefit From Business Accelerator Fund

September 08, 2012

Five West Michigan companies assisted by MAREC together have received  more than $123,000 in business development assistance with a variety of new product or early stage business development activities thanks to the Business Accelerator Fund (BAF) program.

With MAREC assistance, grant recipients applied for funds for a variety of activities that illustrate the breadth of innovation coming from emerging Michigan companies. For example:

Mackinac Technology Company develops and commercializes energy-saving thermal insulation products. Mackinac Tech is currently  developing a transparent window coating insulation system for retrofit applications, using its proprietary coating technology that is expected to yield a 2-3 year payback period for the product resulting from energy savings. The company received a grant for technology and prototyping.  

BioSolutions, LLC formulates, blends, packages, and distributes biodegradable cleaners and industrial coolants that help companies  provide an environmentally safe and healthy workplace.  BAF is providing legal development assistance with trademarks, labeling and other product work to strengthen their ability to fully commercialize their product line. 

Dirt Works, LLC has developed an intuitive and inexpensive on-board visual reference product and associated mounting platform for the heavy equipment and construction industry. The product is expected to compete with more costly laser and GPS instruments that help machine operators determine the level and grade angles of the terrain they are preparing. BAF funds will help produce prototypes and production molds so the company can fulfill customer orders.

Sustainable Partners, LLC (SPART) has formed a partnership with a  German engineering company, enCO2, to develop an anaerobic digester for Lowell Light & Power using enCO2’s patented system to produce energy from bio-waste (manure, food waste, grease, and wastewater sludge).  SPART will develop bio waste-to-energy projects in Michigan that provide low-cost, high-return energy alternatives for utility, farm and municipal waste system operators.    With a BAF grant, SPART is developing legal documents, a web site and accounting system to support their  business development needs.             

MAREC has been designated as a resource organization that identifies and enables qualified Michigan companies in these sectors to pursue business development awards of up to $50,000 from BAF.

GeLo has developed a “geo-locator“ smart tag product that makes location-specific information available to smart phone users. The GeLo tags can be used in a variety of settings to provide specific information about their location. Applications of the technology may assist museums, parks, schools, retail, and other settings. BAF will support the manufacture of first-production GeLo tags to be installed at ten “beta site” locations.

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Page last modified September 8, 2012