News
Local firms vie For Loans
At least five companies with ties to the Lansing region are among more than 100 firms vying for low-interest loans in a new round of the state’s 21st Century Jobs Fund competition.
State officials are expected this week to release an updated list of those in the competition, which will dole out $30 million in funding this fall. The money is aimed at helping high-tech firms grow and add jobs in Michigan. “It’s an excellent program and a great opportunity for these companies, some of whom just need that extra couple of million dollars to put into play some things to create a great amount of jobs,” said Denyse Ferguson, vice president for new business development at Lansing Economic Area Partnership Inc., which helped two companies looking to locate in the area apply for funding.
A preliminary list from the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which oversees the program, includes 109 companies statewide that are asking for some $450 million in loans. Those figures are expected to change because of potential problems with the computer system used to take applications.
The competition is different from earlier rounds of the Jobs Fund, which has doled out $126.3 million to 78 companies, universities and other organizations doing work in the fields of alternative energy, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and homeland security and defense.
This time, the competition is only open to for-profit companies in late stages of bringing products to market, MEDC spokeswoman Bridget Beckman said. “It’s focused on companies that are set up to create jobs in the near-term,” Beckman said.
Companies with ties to the Lansing area that have applied for funding include:
- XG Sciences Inc. of East Lansing, which uses Michigan State University technology to make microscopic graphite particles. The particles can be added to plastics and other polymers to add strength and allow some to carry an electrical current.
- AI Medical Devices Inc. of Williamston, which makes instruments for airway management.
- CareCk Michigan LLC, a startup operation looking to run an electronic medical records system.
- NamesforLife of Okemos, an MSU-linked company with technology that can be used in scientific databases to link related names or terms.
- Renopharm, a Nazareth, Israel-based pharmaceutical company looking to set up U.S. operations in the area.