South Haven Region Business Hub

Helping small businesses grow.

Targeted support for small businesses in the South Haven region

South Haven Area Business Hub

Mark your calendar for a series of business workshops and informational roundtables to help local small businesses in the South Haven area grow. The sessions are designed to help the budding entrepreneur, the early start-up or the existing business improve their business acumen, marketing, and operations, and find new sources of funding and investment to support growth.

The series of events is free but registration is required.

Make Connections

Find local business owners and resources that will help you advance your business.

Fund

Find capital resources for new, growing, or troubled businesses.

Grow

How to take your business to the next level. Learn how to grow your business.

Mentoring

Free advice for business owners. Find your mentor through our network.

Plan

Resources to help you develop a business and marketing plan.

Research

Sources for primary and secondary research about your business market.

Start

Get solid advice for launching a new business or idea.

Success Stories

TheEcoDryer®

With the idea for a solution firmly in mind, in 2014, Smoots began working with the Southwest Michigan Small Business Development Center, hosted at Western Michigan University in the Haworth College.

Bogan Developments

When Jamauri Bogan started Bogan Developments LLC in March 2020, it was fairly important to do it right…the importance of the project couldn’t be overlooked—“affordable housing for all.”

Teresa’s Kitchen

How do you go from making 100 tamales a week to making close to 700 tamales a week? You open a tamale business!

Global Clinical Connections

Global Clinical Connections is an international provider of clinical supply chain management services for companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries.

Sponsored by the City of South Haven, South Haven Chamber of Commerce, and Lake Michigan College.

Congratulations to Gregory Shelton of Grand Unique Laundry for receiving his first loan through Northern Initiatives. With help from his SCORE mentor, Cheri Bales, Gregory did a fantastic job on developing his business plan and showing real entrepreneurial spirit. We wish you much success, and look forward to your upward movement. You are a wonderful role model.

—Gregory Shelton of Grand Unique Laundry

I appreciate your ears for listening, your eyes that see my vision and your heart that makes you who you are. I thank you for your time. You are making a difference.

—Shawntel Lindsey, Director, The Artbor Community Connections Center

The WMed Innovation Center is a perfect environment for innovation to grow and become a successful commercial enterprise.

—Client

Whether you are seeking a research partner or want to enlist the help of student groups in developing business plans, or just looking for ways to engage with WMU, the Business Connection office can find the resource to help move your business forward.

—Mentor

A loan (from Local Initiatives Support Corporation) helped expand our cafe to triple our seating, add a kids space, increase much needed staff work areas, and make other improvements to the space.

—Krystal

The Michigan eLibrary (MeL) is the State of Michigan's digital library. It has excellent resources available to Michigan residents at no cost.

—Owner

Western Michigan University's Starting Gate helped me take an idea and transform it into a much more attainable reality. Whether providing talks with investors and business owners or accountability, the ultimate goal is helping your business succeed.

—Peter Shutt

The Kalamazoo Land Bank did robust community engagement around the vision and gave us something to work with that was solidly desired by people in the neighborhood. Having a vision meant we had to protect it. That’s something I thank the Land Bank for. It was difficult. It didn’t make anything faster or easier, but we got a better project in the end as a result of it.

—Matt Hollander

Buy Local Greater Kalamazoo is a hard working grassroots group focused on the greater Kalamazoo community and its small businesses. Their events and networking opportunities are the best!

—Cheri Bales

Michigan SBDC is a great company providing top notch service to local businesses all over Michigan. The consultants are professional and the student workers contribute with excellent work!

—Martin Herman Sorensen

Previous

Next

South Haven Region Business Hub

Helping small businesses grow.