Customers in the News
Public Thread is revolutionizing the textile industry. Beechwood Cafe is serving up the freshest food possible. Our partners at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are getting noticed. These small businesses, helped by Northern Initiatives, are in the news.
The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Grand Rapids started a program to prioritize financial literacy as the key to bringing more resources to a growing number of establishments owned by a native-Spanish-speaking population.
Hispanics and Latinos now make up 11.4 percent of Kent County’s population, up from 9.7 percent a decade earlier. But household income is only about two-thirds of the county’s average.
Public Thread, a small bags and accessories shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is trying to be everything the modern textile industry is not.
In place of endless waste, they repurpose recycled materials. They eschew overseas factories and hire local employees who they aim to pay a living, growing wage.
Lisa Ballard and Matt Cassel started working with the Michigan SBDC while they were still living in Las Vegas.
“Fast forward through multiple failed location options and countless declines from area lenders, all of which resulted in the grand opening of Roscommon’s Beechwood Café.”
