Tevyn Grayson is in the business of helping businesses. He thrives on bringing people together and he especially loves bringing them together with a purpose. He just needed a bigger space for all of them to gather.
When looking for that space, Realtor Rob Peterson showed him a Kalamazoo house with an expansive porch and original woodwork that had just gone up for rent. Grayson leapt into action. His existing loan from Northern Initiatives had been fully utilized with hiring staff, as well as outreach and marketing for the business he’d started at the tail end of the pandemic. But still, his first call was to Venard Roberson, the commercial lender who had helped him earlier.
Roberson had good news. A new loan fund from LISC Kalamazoo had money available, at zero percent interest.
LISC Kalamazoo’s grants use ARPA funds for loans to support Kalamazoo County small businesses. The loans are deployed by Northern Initiatives, with collaboration from LISC, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and other entrepreneurial ecosystem partners. Loans can be supplemented with additional loan capital from the foundation or, in Grayson’s case, a grant.
The grant allowed Grayson Accounting Services to begin planning for an expansion at the new location and add a full-time bookkeeper. Additionally, collaborating with the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and Kalamazoo Black Male Alliance, he was able support another Northern Initiatives customer, Flowers Automotive Recyclers, also in Kalamazoo. He helped the family-run business clean up taxes from previous years and get them on track for the future.
With a new opportunity funded, he got to work creating a welcoming space within the new location, with artwork, furniture and even a grandfather clock that was gifted to him by another local business owner. He’s working with numerous for-profit and nonprofit organizations to bring together workshops and events with a focus on self-improvement, including financial workshops, with a goal of two events each month. He approaches financial wellness as a well-rounded endeavor, bringing mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional wellness into the fold. He has plans to work with local school districts and nonprofits to engage youth in a myriad of ways, including the arts, with hopes of adding a sound studio in the basement.
An Open House is planned for Sept. 5, 3-6 p.m., 2318 Gull Road, Kalamazoo, 49048.
“This business would be in a very different position without Northern Initiatives,” Grayson said from under the archway of some of that enchanting woodwork. “I was in a spot where I’d built enough of a brand that I would still be around, and I would have found a way. But this, this is my vision.”
His vision continues to expand.
“I can feel the impact with the community already. There are people seeing the possibilities here and kick-starting their dreams with these opportunities,” he said.
