ROSCOMMON – When businesses in Roscommon needed help, the village stepped forward, helping to create The Sawmill Rural Business Center.
Headquartered inside the Roscommon Village Hall, received nearly $89,000 in various grant monies this year for continued rural business and economic development support.
The Sawmill is planning a combination grand opening and informational session on Aug. 24 from 6-8 p.m. at the Sawmill Workspace in the Roscommon Village Hall, located at 702 Lake Street in Roscommon.
As part of its programming initiatives, the Sawmill has partnered with northern Michigan’ Kirtland Community College to offer workshops for youth entrepreneurship over the 2017 summer break and is also working on a future volunteer sprogram for Kirtland’ business students.
The Sawmill also was a sponsor of the Heart of Michigan Beer and Wine Festival hosted by the Young Professionals of Northern Michigan to make aware to Michigan’ young professionals that it is possible to live, play and thrive in northern Michigan.
Executive Director Diane Love-Suvada said the Sawmill has been hard at work seeking grant support for on-going funding.
‘I can’t put into words the joy in my heart, but I can say, ‘the proof is in the pudding’. In these first few months we’ve had successes that have shown that our services are needed and valuable.’
The Sawmill has been funded through a variety of sources including:
- Northeast Michigan Council of Governments, Region 3 Prosperity Initiative, gave the Sawmill $5,000 in seed money. It followed with an additional $5,000 in May to support the Sawmill’ first entrepreneurship program, the ‘Springboard Summit,’ launching September 2017 in partnership with the Small Business Development Center of Michigan and Roscommon County Economic Development Corporation;
- Roscommon County Community Foundation also granted a total of $4,252;
- The Roscommon Downtown Development Authority (DDA), renewed its contract for services through the end of 2017 with a sum of $19,240; and
- Sawmill also received a USDA Rural Business Development Grant and was awarded $60,000. The grant supports equipment purchases, rural business development programs and operation of a new co-working space for entrepreneurs, startups and existing businesses.
For more information contact Love-Suvada at 989-275-5743 ext. 15 or email diane@sawmillbusinesscenter.org.
###
Au Sable Media Group, LLC, is a veteran-owned company that owns and operates the Roscommon County Voice, Crawford County Voice, Michigan Boomers and Voice of the Au Sable.
Our focus is on the positive people and events that make Northern Michigan a great place to live, vacation, work and play.
We have been commercial printers and publishers since 2010, specializing in brochures, rack cards, magazines and other newspapers and publications. A new addition to our stable of marketing products are various promotional items such as shirts, hats, mugs, water bottles and much more.
Through our publications and website at UpNorthVoice.com, we cover the following communities: Roscommon, Houghton Lake, St. Helen, Higgins Lake, Grayling, Frederic, Gaylord, Lewiston, Johannesburg, Atlanta, Hillman, Fairview, Comins, McKinley, Mio, Rose City, West Branch, Hale, Glennie, Sand Lake, Harrisville, Tawas City, East Tawas, Oscoda, Au Sable AuGres, Standish, Omer, Sterling, Gladwin, Beaverton, Kalkaska, South Boardman, Fife Lake, Mancelona, Alden, Traverse City, and Waters.
Our staff regularly covers the following school districts: Roscommon, Houghton Lake, St. Helen, Grayling, Mio and Fairview.
We can also be found on Facebook at Roscommon County Voice, Voice of the Au Sable, Michigan Boomers and Crawford County Voice.
For information on promoting your business in any of our products please contact Tracy Constance at 989-275-1170 (tracy@ausablemedia.com) or Walt Smith at 989-390-5359 (waltsmith1955@gmail.com).
If you have information you would like to see published, email Theresa Ekdom at theresa@ausablemedia.com, or Elana Warsen at elana@ausablemedia.com. You can also enter calendar items at your convenience at ww.UpNorthVoice.com.
Au Sable Media Group is an equal opportunity employer and follows all applicable state and federal laws.
