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West Michigan Black Business Alliance asks Grand Rapids to co‑champion regional effort and expand support for Black-owned firms
Summary
Presenters asked the city to partner with the newly renamed West Michigan Black Business Alliance (formerly Black Business Voice Advisory), citing pilot successes connecting 14 local firms to city contracts and asking the city to help scale a Brookings‑informed regional framework and KPIs; commissioners pressed for clarity on funding and regional buy‑in.
Presenters from the Urban League, Legacy and Love LLC and the Grand Rapids African American Community Task Force asked the City of Grand Rapids to become a co‑champion of a renamed and expanded West Michigan Black Business Alliance, detailing work to connect Black‑owned firms to city contracting opportunities.
Eric Brown, representing the task force, outlined the advisory effort’s history and framework and said the group wants the city “to be the co champion in a line with primarily two strategies” — launching an organizational framework now housed under the Urban League’s umbrella and building a regional inclusive‑economy initiative using Brookings Metro methods to set conditions for growth. He asked the city to back the alliance with visible support that would unlock local, regional, state and philanthropic…
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