CHAMBER HAS NO PLANS TO USE GRANT MONEY ON A CGA IN BUCHANAN

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber President Arthur Havlicek reported recently that the chamber has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Trusted Connector Grant Program. The grant will allow the chamber to expand its services in the county.
“These funds will defray some of SMRC’s back-end costs associated with establishing and supporting additional CGAs, but will not change the amounts each municipality will invest,” Havlicek said.
He noted that the municipal funds raised for each CGA are meant to allow the CGA to employ a dedicated CGA Director and provide modest reimbursement to the chamber for the shared staff-time allocated towards the CGA for items such as marketing, grant writing, finance and administration, and business engagement.
He noted that the Central Berrien CGA has been approved by all six participants and applications are currently being accepted for the Director position. “I suspect we’ll have someone interviewed, hired, and in-place by early July,” he said.
The Central Berrien CGA is comprised of Baroda Township, Baroda  Village, Berrien Springs Village, Berrien Township, Eau Claire Village and Oronoko Township. “Participating municipalities will have the ability to appoint two representatives to this board, ensuring balanced representation for those who are investing,” he added. “We should have that board up and running sometime in July as well.”
Havlicek noted that program has been made in the Harbor Country area for another CGA, where three of the five municipalities contemplating participation have already passed resolutions to that effect. In addition, Stevensville and Lincoln Township are also interested in forming a CGA but are still negotiating the financial split.
The Bridgman CGA was restructured last year and has since achieved a number of milestones over the last year such as a new website launch, new wayfinding signage and multiple community events for networking, educational seminars and ribbon cuttings, he said.
While a CGA isn’t in the plans right now for the Buchanan area, the Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber has offered other assistance to the city. Last November, Havlicek proposed to the City Commission a new organizational structure to help the city pursue a Michigan Main Street designation.
The Regional Chamber would provide staffing, shared services such as marketing and grant writing, and access to cutting-edge data.
The current Main Street effort was put on hold for nearly a year when the city refused to fund the effort through the existing LIVE Buchanan organization, causing it to dissolve. Instead, the city has re-established the failed DDA, hoping they will be able to pick up where LIVE Buchanan left off and finally achieve the Main Street designation and provide the city with more resources to promote economic development in the downtown.
The newly established DDA was scheduled to hold its first meeting this week on June 11 at the Buchanan City Hall, but isn’t expected to make any changes or begin their efforts until November.