City opposes plan to move money from area business expansion fund
State plans to move money from a Mount Pleasant-specific fund to a geographically wider area were called "atrocious" at Monday night's City Commission meeting.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation plans to take the $450,000 in the Mount Pleasant Revolving Loan Fund and move it to a region-based revolving loan fund, called the Great Lakes Bay Region, including Isabella, Midland, Saginaw and Bay counties.
The commissioners adopted a resolution opposing the effort. Commissioner Jon Joslin blasted the MEDC’s plan.
“This is the most atrocious thing the state has attempted to do,” Joslin said.
The resolution is an agreed-upon opinion from the commission and has no binding effect on the MEDC's decisions.
The fund was created in 1988 with $225,000 through a federal grant, said Mount Pleasant City Manager Kathie Grinzinger. The purpose was to finance a competitive bank loan for Independent Papercraft, Inc. in a move to a local industrial park.
The city used repayment of the loan funds to create a “revolving" loan to support the recruitment and expansion of business into Mount Pleasant.
Neither the city or the Middle Michigan Development Corporation were consulted in this plan, Grinzinger said.
Joslin said the money should stay in Mount Pleasant.
“We’ve been good stewards of this money,” he said.
He said the city has taken care of the fund, evidenced by its growth over the 23 years since its inception. The city’s responsible use of the revolving loan fund would be ignored if combined with other cities who may not have had such positive results with their funds, he said.
Vice Mayor Kathy Ling thanked the staff for being proactive on the issue.
“Thank you for ... letting state and federal officials know how concerned we are about this,” she said. “This is an example of the state moving forward without added input from the local community.”
