LANSING – State Rep. Jim Townsend (D-Royal Oak) today introduced legislation creating the Michigan Business Corps, a program that will help Michigan entrepreneurs guide their businesses toward long-term success.
“Michigan is pretty good at offering assistance to start-up companies, but we also need to reach out to businesses after they get going and offer them the kind of assistance that will help them succeed,” said Rep. Townsend. “The Michigan Business Corps would primarily be an online service that businesses could register for and that would give them quick access to business coaches to answer their questions and listen to their ideas.”
The Michigan Business Corps will be a partnership between the state, professional service firms and business schools to offer expert business consulting free of charge to businesses registered with the state. It will provide online resources and electronic communications support. Townsend is working with a data/web development company to put together a prototype website to support the Business Corps.
“In order to regain jobs we need to not only attract new businesses, but also retain the businesses that we have,” said Townsend. “We won’t rebuild our economy if our businesses don’t succeed. Successful businesses will give our workers some security and will also be the biggest selling point Michigan has to attract new businesses. The Michigan Business Corps can make our state the Mecca for entrepreneurs because we will have become one of the few states that work proactively with businesses after they are up and running to increase their chance of success.”?