The change agents from team Kinexus have crafted a new partnership with the City of South Haven in a bid to align their strategies in economic development for the future of the Lake Michigan community.
South Haven Mayor Robert Burr says that his city has signed on with Kinexus for services in the economic development realm similar to the Kinexus relationship with Van Buren County.
Burr says, “The City of South Haven is happy to partner with Van Buren County and Kinexus to offer greater economic development services to the South Haven community. The City Administration is thrilled to have the professionals from Kinexus working in downtown South Haven, at City Hall.” He adds, “We expect great results will follow from this partnership.”
Kinexus has already been providing Economic Development services on behalf of Van Buren County for the past two years, and now will add additional focus to the city of South Haven. The partnership with Van Buren County started with Kinexus administering the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF), which produced 4 loans to local businesses, creating an economic impact of $500,000. The partnership has now grown to Kinexus providing a full suite of economic development services on behalf of the county, resulting in 66 jobs being created, 90 jobs retained, and over an $11-million in economic impact since its inception just two short years ago.
Additionally, Kinexus provides workforce development services in Van Buren County. As part of that role, the organization was recently able to secure $147,602 in training funds for three employers in South Haven, which will result in 168 people being trained in 2018.
The City of South Haven will provide office space for Kinexus staff members to maintain a presence two days a week. They will be located at the South Haven City Hall, located at 539 Phoenix Street, in downtown South Haven.
Kinexus will actively work to provide access to a variety of state and local tax advantages, business incentives, transportation assets, workforce development programs and infrastructure grants.
Todd Gustafson, who serves as CEO at Kinexus, says, “We’re looking forward to continuing our work with the city of South Haven to foster economic growth in the area.”
Kinexus is an organization that invests its time and resources into creating integrated solutions for business, workforce, and community challenges to promote economic vitality in the Southwest Michigan region. For more information, you can visit www.Kinexus.org, follow along on Twitter @KinexusGroup or “like” them on Facebook @KinexusGroup.
