By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting There is a little-known fact in the world of manufacturing grants – companies manufacturing dairy products qualify for grants not offered to other industries to support their investments! In this article, we will talk about why grants are offered by so many states to promote dairy product manufacturing; who offers

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting I get a lot of questions from my audiences at my conference presentations and during my business development calls with manufacturers from throughout the country.  Many of these are summarized in my Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on my website.  There are a few, though, that come up more frequently

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting We all love getting money, especially grants, which don’t have to be repaid.  However, when you get grant money, oftentimes the funder will ask you to provide project progress or spending reports.  This is their way of verifying that their money was spent according to the plan established in the

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting Happy New Year, everyone!  As in the past, as we start 2026, I would like to make some predictions about the grant landscape in 2026.  Here we go! #1. Federal grants will trickle out throughout the year. 2025 was a “perfect storm” in the federal grant landscape. Upon establishing the

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting What are some of the best things about having partners? They can contribute their strengths to compliment your weaknesses for a better outcome. They can do the heavy lifting when needed. They are often a sounding board when things get frustrating. In summary, there is strength in numbers!  This is

By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting If I ask a room of manufacturers if they have any experience with grants, only a few will raise their hand. The vast majority of those that do, however, will say their experience is with training grants. Training grants are by far the most common type of manufacturing grant.  Almost