By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting
If your company is in the state of Michigan, you are in luck! Michigan does a great job incentivizing manufacturers and for-profit businesses for activities like job creation, workforce development and equipment investments. In addition, they were recently awarded $8,000,000 to support workforce development efforts in the state’s shipbuilding supply chain companies through the Department of Labor Industry Driven Skills Training Grant Program.
Examples of Grants for Michigan Manufacturers and Businesses
Here is a non-exhaustive list of the grant programs Michigan offers to manufacturers and businesses:
Advanced Aerial Mobility Activation Fund – This fund aims to create a centralized pipeline of AAM projects that have the potential to validate technical and economic feasibility of key AAM use cases, generate critical data that can be used to inform policy making and accelerate AAM readiness and growth in the state.
Eligible projects must address a use case with clear, potential impact to the State of Michigan. Potential projects will be evaluated across a range of factors including, but not limited to technical and economic feasibility, impact potential, and scalability. Examples of eligible projects include:
- Drones for inspection of critical infrastructure, delivery of medical supplies or other healthcare services, and movement of critical parts or goods to support supply chain resilience
- Drone and advanced aircraft technology for defense and dual-use applications
- Sustainable aviation for regional passenger travel or cargo/logistics
- Analysis, planning and development of enabling infrastructure including but not limited to drone ports, vertiports, electric aircraft charging infrastructure
- AAM/drone training
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Business Development Program – The Michigan Business Development Program (MBDP) is available to eligible businesses that create qualified new jobs and/or make qualified new investment in Michigan. The business must add over 50 new jobs unless they are in a Michigan designated “innovation industry” or are a rural company. These categories requires an additional 25 plus new jobs. “Qualified new job” means a new, full-time job performed by an individual who is either: a resident of this state whose Michigan income taxes are withheld by an employer; or an employee leasing company or professional employer organization on behalf of the employer or an individual who is not a resident of Michigan and is employed by a business at a project location that is located in this state, provided that the business certifies in writing at the time of the MSF disbursement that not less than 75 percent of the employees of that business are residents of Michigan.
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Charge Up Michigan – The Charge Up Michigan Program is an EV Charger Placement project that aims to build the infrastructure for DC fast charging stations in the state of Michigan to ensure feasibility of all long-distance trips for electric vehicle (EV) users, within the state, and also to neighboring states and Canada. To achieve this, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and partners (electric utilities and applicant) will provide funding for qualified DCFC EV charging equipment, site preparation, equipment installation, networking fees and signage. The grant amount will be the lesser of 33.3% of the total cost or a direct match of the amount the electric utility is paying, up to $70,000, and can only be used for eligible EV charging equipment.
Applications are accepted on a first come-first serve basis until funding is depleted.
CyberSmart Program – The MDC has pre-qualified Michigan contractors to provide cybersecurity technical services to assist with the implementation of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 (NIST SP 800-171) requirements for meeting DFARS 252.204-7012 in order to prepare for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) that is required for all United States DoD and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contracts and work within the federal supply chain. Phase 1 grants are $1,500 to support the cost of a pre-approved vendor’s gap analysis to identify needed services to help the company become certified. Phase 2 grants are up to $22,500 with 25% match requirement to support technical assistance to address gaps to certification.
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Industry 4.0 Technology Implementation Grant – MEDC’s Industry 4.0 grant program will provide 50% reimbursement for qualifying I4.0 technology costs up to $25,000.
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Michigan STEM Forward – Michigan colleges produce exceptional talent, perfect for the state’s large number of innovative, growing companies. STEM Forward is a statewide program administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The program provides financial support to Michigan companies who hire interns in STEM-focused internships by matching employer contributions up to $3,000 for full-time interns and up to $1,500 for part-time interns.
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
MIOSHA Workplace Improvements to Safety and Health Grant MIWISH – MIOSHA offers two grant programs — Consultation Education and Training (CET) Grants and MIOSHA Workplace Improvement to Safety and Health (MIWISH) Grants to help organizations improve workplace safety and health through trainings and equipment. The grant provides a dollar for dollar match for eligible equipment or training up to $5,000.
The FY2027 deadline for applications is October 1, 2026.
MI-STEP Grants – Through Michigan’s State Trade Expansion Program (MI-STEP), the International Trade team offers financial assistance for exporting activities to eligible Michigan small businesses, enabling access to global markets and buyers while increasing the dollar value of Michigan exports. Applications must be received a minimum of three (3) business days prior to the start date of travel or the start date of an eligible non-travel activity. Up to $15,000 in assistance is available to offset 50 percent of pre-approved expenses per fiscal year.
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Wastewater Infrastructure Fund Grants – The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is seeking applications for a new Wastewater Infrastructure Fund Grant. As a reimbursement grant, this program will be assisting the food and agriculture industry to ensure compliance with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) wastewater regulations under the Groundwater Discharge Permit Program. Grant awards range from $225,000 for companies with less than 750 employees to fund up to 50% of the total investment to $2,000,000 for companies with more than 20,000 employees to fund up to 50% of the total investment.
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
If you are interested in applying for any of these grants or are interested in a customized grant and incentive research report, please contact me to schedule a no-obligation and free Discovery Call.
Frequently Asked Questions About Grants for Michigan Manufacturing Businesses
Why isn’t the Industry Skills Driven Grant listed above?
As of the writing of this article, the state hasn’t released the details of their Industry Driven Skills Grant. As soon as it does, my team will add it to the Free Manufacturing Grants Database, as well as the Premium Grants Database.
What type of information do I need to apply for Michigan Buisiness grants?
That will depend on the type of grant. Find out more about the process for applying for grants, including collecting data to support applications in this article.
How competitive are these grants?
State grants are usually less competitive than federal grants because the pool of eligible applicants is limited to companies in the state. However, we can never guarantee that a client will receive a grant, no matter what the source of the funding is.
Can Michigan manufacturers combine grants to help fund a large project?
Absolutely! We help clients parse out activities and apply for grants to fund each part of a project to help offset more of the investment the company is making. In addition, grants can provide a portion of the capital stack for a company for programs like the New Market Tax Credit.
Are these same grants always available in Michigan?
Unfortunately, not all state grants are available year-round. For this article, I mostly selected ongoing grants except for the MIWISH funding opportunity which has a deadline of 10/1/26. There some programs like the GoingPRO Talent Fund, which funds technical training to upskill employees, that are dependent on state budget fund allocations and is available in the spring of the year. I didn’t include those in the list above since it is not available at the writing of this article, but it is important to understand that all of the above listed grants are dependent on state budgets and state administrative priorities so no grant program is guaranteed to be offered indefinitely.