Dive Brief:
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Leaders from six Southeastern Michigan communities will participate in a 10-month program aimed at revitalizing their downtowns and business districts by supporting local small-scale manufacturing businesses.
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The Recast Leaders program will help local leaders learn about their community’s existing small-scale manufacturing sector, determine its needs and write short- and medium-term action plans to boost those businesses in a way that achieves their community’s economic goals, said Ilana Preuss. Preuss is founder and CEO of Recast City, the Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm that offers the training.
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“When we create a super-supportive business environment for our entrepreneurs and business owners, we will, in fact, attract other business owners who want to be a part of that community,” Preuss said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Preuss has touted the economic power of small-scale manufacturing since founding Recast City in 2014. The Recast Leaders program, which launched in 2019, has provided small-scale manufacturing development support to more than 200 cities in 44 states, according to a release. . That includes large cities and neighborhoods such as Downtown Atlanta to small towns of 600 residents, Preuss said.
The Michigan Municipal League is sponsoring the program’s latest cohort, which will have representatives from Eastpointe, Gibraltar, Lathrup Village, Marysville, Pinckney and Ypsilanti — six predominantly smaller communities in Southeast Michigan, said Preuss. Support was provided by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.
Small-scale manufacturing refers to any business with less than 50 employees that creates a tangible product that can be replicated or packaged, said Preuss. That includes advanced manufacturing and related technology as well as home-based artisans who want to grow their business, she said.
The program aims to grow local economies by creating an environment that helps existing businesses in participating communities thrive, said Preuss. That, in return, attracts other businesses to the area, creating a more vibrant downtown or business district and making it a place that people would want to live, she said.
“Ultimately, the work is all about strengthening the tax base in the community, creating new jobs, and strengthening the environment for the entrepreneurs who are in that community,” said Preuss.
The leaders will create action plans for supporting these entrepreneurs that can be completed over the next six months and the next few years, she said.
Through the Recast Leaders program, local leaders have launched new grant programs, microloan programs and training programs, for example, that support such businesses, said Preuss. They have also opened shared commercial kitchens or shared production space, she said.
“It really is dependent on the needs of the business owners who are in that community today, and responding to those needs,” said Preuss. It’s also dependent on the goals of the cities and neighborhoods themselves, she said.
Some communities that have participated in the program aimed to fill vacant storefronts in their downtowns, while others wanted to support entrepreneurs that had previously not been connected to small-business services, said Preuss. Others wanted to grow their manufacturing base as part of their economic development strategy, she said.
The program tends to focus on downtowns and places where members of the community would come together, Preuss said. Small businesses often fill vacant storefronts or set up shop in older, underutilized buildings, which can attract other local businesses to those downtowns or Main Streets, she said.
The businesses give people “a reason to gather, which is a key point of how to build community,” said Preuss. “It also brings out community pride. People love to see what their neighbors are creating and support that.”
