Michigan Microloan Fund makes $170K in new loans

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

The Michigan Microloan Fund Program has struck again, continuing what promises to be a common occurrence in 2010.

The program made $170,000 in loans to CTC Holdings, Energy Management Devices, MemCatch and Motor City Wipers. All of the companies are from southeast Michigan and half of them are from the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor area.

The micro loans provide funding for start-ups so they can either commercialize their product or accelerate their business growth. The $1.5 million program will make anywhere from 2-4 loans of a few thousand dollars each per month for 2010. That's another 24-48 fledgling local businesses receiving financing during a time when loans for small businesses are almost non-existent.

"I don't think the demand is going to decrease," says Skip Simms, fund manager for the Michigan Microloan Fund Program. "It has become a very popular way for start-ups to get a small amount of capital to get them to a significant milestone."

Ypsilanti-based CTC Holdings is commercializing advanced VOCs-to-Energy Products that convert VOC emissions into concentrated fuel. That fuel can be paired with a Stirling engine, fuel cell, IC engine or micro-turbine to create useful electricity or burned in a boiler to create thermal energy.

MemCatch is creating a social knowledge network that helps users build and share information. The Ann Arbor-based firm's system collects, collaborates, shares and enables sharing of information within a private network or an open database.

Commerce Township-based Energy Management Devices, a spin-out of Sterling Technologies, is commercializing its g-plug family of products. The g-plug monitors a computer’s power consumption, and when the computer powers down, it automatically shuts down computer-related peripherals such as laser printers, monitors, and amplified speakers.

Motor City Wipers is developing an advanced windshield wiper system that solves several of the shortcomings of today’s windshield wipers, including the build-up of snow, ice and other solid debris from the windshield wiper blade. It's based in Rochester.

Source: Skip Simms, fund manager for the Michigan Microloan Fund Program
Writer: Jon Zemke