VentureNorth Funding & Development, the business financing and support division of TraverseCONNECT, received grants totaling $120,000 from Consumers Energy Foundation and DTE Energy Foundation. Representatives of the Consumers Energy Foundation announced a $30,000 annual commitment to Venture North for each of the next three years, while DTE Energy Foundation officials awarded a $30,000 grant. Both will help support the organization’s business lending and economic development activity across a 10-county region in Northwest Michigan.

Dave Mengebier, President of the Consumers Energy Foundation, said its support for Venture North reflects the utility’s goal of being more than just an energy provider in Michigan but also a catalyst for economic growth in the state. Mengebier called on other area companies and organizations to support Venture North, which also received a $30,000 grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation in 2015.

The DTE Energy Foundation grant was presented by Barbara Rykwalder, the new regional manager for DTE in Northern Michigan. “We’re excited to support the economic development efforts of Venture North across Northern Michigan,” Rykwalder said.

“Support for Venture North from partners like the Consumers Energy Foundation and the DTE Energy Foundation is critical to our success,” Venture North Executive Director Laura Galbraith said. “It helps us leverage our local dollars with other private, state and federal funding sources to provide local businesses with expansion capital to grow their operations and the regional economy.”

Venture North recently surpassed the $3 million business lending mark, totaling more than 50 individual loans to businesses across Northern Michigan for business expansion, new product launches, equipment upgrades, energy efficiency and other projects. Galbraith said Venture North’s lending activity has helped generate more than 200 direct jobs across the region. Venture North was formed in early 2015 through the merger of the Traverse City Area Chamber Foundation and the Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation. It’s a division of TraverseCONNECT, a regional economic development organization that includes the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce.