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West Michigan is full of small towns with wonderful people who have big ideas. The Consumers Energy Foundation wants to hear all about them and is putting tens of thousands of dollars behind the Put Your Town On The Map competition.
The Consumers Energy Foundation is bringing back the Put Your Town on the Map pitch competition to provide $50,000 for big ideas in Michigan’s small towns. The competition aims to reward innovative ideas that attract visitors to downtowns, focus on housing, education or employment, create community pride, and more.
Towns will populations of less than 10,000 are encouraged to apply for the competition. Submissions must be made by April 7 from chambers of commerce, local governments, downtown authorities, and similar groups.
The Consumers Energy Foundation and the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) will select 10 finalists to make their pitch at the Small Town and Rural Development Conference in June. The top three winners will receive grants worth $25,000, $15,000, and $10,000.
Consumers Energy started the competition in 2019, and last year they saw over 100 total submissions. In 2022, grant dollars were awarded to the city of Big Rapids for a skatepark project, to Gaylord to develop a new art corridor, and to Hart to support their new initiative called The Hart Project.
Apply and learn more at CEDAMichigan.org or call 1-800-477-5050.
