$100M in COVID relief aid coming to Michigan

Michigan has plans to dole out $100 million of grants to businesses struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.

The money comes from the federal CARES act, passed earlier this year to provide support to states coping with COVID-19.

The Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) voted Tuesday to approve a plan for distributing the money along with a separate $15 million to fund safety measures in the agriculture industry.

The plan is to distribute the $100 million to 15 economic development organizations throughout the state. Those groups will determine how to spread the funds in their regions.

In the Kalamazoo area, the economic development organization is Southwest Michigan First, which will handle $7,545,455 of the money.

Each organization gets to determine their own criteria for awarding grants, with one exception: At least 30% of the funds must go to businesses owned by minorities, women, or veterans.

Individual grants can be up to $20,000. The money can be used to pay for things like payroll or mortgage payments.

You can read more on MLive.