Beyond the Award

A public-private partnership, Michigan Celebrates Small Business (MCSB) is a collaboration of statewide organizations that offer collective resources to support, connect and celebrate small business. MCSB’s vision is to establish Michigan as the “State of Entrepreneurship.”

MCSB first launched in 2003 as an awards program to recognize the contributions of small businesses to Michigan’s economy. To leverage the strengths of the MCSB founding partners and provide ongoing support to successful MCSB alumni and other growth companies, MCSB became a formal 501(c) (3) organization.

Collaborative, Not Competitive

Aligned on mission, we are collaborative not competitive, so there are no overlapping services. Bringing together our partners’ resources, MCSB provides a centralized location for second stage companies to access a robust set of tools that will continue their growth. In addition to our targeted services, MCSB has celebrated growth companies for 19 years through our annual awards gala. Since then, nearly 1,000 companies have received an MCSB award, including 800 second stage companies tapped as Michigan 50 Companies to Watch (CTW) honorees.

Beyond the Award

MCSB is well positioned to offer services “Beyond the Award” helping second stage MCSB awardees map available resources throughout the state and find ones that meet their needs.

Matching second-stage companies with relevant resources is a critical function. In Michigan’s business assistance community there is a lot of noise that makes it nearly impossible for second-stage companies to find the right support resources efficiently and effectively.

Second-stagers are usually unaware of services that may be able to help them — or overwhelmed with the options. MCSB is the “nucleus” of support to the 1,000 companies who have received an MCSB award — connecting them to resources they need to stabilize internal operations and accelerate future growth.