Northern Initiatives (NI) has a successful 28-year track record of making a real and measurable
difference in the daily lives of small business owners and emerging entrepreneurs in the Upper and
Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. Initially founded as an academic program at Northern Michigan
University to “invest in ways of strengthening the regional economy,” NI spent the first decade providing
high quality technical support to entrepreneurs. In 1992, NI was spun off as a separate corporation and
starting in 1994, began to use lending as the primary tool to effect change in the region’s rural economic
landscape. Since making its first loan, NI has invested a total of $42.6 million in the region, leveraging
another $39.6 million, and creating and/or retaining more than 2,939 jobs.
In conjunction with business loans, NI provides business support or technical assistance to start-up and
existing businesses. These services are provided by staff coaches, with support from NMU student
interns, and in cooperation with local experts and practitioners such as QuickBooks ProAdvisors, CPAs,
local SBDCS, and other providers. This provided support is individualized, but typically focuses on
bookkeeping, financial literacy, marketing/sales strategy, and online marketing.