MEDC gave $248M to more than 180 nonprofits

What do the University of Chicago, Ann Arbor Housing Development Corp., Ballet Chelsea and the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix have in common? The Michigan Economic Development Corp. gave all of them money.

The state’s economic development arm gave $248 million to 182 nonprofits in 2025, according to a document Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a records request.

The economic organization sent money to nonprofits and government bodies statewide, plus one in Illinois. The MEDC gave $7 million to Grand State Valley University, a taxpayer-supported institution. It also gave $1.2 million to the Michigan Economic Development Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization not subject to the state’s open records law but which funds some of the governor’s foreign travels. The development corporation funded a music festival in the Upper Peninsula, a school in Lansing, and many other entities.

For example, the MEDC paid $350k to UChicago Argonne and millions to universities that already receive taxpayer funding.

Christopher J. Kramer, head of external communications at the Argonne National Laboratory, confirmed that the lab received a grant.

“This funding supported a research project focused on providing advanced modeling, analysis, and decision-support tools to enhance Michigan's industrial competitiveness,” Kramer told CapCon in an email. “Specifically, the project aimed to identify opportunities for improving energy efficiency and modernizing supply chains across key industries in the state.”

The Argonne lab researches, among other things, ways to recycle electric vehicle batteries.

Grand Valley didn’t respond to a request for comment about how it spent the $7 million MEDC grant.

Four transactions account for more than half of the grants to nonprofits, or $124 million. The MEDC gave $61 million to the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance Foundation, $46.7 million to the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance, $9.5 million to the Invest Detroit Foundation, and $7.5 million to Invest UP.

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The Michigan Economic Development Corporation defended its allocations to nonprofits after CapCon asked for comment.

“The MEDC interacts with nonprofits in a variety of ways, and those ways often change based on what the Legislature writes into the statute and the annual state budget,” Danielle Emerson, MEDC public relations manager, told CapCon in an email. “It would be disingenuous to provide a single remark on an aggregate list from your FOIA (request): These disbursements have a variety of purposes and go through a variety of programs that support everything from main street programs to small businesses, to community institutions that serve as anchor to enhance residents’ well-being through social, cultural, educational, recreational, and other ways in an often low-cost, accessible way.”

Other six-figure disbursements included $545,825 to the Downtown Detroit Partnership, $500,000 to Culturesource in Detroit, $466,000 to Invest Detroit, $325,000 to the Council of Great Lakes Governors and $232,000 to Michigan First Credit Union.

Money from the development corporation funded art fairs, schools that already receive taxpayer funding, museums, a Christian liberal arts college, the Detroit Economic Club, the Michigan Economic Development Foundation, various chambers of commerce, and even the Hamburg Township Historical Society in Livingston County.

The MEDC should explain to taxpayers how this spending helps Michigan’s economy, Mike LaFaive, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told CapCon in an email.

“The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has a long track record of making poor decisions on behalf of taxpayers,” LaFaive wrote. “Grant items to not-for-profit institutions such as an out-of-state university or an in-state music festival do not smack of in-state economic development. What is the justification for such grants? Where is the hard evidence that these will facilitate economic development in Michigan? The MEDC could help itself by proactively reporting details about what the grants are meant to accomplish.”

The agency recently asked Attorney General Dana Nessel to claw back $24 million from a failed electric vehicle plant. The plant was supposed to create 2,350 jobs, but that never happened. Now, the company says it will keep the $24 million, Crain’s Detroit Business reported.

The MEDC gave grants to the following organizations:

• $151,510 to Ann Arbor SPARK

• $132,000 to the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services

• $75,000 to Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Inc.

• $27,305 to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair

• $26,739 to the Copper Country Suzuki Association

• $26,109 to the Ballet Chelsea

• $22,000 to the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport Authority

• $10,000 to the Detroit Economic Club

• $8,000 to the Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau