A West Michigan plastics injection molding manufacturer and a business network service provider have received state funding to provide housing assistance to their employees.

Cascade Township-based Cascade Engineering and Wyoming-based Spectrum Enterprise jointly pledged $100,000 to create a down payment assistance program and will receive a matching grant from the state’s Employer-Assisted Housing Fund. The down payment assistance will support homeownership for up to 27 income-eligible employees.

Kenyatta Brame, executive vice president at Cascade, said the state funding will be applied toward its Cascade Housing Opportunity Program, which offers monetary backing, credit counseling and financial education workshops to employees.

“(Cascade) believes that homeownership is a powerful tool for personal investment and generational wealth building,” Brame said in a statement. “These resources are designed to help employees navigate the path to owning a home successfully.”

The two Grand Rapids-area companies are part of a first round of awards totaling nearly $5.4 million out of the new $10 million funding match program that opened for applications in February. 

The program provides financial support to employers that want to invest in housing for their workforce. Employers are asked to pitch in with their own dollar-for-dollar contributions, such as donated land, a cash gift, equity investment, a below-market interest loan or some combination approved by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA).

The state then provides matching funds that can be used for down payment or rental assistance for a company’s employees as well as to develop new housing or rehabilitate existing units.

Businesses can receive funds once from the $10 million pilot program toward housing geared toward households earning 120% or less of the area median income. That housing affordability level must then be maintained for five years for homeownership units and 10 years for rental units.

“The Employer-Assisted Housing Fund is another great tool in our toolbox to address the housing shortage in Michigan,” Amy Hovey, MSHDA CEO and executive director, said in a statement about the awards. “These grants are more than an investment in housing; we’re investing in our workforce, our economic stability and our future.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to add another $25 million to sustain the fund in fiscal year 2025-26, but it’s unclear whether her proposal will get buy-in from the Legislature. 

To ensure all the funds weren’t depleted immediately by bigger companies, $2 million was reserved for businesses that have 100 or fewer employees.

Along with Cascade and Spectrum Enterprise’s award, Munson Healthcare in Traverse City received $500,000 in matching funds to create a housing stipend for 42 employees who agree to a two-year job contract. Wood products manufacturer Manthei Inc. in Petoskey received $490,000 to offer down payment assistance for 14 workers. 

Sun Title Agency in Grand Rapids also received a $2 million grant from this round to help fund its apartment project, The Horizon, which will add 171 units of mixed-income housing at Sun Title’s office campus in the Creston neighborhood. The company donated land valued at $3.1 million to be eligible for the match.

Other employer housing fund grants in this first wave of awards went to Champion Automotive Group Inc. in Royal Oak, which landed $2 million to develop new housing, and Greater Flint Health Coalition, which received $300,000 for down payment assistance.

Source: Crain's Grand Rapids Business