A state fund intended to create 390 Michigan jobs has loaned $7.7 million to 35 companies and created 79 jobs - only 20 percent of the number initially promised.
Ann Arbor SPARK received an $8 million grant in 2006 to create the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, which used $7.7 million of that amount. The grant was awarded as part of the Competitive Edge Technology Grants and Loans program, which exists "to encourage the development of competitive edge technologies to create jobs in the state."
Skip Simms, manager of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, said in an email, "We saw a need for early stage capital for start-up technology based companies, which the private sector wasn't providing at the time."
