WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
A Sturgis restaurant is one of more than 30 recipients of a state-issued grant to support small businesses.
A $25,000 award was issued to My Freakin’ Pizza, a downtown eatery that opened in May. Malinda and Christopher Merrill, who own My Freakin’ Pizza, submitted a grant request in hopes of securing funding to help offset the cost of a new pizza oven.
Malinda Merrill said the store’s new, two-level oven cost $34,000. Though the new-oven purchase exhausted the $25,000 grant, Merrill said My Freakin’ Pizza still used its own funds to secure an updated, point-of-sale system.
My Freakin’ Pizza is located at 105 W. Chicago Road.
The $25,000 grant was issued through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and its “Match on Main Street” program. According to a media release, Match on Main serves as a tool to support new or expanding businesses as they seek to launch and grow in core downtown areas and commercial districts.
Other area recipients included Branch County Coalition Against Domestic Violence and its Hope Café ($20,278), and the Be Hyve Collective in Cassopolis ($25,000).
