Lenawee County
Economic Development Matters for Innovation
Economic development when done well provides the infrastructure, incentives, talent pipelines, funding, and community support that help innovators, entrepreneurs, and businesses thrive in Lenawee County.
Lenawee Now helps transform ideas into actual businesses. It builds the ecosystem, funding, talent, infrastructure, and community that makes innovation sustainable and locally grounded.
Lower barrier to entry and growth
By supporting entrepreneurship, site selection, incubators, and commercialization, economic development lowers the barrier to entry: innovation becomes accessible for more people, not just well-capitalized corporations.
More financing pathways
Lower costs of living and doing business, plus access to affordable land/industrial sites, reduce overhead — freeing up resources for research & development, product development, and growth.
Better workforce prospects
A strong regional talent base, plus access to nearby metro areas (Ann Arbor, Detroit, Toledo) and universities, helps ensure that firms — especially startups — can draw on skilled labor, interns, and collaborators.
Growth & expansion potential:
Existing manufacturing, agriculture, and other industry gives a baseline of economic activity. Economic development helps shift businesses toward higher-tech, innovative, or value-added models.
Lenawee Now
Our Role
Lenawee Now is the primary economic development organization in the county. Our mission is to attract, support, and grow businesses from traditional manufacturing and agriculture to high-tech startups and small businesses.
Lenawee Now supports innovation and business development
Business attraction & site selection
Site Selection Center: Through its Site Selection Center, Lenawee Now markets the county to companies considering relocation or expansion, highlighting advantages like affordable land and cost of living, and available industrial & commercial sites across the county. They collaborate with regional partners, such as, the Greater Ann Arbor Region, Detroit Regional Partnership, regional growth organizations to widen the network of potential investors.
Entrepreneurial support & startup services: Lenawee Now runs a suite of entrepreneurial programs aimed at helping new businesses form, grow, and succeed. Key offerings:
Square One: a business idea “pitch contest” — entrepreneurs pitch ideas; finalists get mentoring and cash prizes.
Launch Lenawee: a six-month incubator/accelerator program (education, mentoring, networking, access to microloans) for early-stage entrepreneurs.
Business Acceleration Team (BAT): involving interns from local colleges (e.g., Adrian College and Siena Heights University), who help startups with customer discovery, planning, marketing, financial pro formas — preparing them to seek financing.
Lenawee Investment Opportunity Network (LION) Fund: a local investment fund created by Lenawee Now and local investors to provide capital to startups and small businesses when traditional funding is not feasible. For example, the initial kick-start to the fund came from a $250,000 donation by a local organization.
Smart Zone and incubation infrastructure: Lenawee Now is the steward of the Adrian‑Tecumseh SmartZone, a state-authorized zone that captures and reinvests local property tax revenue into supporting high-tech, innovative businesses.
Within the SmartZone, there are ready-to-build industrial and technology parks in Adrian and Tecumseh offering shovel ready land for companies.
As part of the SmartZone’s ecosystem, there is the Adrian Innovation Center (AIC) — providing incubation, office space, shared amenities and support for entrepreneurs from concept to startup. .
Workforce development, education & talent pipelines:
Lenawee Now works with employers, educators, municipal partners to address talent needs; through the Collaborative Talent System and initiatives like ALIGN Center for Workforce Development. They coordinate career exploration events, certification programs, employer–student engagement to help high school and college students connect with local employment opportunities.
By partnering with local educational institutions (colleges, high schools, technical centers), Lenawee Now helps ensure that educational offerings align with business needs, creating a more innovation-ready workforce.
Additionally, as part of the broader ecosystem, the county’s schools and institutions aim to embrace innovation, continuous learning, and partnerships helping to instill a culture of innovation.
Recent & Prominent Funding / Grants Supporting Innovation
Here are some of the major funding moves and grants that have helped fuel innovation and business development in Lenawee County recent years:
In 2024, Lenawee Now received a $1.4 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to expand the Lean Rocket Lab “LOCAL” program into Lenawee Hillsdale Counties. The grant covers a three-year period and includes $400,000 earmarked for direct grants to eligible small businesses for technical assistance and professional services to become lending ready.
The expansion of Lean Rocket Lab’s LOCAL program means local entrepreneurs (especially underserved, small, early-stage ones) have access to coaching, workshops, networking, small-business lending facilitation, milestone-based grants, and support long-term creating a big boost to the small business ecosystem.
Through the SmartZone framework, businesses in high-tech or innovation sectors can access state-level support such as the Michigan Pre‑Seed Capital Fund . This is useful for early stage companies nearing commercial viability, as well as, accelerator grants and other funding/incentive programs.
On the community development and placemaking side: The broader region (City of Adrian, Michigan, part of Lenawee County) has seen state support for downtown revitalization, support for small businesses, and support for mixed use redevelopment which helps create an attractive environment for workers, entrepreneurs, and creative/innovative firms.
CONTACT Lenawee Now!
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