$1.6 million in federal money will enable Michigan’s Small Business and Technology Development Centers to boost their ability to aid small businesses.

The two-year grant will go to hire nine financial and strategy consultants to work with SBTDC clients around the state to sharpen their financial management and strategic planning.

Consultants will work with small businesses that are in a growth mode and want to diversify, and need some assistance identifying the future and how to get there, said Teresa Sickles, a manufacturing and financing tools specialists with the Michigan SBTDC.

“They’ve evolved to a second-stage business to where they are taking it to the next level and where they are saying, ‘We really want to grow that business,’” Sickles said.

The grant was available through $50 million allocated in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The Michigan SBTDCs are among the first in the U.S. to receive the federal funding.

Read more at mlive.com.

By Mark Sanchez, Business Review West Michigan.