FERNDALE FIRST INITIATIVE STRIVES TO PROMOTE LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS

A few weeks ago, the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, the City of Ferndale and the Ferndale DDA promoting plans for Ferndale First! — Keeping Your Business First. Jennifer Roosenberg, executive director of the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, stated in hometownlife.com, "A collaborative effort of the three organizations, the Ferndale First initiative is meant to educate the community on thinking locally first and supporting your local community. The goal is also to help promote local business and provide sustainability to those businesses."

The breakfast meeting on March 26, 2009, held at the Emory, located near Woodward and 9 Mile, was to educate and provide awareness to local businesses of the wealth of information and resources available to small businesses, as well as to launch the Ferndale First business consultation program which makes businesses located in Ferndale, along with members of the Ferndale Chamber and Ferndale DDA, eligible to receive a 90-minute evaluation of their business from a team of five small-business experts.

While some of the programs announced are new, many of the programs of which Ferndale is touting for small business have been in place for some time, but awareness of such programs was lacking. Programs such as this one are worth noting in order to bolster Michigan's reputation for starting new businesses.

If you own a business located in Ferndale or are interested in starting one, you can learn more about the program here.

Questions can also be directed to Jennifer Roosenberg, executive director of the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, at jennifer@ferndalechamber.com