Local Businesses in Grand Rapids, MI Step Up | Mike Bloomberg

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mayor Rosalyn Bliss is working to support her city's vibrant community. Her efforts will help to preserve the character of the community as she combats the pandemic. Our businesses are struggling with the shutdowns. We've been working very, very closely and aggressively to try to support our businesses to weather this storm. So, we have manufacturers that have shifted gears to create sanitizer and masks. We have over 40 breweries in our city. Those breweries, almost all of them, have shifted gears and are making hand sanitizer as is our distilleries. We're fortunate. We have the capability to help organizations around Michigan to get the hand sanitizer they need so that they can continue their critical operations in supporting people here in Michigan. These businesses are owned by our neighbors and our friends. They're people that we care about deeply. As we started to see the different relief packages coming forward, we knew that a lot of our small businesses would have difficulty navigating those kind of bureaucratic processes. We created a one-stop shop called covidwm.org, and it specifically is for business owners and employees to help them navigate all of the different potential resources that can help them through this time. At Bloomberg Philanthropies, we're supporting mayors as they fight the coronavirus across the U.S., and we're working hard to ensure that they have the latest data and expertise to save lives and help lead us out of this crisis.