HOUGHTON — The Michigan Strategic Fund approved has approved modifications to the Business Accelerator Fund (BAF), the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced last Friday.

The modifications are in the form of expansions in eligibility for the BAF to help Michigan’s SmartZones support more startups, small businesses, and certain non-tech businesses manufacturing, distributing of critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, gowns and sanitizer, said MEDC Vice President of Entrepueunership and Innovation Initiative Fred Molnar.

The modifications also expand company size eligibility requirements, and allowable use of funds for tech companies developing innovations that could support COVID-19 response efforts, such as diagnostics, therapeutics, or processes to support the health care system’s response to the virus.

Director of Technology, Commercialization and Growth, with the Small Business Development Center, Phil Tepley, said small businesses throughout Michigan are moving into these manufacturing and distribution areas.

Distilleries are among those previously mentioned in the news, said Tepley, because they work with alcohol, they are able to produce disinfectant and hand sanitizers.

Tepley said he received a list of 10 companies in southeast Michigan, from a contact in that area, that are converting their facilities via retooling, or purchasing machinery to expand.

“We’ve got a company that started making masks for Beaumont Hospital,” he said. “There’s a company in Pontiac that’s supplying parts to GM (General Motors, who has a government contract to build ventilators).”

Another company, located in the Ann Arbor area, that manufactures mouth guards is now working with Ford Motor Company to manufacture face shields, while a vodka distillery in Ferndale is making hand sanitzer.

“It’s a challenge,” said Tepley, “but it’s great that people are doing it.”

It is a dire need, he added, as the healthcare system is being taxed like it never has before, and while the economy is in partial shutdown, the normal sales of these small companies are dropping.

“It’s an opportunity for them to stay in business,” Tepley said.

Funded by the MEDC, and administered by the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the Business Acceleration Fund (BAF) provides a series of small grants of up to $50,000 to business accelerators to help high-tech businesses access certain specialized services they need to grow.

The BAF is available to all 19 of the participating business accelerators in Michigan’s statewide SmartZone network, offering support to all regions of the state.