Lakeshore Advantage Embraces Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Community Stakeholders

Lakeshore Advantage is an economic development organization for current and prospective West Michigan businesses working together in a competitive marketplace. According to the webpage, Lakeshore Advantage “cultivates ideas between public, private and non-profit sectors to position our community for growth.”

Lakeshore Advantage is part of the Ottawa County stakeholder capitalism system that helps to connect businesses to nonprofits and government departments. They connect businesses of all sizes with resources that will help them grow. They assemble webpages and data with information on schools, demographics, and expected regional growth that will help businesses make decisions that affect their future. They offer discounts on services such as graphic design, finance and accounting, legal, public relations, web development, human resources and product development for start-ups. Through membership and participation in Lakeshore Advantage, businesses, government organizations, and non-profits can create mutually beneficial relationships.

Lakeshore Advantage receives funding through membership fees and several government sources, including county funds, grant funds, and ARPA funding. Lakeshore Advantage receives a substantial amount of money from Ottawa County for the purpose of economic development and consultation services. For example, included in the May 5, 2023 Ottawa County Business and Finance Committee board packet, in the accounts payable, from March 27-April 21, 2023 it shows Lakeshore Advantage received a payment of $37,778.40.

In June 2022, they received $68,688 to be a “bucket manager” which would request bids and provide recommendations for how ARPA funds should be spent.

In October 2018, Lakeshore Advantage received three years of funding: $110,000 for year one, $120,000 for year two, and $130,000 for year three.

In July 2021, Lakeshore Advantage received approval for another three years of funding at the rate of $130,000 per year for a total of $390,000.

They received the Revitalization and Placemaking Program (RAP 2.0 Program grant) for the purpose of developing public spaces, and Lakeshore Advantage received $1,454,369 in direct funding through ARPA.

One way Lakeshore Advantage supports businesses is with guidance for embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Lakeshore Advantage Certify Your Business page contains a series of videos sharing the advantages of becoming certified as a minority, LGBTQ, veteran, or woman owned business and guidance on how to achieve certification. According to the website, “Certifying your business opens up doors and opportunities to increase your customer base and support network.” Many businesses have established quotas such as purchasing 25% of their products from minority owned businesses. Becoming compliant opens doors to better financing options and ensures these businesses will have preferred supplier status over businesses that don’t meet certain diversity targets.

These ideas on diversity come directly from the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. Although business may start with minority owned certification, achieving specific ratios of identity categories at all levels of employment follow. Rather than hiring the most qualified people, businesses following these principles are placing great consideration upon skin-color, LGBTQ status and other identity characteristics in an effort to fall in line with policies established by globalists.

Perhaps the true motivation behind the former county-run diversity, equity, and inclusion office was never about diversity resulting in better products or about hiring the most qualified candidates, but rather about ensuring there were enough people with specific identity characteristics living within the county so that businesses following the global agenda could have a greater number of potential employment candidates. If not enough minorities want to live in West Michigan these businesses will never be able to achieve certification as required by these misguided quotas.

It appears it was always about money. These are the same policies that have led to the cancellation of Target and Bud Light.  I’m ashamed to live in a community where local businesses have bent the knee and not stood up for truth and the principles that helped them become successful in the first place. People are drawn to areas in which they believe that they have real opportunities to get ahead.  If companies provide good job opportunities and the area has affordable living conditions, people will move here. 

This is how Lakeshore Advantage is spending money.

Lakeshore Advantage is part of the initiative to make Holland a SmartZone Satellite City. Designation of a SmartZone, by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), allows an approved region to create a Local Development Financing Authority (LDFA) board to utilize the approved tax capture mechanism that captures incremental increases in certain taxes. This tool does not capture any existing taxes or have the ability to levy additional taxes.

One must ask, are these organizations more driven by influence than personal conviction? Our humanity leads us to believe others are motivated by good moral character because it tends to be generally true, but it isn’t always. We as West Michigan residents must inform ourselves and ask if this million-dollar investment that supports an entity that builds a network of identity-based preferred businesses is improving the lives of local residents or enriching the estates of stakeholders.

When I encourage out-of-state friends to move here, not once has anyone complained about diversity issues — they complain about West Michigan winter weather.