DETROIT – For Travis Johnson, co-founder and CEO of FoodJunky.Com, the MiSpringboard program was a God-send. He was just starting his on-line business catering company in 2011 and, like most boot-strap entrepreneurs, money was tight.
Varnum’s MiSpringboard program, which has been providing free legal services to qualified startup and second stage companies since 2011, gave FoodJunky $2,500 in pro bono services to help Johnson “get over the hump.”
“It was legal services for free at a time that cost was a huge factor in FoodJunky’s business,” Johnson said. FoodJunky continues to retain Varnum as its law firm. Johnson said he just wrote them a check for $12,000.
MiSpringboard is a state-wide program designed to remove some of the barriers associated with starting and growing a business by providing free legal services to new business start-ups. At the Mackinac Conference in June 2011, Varnum pledged to invest up to $1 million in free legal services over five years to businesses referred to them by various economic development and other organizations across the state. Participants may need help with how a business is structured, counseling on financing matters, contract drafting or review, or employment law advice.
To date, MiSpringboard has helped 141 companies in more than 50 Michigan cities. Detroit has the largest number of clients at 27, followed by Grand Rapids with 20, Ann Arbor with 15 and Kalamazoo with 9. The majority of the companies are tech related.
“We are in the fourth year of what was originally going to be a five-year program and, while there has been no formal decision to renew, there is a very strong likelihood that we will continue the program because it has been so successful and a very exciting practice for the firm,” said Varnum spokesman Tamara Bergstrom. “Participants love it and as you noted, it has been good for the firm as well.
“That was not part of the original plan,” Bergstrom added. “In fact, this idea originated with the firm’s Contribution Committee, which provides financial support for a wide variety of non-profits each year. We were trying to think of a way to have more of an impact in the community. Internally, we referred to this project as ‘the Big Give’ because the idea was to make a significant financial contribution somewhere. Long story short, because we were in the midst of the recession, the idea of providing free legal services to start ups was conceived, as a way to help grow Michigan’s economy.”
To participate, a company has to be referred by one of these agencies below :
Battle Creek Unlimited
Bizdom
Center for Entrepreneurship
Chi Ishobak (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians)
Detroit Venture Partners
Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women (GROW)
Grand Valley State University Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)
Michigan Medical Device Accelerator (MMDA)
Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center (MISBTDC)
Pure Michigan Business Connect (PMBC)
Southwest Michigan First
Start Garden
Wayne State’s TechTown
University of Michigan Entrepreneurship Clinic
For Massimo Baldini, president of Tome Software getting free legal services, plus getting the chance to work with Varnum Attorney Matt Bower, was a no brainer.
“Tome Software is my second company we started,” Baldini said. “We sold the first one in September 2013. So I know a thing or two about being an entrepreneur. You want to use the right lawyers and accountants. We knew Matt Bower. We engaged him before. We knew he moved to Varnum. We talked to him and he told us to engage him with MiSpringboard. For us, it was the right person, the right company in Varnum and on top of this the right opportunity to get the right advice. We are still working with Varnum.”
It was the same for Damien Rocchi, the co-founder of Grand Circus Detroit, a training space in downtown Detroit. He started working with MiSpringboard for the free legal hours. He used Varnum to launch his rapidly growing business a couple of years ago. He works closely with Bower as well.
“We worked with three or four lawyers before Varnum,” Rocchi said. “They were either too expensive or too theoretical on advice. Varnum has a good balance between the two. Matt also is well suited for that. I would certainly recommend him and MiSpringboard to other entrepreneurs.
For more information, Click on VarnumLaw.Com
