Current Entries
Southwest Michigan First Rebuilds Chamber Membership
Regional ecosystem coverage from Second Wave Media. KZFV appears as a supporting reference rather than the main subject.
The Southwest Michigan First Chamber has rebuilt its membership to just over 600 after falling below 250, according to director Clarence Lloyd, who has led the organization since May 2021. The Kalamazoo-area chamber was named Michigan’s outstanding chamber in 2011, when it had roughly 1,100 members and nearly 30 staff, but declined after folding into the regional economic development group Southwest Michigan First between 2012 and 2015, then weathered the pandemic and community backlash over the hiring of Lee Chatfield as SMF chief executive. Lloyd attributed the broader chamber slump to free digital networking platforms and a 2003 Michigan insurance law change that ended chamber-based group health discounts.
Annual dues now range from $325 to more than $2,500. The chamber has added programming aimed at underrepresented business owners, including a quarterly mixer for professionals of color, lunches for women in business and a veterans’ entrepreneurship group, and it operates the Shop Local Greater Kalamazoo e-commerce platform. It is also supplying resources and connections to the nine finalists of Cultivate 269, the student pitch competition run by venture firm Kalamazoo Forward Ventures.
Tsunami Lab Selects Its First 13 Participants
Coverage from Second Wave Media, published 2026-06-16.
Kalamazoo Forward Ventures has launched Tsunami Lab, an accelerator that prepares prospective owners to acquire and operate existing small businesses as Baby Boomer proprietors retire. The program drew 104 applicants and selected 13 for its first cohort, with classes running from April through July in partnership with Kalamazoo Valley Community College. The fund, described as a $50 million Black-owned investment vehicle launched roughly two years ago to back early-stage, growth-oriented companies, frames the effort as a response to the so-called silver tsunami.
It cites estimates that about 40 percent of small businesses nationally are owned by that generation while roughly three in ten owners have prepared a succession plan, putting jobs, wealth, assets and tax base at risk when a business simply closes. Marcel Fable Price, the fund’s director of platform and programming, said organizers want to franchise the curriculum to community colleges across Michigan and keep local wealth out of private-equity hands.
The fund is also compiling a roster of owners weighing a sale, numbering 15 so far. Cohort member Dave Brewer, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and consultant, praised the instructors and his classmates.
KZFV Leaders Discuss Tsunami Lab on Michigan Business Beat
Coverage from Michigan Business Beat, published 2026-04-26.
Michigan Business Beat featured Kalamazoo Forward Ventures leaders Dwayne Powell Jr. and Marcel Fable Price in an audio segment about Tsunami Lab and the region’s approaching wave of business-owner retirements. No transcript was available, so this summary is limited to the episode description and program facts corroborated by other coverage. The segment presented business succession as a regional economic issue.
It said baby boomers control a substantial share of small companies and that many owners do not have a formal transition plan, creating a risk that viable businesses and jobs could disappear when owners retire. Tsunami Lab was described as a partnership with Kalamazoo Valley Community College that prepares aspiring owners to evaluate, buy and operate existing companies. KZFV planned to pair training with acquisition capital for selected participants in the first cohort.
Western Herald Covers Cultivate 269’s $100,000 Winner
Coverage from Western Herald, published 2026-04-16.
Samuel Marseille, a Western Michigan University graduate student, captured both prizes at the inaugural Cultivate 269 pitch competition on April 10, collecting $25,000 from the public vote and $75,000 from the judges for a $100,000 total. The event was staged at the WMU Student Center by Kalamazoo Forward Ventures and the university as a forum for founders, entrepreneurs and investors to connect. Marseille’s venture, OneShot AI, pairs artificial intelligence with human interpreters in what the company bills as the first HIPAA-compliant system of its kind; it currently handles ten languages, among them Spanish, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Swahili and Pashto.
Marseille, who speaks four languages, said he was motivated by a hospital case in which a family waited five hours for a French interpreter. Judges scored entries blind on founder story, market innovation and the impact of funding. The prize money will go toward finalizing a patent, adding languages and supporting a June pilot.
The Western Herald reported that former mayor Bobby Hopewell said every finalist would receive a separate $25,000 award. Other coverage described $25,000 total for finalist support services, so the figure remains unresolved. KZFV said it intends to run the contest annually.
Oneshot AI Wins the Inaugural Cultivate 269 Contest
Coverage from Second Wave Media, published 2026-04-13.
A Western Michigan University graduate student took home $100,000 at the first Cultivate 269 pitch contest, held April 10, 2026, at the WMU Student Center before a standing-room crowd of roughly 400. Samuel Marseille, 30, a Haitian-born interpreter finishing a master’s degree in international development administration, presented Oneshot AI, a HIPAA-compliant, AI-driven language interpretation platform built for medical settings. He swept both awards, taking $75,000 from a five-judge panel and $25,000 decided by a student vote.
Organizers said 49 students submitted ideas and a selection committee narrowed the field to nine finalists, with more than 2,000 students weighing in during a month-long public vote. The contest was created by capital investment firm Kalamazoo Forward Ventures in partnership with the university; the firm’s chief operating officer, Dwayne Powell Jr., described the event as evidence of deepening local support for founders. Kabundant, led by former Kalamazoo mayor Bobby Hopewell, pledged $25,000 toward support services for other finalists, and organizers announced a $250,000 PitchMI regional event for Kalamazoo in September.
Cultivate 269 Pitch Night Comes to the WMU Student Center
Coverage from NowKalamazoo, published 2026-04-10.
NowKalamazoo’s community calendar listed Cultivate 269: The $100,000 Pitch Night, an event presented by Kalamazoo Forward Ventures (KZFV) in partnership with Western Michigan University. The listing placed the event at the WMU Student Center in Kalamazoo on Friday, April 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. According to the entry, nine WMU students would compete with $100,000 at stake, and the evening would include music and food alongside the pitches.
The listing invited attendees to RSVP and pointed to an Eventbrite registration page for tickets. The event was filed under the calendar’s Awards/Recognitions, Business, Networking and Resource Distribution categories. The page is a calendar entry rather than a news report, and it contains no reporting on the competition’s applicants, finalists, judging process or outcome, and no named individuals beyond the sponsoring organizations.
Samuel Marseille Wins $100,000 at Cultivate 269
Coverage from WWMT, published 2026-04-10.
Western Michigan University student Samuel Marseille swept both prizes at the inaugural Cultivate 269 pitch competition, winning $100,000 from Kalamazoo Forward Ventures at the WMU Student Center on Friday, April 10. Marseille’s OneShotAI, a HIPAA-compliant translation service pairing artificial intelligence with human interpreters to reduce language-related delays in hospital care, topped both the judges’ scoring, worth $75,000, and the public vote, worth $25,000. The competition drew 49 student applicants, narrowed to nine finalists, four by public vote and five by a professional review committee, each given coaching and six minutes on stage.
Other pitches included Connor Burkett’s home-energy platform Volt, Dericka Bellamy’s Deranda Institute for student mothers, Khang Nguyen’s VolleyNet, Genesis Erhabor’s Ground Loop, Chy’Ah Smith’s Thirsty Lemon Co., Kalea Barnes’ Parisian Dream Desserts, Caden Boynton’s UnionOPS and Garrett Patnoude’s Dekree. Dwayne Powell Jr., KZFV’s chief operating officer and managing partner, said founders need not leave Kalamazoo to build a meaningful company.
Former Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby J. Hopewell, chief executive of Kabundant, announced an additional $25,000 to be shared among all finalists. Entrepreneur Tanya Thompson of Aroma Labs also addressed the crowd, and organizers said the event would return annually.
Western Herald Profiles the Cultivate 269 Finalists
Coverage from Western Herald, published 2026-04-07.
The Western Herald reported that nine Western Michigan University students advanced from 49 applicants to the Cultivate 269 pitch competition. Four were selected by a campus vote and five by judges, while more than 2,000 students participated in the voting process. The finalist slate paired each student with a proposed venture: Kalea Barnes with Parisian Dream Desserts; Dericka S. Bellamy with The Deranda Institute; Caden Boynton with UnionOPS; Genesis Erhabor with Ground Loop; Khang Nguyen with VolleyNet-Subfinder; Samuel Marseille with Oneshot AI; Garrett Patnoude with Dekree; Chy’Ah Smith with Thirsty Lemon Co.; and Connor Burkett with Volt.
Each finalist received coaching from A:LAB. The April 10 program at the WMU Student Center offered $75,000 from the judges and a separate $25,000 award based on the community vote. KZFV operating leader Dwayne Powell described the response to the first-year competition as extraordinary.
Nine Students Advance in Cultivate 269 Competition
Coverage from WMU News, published 2026-03-30.
Western Michigan University announced the finalists for the inaugural Cultivate 269 pitch competition, a partnership with investment firm Kalamazoo Forward Ventures that puts up to $100,000 before student entrepreneurs. Nine students emerged from 49 applicants, evaluated by a selection committee drawn from the university, venture capital and technology firms, financial institutions, economic development groups and community leadership. A concurrent monthlong public vote drew participation from more than 2,000 students, roughly a tenth of the campus.
Community-vote finalists included Khang Nguyen (VolleyNet – Subfinder), Samuel Marseille (Oneshot AI), Chy’Ah Smith (Thirsty Lemon Co.) and Kalea Barnes (Parisian Dream Desserts); judge-selected finalists included Genesis Erhabor (Ground Loop), Garrett Patnoude (Dekree) and Dericka S. Bellamy (The Deranda Institute). Dwayne Powell Jr., KZFV’s operating chief and Main Street lead, said the response was extraordinary, while platform and programming director Marcel Fable Price praised the first-year turnout.
Remzi Seker, WMU’s vice president for research and innovation, tied the program to applied learning. Finalists received coaching from Michigan consulting firm A:LAB ahead of the April 10 pitch night.
MLive Covers the Nine Cultivate 269 Finalists
Additional coverage from MLive. This summary is limited to facts confirmed in recovered coverage of the same event.
MLive was among the outlets covering the nine finalists in Western Michigan University’s inaugural Cultivate 269 competition. Because the MLive article body could not be recovered, this summary is limited to facts independently confirmed by WMUK, WMU News and the Western Herald. The competition drew 49 applications from students across the university.
Four finalists advanced through a campus vote and five were selected by judges, creating a field of nine student ventures. More than 2,000 students participated in the public vote. The finalists were preparing for an April 10 pitch night at the WMU Student Center.
A judges’ selection would receive $75,000 and the top public-vote pitch would receive $25,000. Kalamazoo Forward Ventures presented Cultivate 269 with Western Michigan University.