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.
