Lansing – After her father passed away in 2023, Ashleigh Rogers and her mother made a trip to Sedona, Arizona.
Rogers, who owned a small internet business of home -made body products that she operated from her Lansing home, was inspired by the landscape and how people lived outside the West.
“We were on this healing journey,” she said. “And I was so inspired by the lasting, holistic way of life that people in the sedons had … This is what inspired me to create the Wanderlust Sedona.”
Expansion in Wanderlust Sedona included more body care products and steadily made clothing, and by December 2023, Rogers said, was approached by Julie Reinhart, Center Development Director for Downtown Lansing Inc.
Rogers joined last year’s group of businesses in the Middle Village, an initial business incubator in the Atrium building in downtown Lansing. It opened in April, but the entrepreneur with a retail store in the incubator lasted four months. Rogers said DLI mismanagement and lack of communication and resources make it impossible.
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t have a business in Lansing after this experience,” she said. “I had to go to therapy to find out I didn’t fail. I got into a failed situation. “
Earlier and existing business owners in the city center say Rogers is not alone. They claim DLI, the quasi-government agency working with city officials, property owners and businessmen to strengthen the business scene in the city center, is not fulfilling some of the promises made to businesses opened in Washington Square, and has overcome the boundaries of his authority.
Some entrepreneurs shared their disappointments with the Lansing City Council earlier this month and detailed why they had to close their businesses.
Cathleen Edgerly, the executive director of DLI, opposes the claims of Rogers and others. She said that while DLI works to set up business owners by acting as a “connector” to resources, ultimately the success of a business depends on the owners.
The DLI mission is to “strengthen and nourish the culture, health and sustainability of our circle in the city center”, and the agency “works together with stakeholders by providing open communication channels, tools to perpetuate our culture and information reliable that strengthen community engagement. “
‘It was very rare that a customer entered’
Faun Donald and Luke Trusnovec, owners of a plant store called Neva Lee, closed several years after moving downtown. They said Reinhardt recruited them in October 2021 to cross their existing store on Kalamazoo road in Washington Square. Reinhardt promised them a grant of approximately $ 25,000 through DLI to help in the move. They got $ 10,000 at the time, with the rest coming “soon”, they said Reinhardt promised. Both say they never received the rest of the money, but were approved and received nearly $ 50,000 from a “completely special grant”, Donald said.
Because the two had received $ 60,000 in total from the grants, DLI was not interested in paying the remaining 15,000 dollars, they said.
The duo say they had also continued problems with the building in which they were located, in the 109 Square S. Washington issues, including construction and maintenance problems, led to a monthly dispute with their owner and because the building was not up to the code , the store could not be opened.
Edgerly said DLI had no way of knowing the state of the building and that the organization did not interfere with communications between business owners and any third parties.
Business owner Elizabeth Krueger of Honey Bun Bakery opposes Reinhardt’s assertion. She said Reinhardt repeatedly put herself in conversations between Krueger and other owners of businesses, banks and owners.
Reinhardt told Krueger that she was eligible for a $ 50,000 reimbursement grant from DLI to 2022, but that money had to be spent first. After applying for a loan at Lake Trust, Krueger’s husband was denied. Krueger said after she told Reinhardt about the problem, Reinhardt called the bank, who signed on the loan.
Edgerly denied anyone with DLI spoke to the bank on behalf of Krueger.
“We are not included in contracts and negotiations between businesses and other third parties,” Edgerly said.
When the Kruegers could not rent a store in Washington Square, Reinhardt recommended that they join the businesses added to the Middle Village incubator in 2023. Small to get a foundation in the city without their shop shop.
Krueger and her husband spent the $ 30,000 they received from the bank for supplies in preparation for their shop, and still expected to pay the promised grant. Reinhardt told the Kruegers that they were no longer eligible for the grant because they did not have an address downtown.
Krueger said the Middle Village was not a good fit for her business. They closed in February 2024 and eventually gave bankruptcy. They still owe the money borrowed from Lake Trust.
Rogers said the middle village had problems. Happy in the atrium building was delayed by construction, and after it was opened, she does not believe she was advertised enough.
“I don’t think people knew we were there,” she said. “It was very rare that a customer entered.”
‘Businesses should do their proper care’
Edgerly said she is proud of the work done by DLI and businesses in Washington Square that are blooming. Since this year, in the center of Lansing there has been a 28% to 30% vacancy rate in the city center.
A comprehensive market analysis took place in the center of Lansing in 2023, with DLI and the board of its directors leading it. They identified 10 retail spaces in the required demand in Washington Square, including a pharmacy and sports and family clothing. Although none of the new businesses meets those needs, Edgerly said it was not her duty to cut off possible businesses from trying to open a store shop.
“We want to be able to exalt all businesses,” she said.
Laurie Lonsdorf, regional director of the capital’s area for the small business development center in Michigan, said it is not a job as a main shopping circle to tell a business owner they should not follow their idea . Instead, she said business owners should be pragmatic and aware of what the market needs.
Lonsdorf said business owners should “think very carefully” before they open and be prepared to do a lot of work on their own. Although organizations like DLI and City City Development authorities in other communities can provide many guidance and resources, it is for the business owner to ask questions and understand whether the tips they are getting is actually helpful.
“Businesses have to take their proper care,” Lonsdorf said. “Have the rent to be reviewed by lawyers, make sure you are aware of all cases, be aware of the conditions of buildings.”
Lonsdorf said that especially since Covid, mastering a business downtown is more difficult than ever before. State workers, who businesses in the city center could once be supported, do not frequent Washington Square so often and there are simply less working downtown due to home work policies.
Cara Nader, the owner of Strange Matter Cafe Shop, who has a location in 331 Washington Square, said she thinks she has succeeded because she was not based on DLI. Like other business owners, she thinks she has a lack of transparency at the agency.
“I think there should be a full adjustment in the way the circle in the city center works,” she said. “We need people with experienced small business … and pay them well to do the job.”
Does Lansing need a DDA?
Lansing chose DLI compared to a development authority in the city center, which is used in many cities of Michigan.
Amy Shamroe is the mayor of the city and she credits the revival of the city of the city in his DDA, which was created in the mid -1990s.
“You can’t imagine not having part of our city government responsible for downtown because of the financing opportunities it offers, and the creation of stability business owners,” Shamroe said. “He also provides accountability.”
Shamroe said that the Traverse City DDA, while not completely useful, requires more an active role in the way businesses enter downtown, and as part of the city government is easier to protect on behalf of the owners of businesses.
“There was a MDOT project that was arranging the roads, and our DDA spoke with them about the inclusion of the wider sidewalks that would help businesses,” she said.
DDAs are largely responsible for promoting economic growth by providing communities the necessary legal, monetary and organizational means to revitalize districts in the city center. In contrast, DLI was created as a major circle of purchases in the 1990s. DDA is largely funded by catching tax increases in a designated area in the city center.
The 2025 DLI budget showed that $ 2.5 million from the expected revenue of its $ 3.3 million came from grants. DLI expects $ 467,000 from the city’s evaluator office, and smaller amounts from the city for business development and maintenance of public spaces.
Shamroe added that DDA works with the office of the city inspector, developers and owners to ensure that buildings are suitable for tenants.
“We don’t want businesses to move to buildings from which they will have to leave,” she said. “This looks bad for the city and the development authority in the city center.”
Traversse City, a widely popular destination in the north of tourism, has a rate of approximately 5% to 10%, Shamroe said. It credits the city’s DDA to create a “welcoming environment” for restaurants and retail.
“I think you should have public trust in DDA,” she said. “I think residents, business owners. Owners should feel like there is responsibility.”
Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com. Follow it to x @sarahmatwood.