DHRUV PATEL

The Michigan Municipal League on Wednesday announced a free platform that will use artificial intelligence to simplify access to state and federal grant funding.

MIFunding.Hub.org features a searchable database of current grant opportunities, a grant-basics toolkit and a monthly newsletter, MML said in a news release.

The centralized AI-powered state grant system was launched in partnership with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and with Syncurrent, a Marquette-based government technology company founded in 2022.

The site is accessible to municipalities, nonprofits, tribal government and other community organizations. Users can identify relevant funding by category and timeframe and request personalized support through a help desk.

MI Funding Hub also offer webinars, technical assistance and a library of curated resources. It’s meant to help users track and apply for state and federal grants to help improve infrastructure, enhance affordable housing, or make other community investments.

“Navigating public funding shouldn’t require a full-time grant writer,” said Jonathan Smith, senior chief deputy director of Labor and Economic Opportunity, or LEO. “This collaboration brings the best of public service and Michigan-grown innovation together to help local leaders focus less on navigating bureaucracy and more on building stronger, more resilient places.”

Shana Draheim, MML director of Policy Research Labs, said Michigan is among only a few states to offer a centralized, public-facing grant hub to local and tribal governments. “But having the most up to date and relevant grant information has been a challenge,” Draheim said. “To maximize impact, MI Funding Hub needed Syncurrent’s government-wide framework, as it shortens the grant identification process from months to minutes.”

According to MML, more than a hundred small governments in the U.S. have started using Syncurrent’s platform to pull from first-source grant data across federal and state agency websites and databases.

“We celebrate MI-LEO and MML for recognizing the challenges local and tribal governments face when accessing this type of funding,” said Dhruv C. Patel, Syncurrent CEO and co-founder.

Syncurrent became the first AI startup to secure grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development when it obtained a Rural Business-Cooperative Service Agreement, according to the news release.

Questions about the program can be directed to Draheim at sdraheim@mml.org.

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Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.