Bonnie Gabriel’s work strengthening small businesses in West Michigan

By Chidalu Nnorukah, Matthew Studier and Tabassum Sayeka Tarannum

This story was produced by a collaborative team of students from the Community-Engaged Digital Storytelling (CEDST) Lab at Western Michigan University. It is part of the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative‘s equitable community development reporting project in partnership with Second Wave’s Momentum series, with support from Southwest Michigan First.

Bonnie Gabriel didn’t arrive at small-business advocacy through a straight path. After nearly two decades in corporate finance, a layoff pushed her toward teaching and eventually into community-focused work at Western Michigan University. 

Today, as regional director of the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Southwest Region, she helps entrepreneurs start, survive, and grow businesses across West Michigan, often at the moments when uncertainty feels overwhelming.

The SBDC operates as a bridge between small businesses and the resources they rarely have access to on their own. Funded primarily through the federal government and hosted at WMU, the center offers no-cost consulting, training, and tools from business planning and financial modeling to marketing, HR, and technology commercialization. 

“If you don’t know where to start,” Gabriel explains, “you’re paired with a consultant who walks the journey with you, provides you with some materials, and gets you our training for free”. 

These services extend beyond startups. “If you are an existing business looking to grow,” Gabriel explains, “we can assist you to grow. We have a variety of tools we can provide, and we have a great tech team. We can help with patent search and tech commercialization.” The goal is not just to launch, but to help small businesses survive past their first few years.

For Gabriel, the importance of small businesses goes far beyond economics. In Michigan, nearly all businesses fall into the “small” category, and for every dollar spent locally, about 67 cents stays in the local economy. 

“It is important to keep the Kalamazoo economy going,” she says. “We help small businesses with their business plans, their financials, their marketing, social media, and HR so they can get established, get on the right footing, and grow. We want to support these businesses so that they can grow and thrive in our local community.” 

She emphasizes that SBDC’s value is also cultural and social. Small businesses help build connections, create memories, and empower young minds, roles that big corporations rarely fill. “Small businesses are the fabric of our local community. They are the ones that support the soccer team, get the first jobs for the kids who are in high school. You don’t see Amazon sponsoring the local baseball team or anything like that,” says Gabriel. “You are not going to get that from Amazon; they just drop your package and go,” she added. 

Just as small businesses are important to local communities, the communities are equally vital to small businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic made that relationship very clear. “So many restaurants had to rely on customers coming in for takeouts,” says Gabriel. “Small businesses that made it through realized that the community is also there for them as much as they are there for the community.” She added. 

According to Gabriel, the current economic uncertainty mirrors the COVID-19 pandemic, when businesses shut their doors.  Many survived only because of existing relationships with customers who ordered takeout, supported online sales, or simply refused to let local places disappear.  The crisis forced owners to rethink supply chains, finances, and operations. 

“Right now, small businesses are going through similar experiences with the economy. There is some tightening of markets, the tariffs, and consumer spending. Small businesses need to lean into their financials and examine what they have got going on to make sure that if there are some lean times ahead, they are ready for them,” Gabriel explains.  SBDC provides small businesses with the support and guidance they need, especially with the current economic climate.

Today, small businesses are again navigating uncertainty, tight markets, rising costs, staffing shortages, and shifting consumer habits, with restaurants facing the most volatility. Yet Gabriel remains optimistic, arguing that resilience comes from preparation, community ties, and access to the right support.