The Starting Block, Inc. (SBI) just celebrated their fifth anniversary as West Michigan's regional kitchen incubator and entrepreneurial center. SBI has assisted 59 new businesses in preparing for and receiving Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD) licenses to produce food products for sale in the marketplace.

Working with SBI, under the guidance of Michigan State University (MSU) Product Center, recipes have been produced, packaged and labeled for sale. Many new jobs have been created and businesses are growing with the help of the Starting Block. Every day there are phone calls from people who want to follow their dreams to become an entrepreneur and get "how to" information from the Starting Block.