My Freakin’ Pizza gets $25K boost from state

STURGIS – A Sturgis restaurant is one of more than 30 recipients of a state-issued grant to support small businesses.

A $25,000 award was issued to My Freakin’ Pizza, a downtown eatery that opened in May. Malinda and Christopher Merrill, who own My Freakin’ Pizza, submitted a grant request in hopes of securing funding to help offset the cost of a new pizza oven.

Malinda Merrill said the $25,000 was a godsend.

“At the time we applied for the grant – it was even before we opened and we had Mike’s Pizza’s old oven – we wanted to get a new oven,” she said. “We’re very thankful because the grant helps offset the cost of our new oven.”

Merrill said the store’s new, two-level oven cost $34,000. Though the new-oven purchase exhausted the $25,000 grant, Merrill said My Freakin’ Pizza still used its own funds to secure an updated point-of-sale system. It also has another potential development.

“We want to develop a kids’ section, a place where there is a little play area where they can make pretend pizzas,” she said. “We’re trying to work with a local senior home to see if some of their residents could sew pretend toppings for the pretend pizzas.”

My Freakin’ Pizza is located at 105 W. Chicago Road. Merrill said she and her husband are working on bringing their other business, Freakin’ Sweets ice cream shop, under the same roof. Moving Freakin’ Sweets, however, remains a work in progress.

The $25,000 grant was issued through Michigan Economic Development Corporation and its Match on Main Street program. According to a media release, Match on Main serves as a tool to support new or expanding businesses as they seek to launch and grow in core downtown areas and commercial districts.

It issued a total of almost $750,000 to 31 small businesses across the state. According to the media release, $25,000 was the maximum amount issued per business. In all, 113 requests from 80 different communities were fielded.

Other area recipients included Branch County Coalition Against Domestic Violence and its Hope Café ($20,278), and the Be Hyve Collective in Cassopolis ($25,000).

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: My Freakin’ Pizza gets $25K boost from state