At the first Tsunami Lab graduation, keynote speaker Michael Davenport offered a simple way to think about the people who help a business succeed.

Davenport, president and CEO of Jireh Metal Products, described three types of workers: those who give roughly 30 hours to a 40-hour job; those who give the expected 40; and the “50/40” employees who consistently take the extra step. His message to the graduates was to recognize those people and surround themselves with a team willing to go beyond what is required.

For the 13 members of Tsunami Lab’s inaugural cohort, the message arrived at a fitting moment. After 16 weeks spent learning how to evaluate, purchase and eventually operate an established business, they were preparing to move from the classroom into the much more difficult work of becoming owners.

Kalamazoo Forward Ventures celebrated the cohort Thursday, July 30, at Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Texas Township Campus. The graduation marked the completion of the first Tsunami Lab, an entrepreneurship through acquisition accelerator created to prepare local operators to purchase businesses from owners approaching retirement.

Davenport’s presence also connected the evening’s lessons to a real ownership transition. He became president and CEO of Jireh after a local investor group acquired the second-generation manufacturing business in 2015. The company retained its employees through the transition, while its previous owner remained involved in developing customer relationships.

 

A different path into entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is often associated with starting from nothing: developing an idea, finding the first customers and slowly building revenue.

Tsunami Lab introduced its participants to another path.

Entrepreneurship through acquisition, commonly called ETA, involves purchasing and operating an existing company. Instead of beginning with an idea and no revenue, an entrepreneur steps into a business that may already have employees, customers, equipment, relationships and a history in the community.

The model is becoming increasingly important as longtime business owners approach retirement. Without a family member, employee or outside buyer prepared to take over, an otherwise healthy company can face an uncertain future.

Marcel Fable Price, director of platform and programming for Main Street at Kalamazoo Forward Ventures, said many owners do not realize selling their businesses is a realistic option.

“Most people don’t even realize that they can sell these companies,” Price said. “And they don’t realize that there are local people who would be proud to take over these companies, who want to keep their legacies alive.”

That local interest became clear when Tsunami Lab opened applications. Kalamazoo Forward Ventures received 104 applications before selecting the 13 members of its first cohort.

“We didn’t realize how many dynamic, everyday extraordinary people want to get into acquisition,” Price said. “We had 104 applicants for our first cohort. Having 104 adults who want to spend their nights diving into acquisition is bananas.”

The participants met weekly from April through July through a program developed in partnership with Kalamazoo Valley Community College. The curriculum focused specifically on acquisition, covering business searches, financial due diligence, banking, financing and the work required to transition into an existing operation. Participants also completed field experiences designed to give them a closer look at how established businesses operate.

 

Accessible does not mean simple

For graduate Katie Boertman, the program revealed an ownership path she had not previously considered.

Boertman, founder of Kalamazoo-based marketing consultancy Signal + Story, left the corporate world in January 2025 after a career spanning about 20 years. She knew she wanted to create more impact in her work but did not yet know what that next chapter would look like.

Within six months, she had started two businesses. The experience also showed her how difficult it can be to create a company from the ground up.

“I’d only thought entrepreneurship was just about starting something from scratch, not buying something, acquiring something,” Boertman said.

She discovered Tsunami Lab after reading about the Silver Tsunami and seeing Price share the application on LinkedIn.

For Boertman, one lesson summarized the entire experience.

“The most valuable thing I learned is that acquisition is accessible, but it’s not simple,” she said. “There are ways for just about anyone to be able to acquire a business through creative financing and getting your team together, but you have to do an incredible amount of due diligence and get the right team together from the beginning. But it is doable.”

That distinction is central to the program. Buying an existing business provides advantages, including immediate customers and cash flow, but it also requires a buyer to understand financial statements, assess risk, secure funding and prepare to lead an existing team.

It also requires an understanding of what the transaction means to the person selling.

Price said one investor who attended the graduates’ final capstone presentations had previously sold a significant business. What stood out to him was that 11 of the 13 participants addressed the emotional impact the sale could have on the owner.

“Out of the 13 people who graduated, 11 of them talked about the emotional toll that this journey would take on the people who were selling to them,” Price said.

For many longtime owners, a business represents much more than a financial asset.

“Their identities are shaped by their businesses,” Price said. “Taking over these businesses isn’t for the faint of heart.”

The next owner inherits more than a building, customer list or balance sheet. That person may also inherit decades of relationships, an established workplace culture and a name closely connected to the seller and the community.

 

Keeping ownership and opportunity local

Boertman and her husband moved to Kalamazoo about seven years ago after previously living in Nashville and Denver. She said the sense of community they found here was immediate.

“Kalamazoo is very, very special and really special to us,” Boertman said. “We want to, again, keep the economics here as strong as possible and then also to be able to give back to the community.”

Her long-term goal is to build a portfolio of businesses that creates opportunities for her family while allowing them to reinvest in Kalamazoo.

“My goal is to get a portfolio of businesses and create kind of an economic engine for myself and my husband that we can give back to Kalamazoo because we love living here so much,” she said. “And ETA is probably the quickest way to do that.”

For Dwayne Powell Jr., chief operating officer and managing partner of Main Street at Kalamazoo Forward Ventures, the graduation showed what can happen when education, investment and community relationships come together around a shared challenge.

“This is Kalamazoo at its finest,” Powell said. “That’s the heartbeat of Kalamazoo.”

The program brought together instructors, business leaders, investors, financial professionals and other partners to support the cohort. Powell said the result was not simply a group of participants who knew more about acquisitions. They left believing ownership was possible.

“Many of the graduates have already said that they were learning what it was and what it is, but now they believe and know they can do it,” Powell said. “That’s what we’ve done. We’ve not only educated, but we’ve inspired them, and they know they have the support of West Michigan to accomplish their goals.”

 

Bringing the right people together

Southwest Michigan First has supported the broader effort by helping connect Kalamazoo Forward Ventures with the businesses, entrepreneurs and professional service providers already working across the region.

“Southwest Michigan First has played a huge role,” Price said.

Through its business network and succession-focused events, Southwest Michigan First has helped bring owners into conversations with brokers, bankers, lenders, investors and other professionals who may be needed to complete a transition.

“The people who are getting ready to sunset these businesses and possibly transition these businesses, these are the people who are in their portfolios,” Price said. “So that connection is invaluable.”

Southwest Michigan First and Kalamazoo Forward Ventures are also partnering on programming focused on business succession, including discussions about the regional data and economic trends surrounding retiring ownership. Those conversations help build awareness among owners while creating connections with potential buyers and the professionals needed to bring both sides together.

For Price, the willingness to try a different model is an important part of the partnership.

“I think what I want to commend them on even more is being willing to do something different,” he said. “For people to keep pushing the boundaries of what something can be, it makes me excited to be here.”

 

The work starts now

Graduation does not mean the 13 participants have completed business acquisitions. It means they are better prepared to begin looking for the right opportunities.

“We have 13 people who are looking to acquire legacy businesses in Southwest Michigan,” Price said.

The next stage will require continued relationships with business brokers, banks, accountants, attorneys, investors and owners considering a sale. Kalamazoo Forward Ventures will also work to understand what industries interest each graduate and connect them with businesses that may be a good fit.

Boertman has already begun assembling the professional team she will need.

“The next step for me is I am in the process of getting my acquisition team together,” she said. “I am going out and meeting with a lot of bankers and CPAs and lawyers and trying to find the right people who can walk with me on this journey.”

Powell described graduation not as the conclusion of Tsunami Lab, but as the point when its larger purpose begins to take shape.

“After tonight, the continued work starts,” he said.

The graduates will continue working with brokers, accountants and other professionals while Kalamazoo Forward Ventures helps connect their talent with potential opportunities.

The graduation celebrated 13 people completing a program. The larger measure of its impact will come next: when prepared local buyers find the right businesses, retiring owners find people they trust and companies built over decades are given the opportunity to begin a new chapter without leaving the community behind.

 

About Kalamazoo Forward Ventures

Kalamazoo Forward Ventures is a $50 million, Black-founded investment firm based in Kalamazoo with investments across Michigan. The firm invests in Main Street businesses, real estate and venture capital while working to build community wealth and expand local ownership. Through programs including Tsunami Lab, Kalamazoo Forward Ventures prepares entrepreneurs to acquire and operate established businesses, helping preserve local jobs, ownership and business legacies.

About Southwest Michigan First

Southwest Michigan First is a regional economic development organization working to support business growth, attract investment and create opportunities across Southwest Michigan. Through business retention, expansion, talent development and regional partnerships, the organization connects companies and entrepreneurs with the people, resources and relationships needed to grow.