Making a difference
Jack Frost of Northern Initiatives works with small businesses and entrepreneurs to help advance and connect rural economies and their communities.
As the former regional president of a prominent Upper Peninsula bank, Jack Frost said he was drawn to the non-profit world because he wanted to do more.
“I saw what capital could do for largely successful companies and entrepreneurs,” said Frost, who now serves as Vice President of Lending for Northern Initiatives. “I wanted to make a difference in the lives of everyday people, instead of the people who I felt didn’t need the money as much.”
That’s why he joined Northern Initiatives, a private non-profit community development corporation that provides small rural businesses in Michigan with access to capital, information and markets. With the help of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Northern Initiatives has been working to engage rural Michigan communities, families and youth to actively participate in defining their future by identifying and supporting high potential businesses.
Through services like business coaching, data and market analysis and business systems development, Frost said the organization aims to not only boost business and economic growth, but also to strengthen the well-being of families and children in communities across the state.
“I believe in a Michigan where families prosper and children have opportunities for education and to be healthy and to just go out and have fun and be kids,” Frost said.
