Model D Media has a nice little feature up this week about Mexicantown Mercado, which is a project the Trust Fund helped make a reality through our economic development loan program.

Here are the highlights from the story:

Six months after opening, the 13,000-square-foot Mexicantown Mercado has already begun to fulfill its promise as a culture and business incubator.

Two of the current Mercado tenants are jewelry stores. The Jewelry Center sells silver and gold from Mexico, Italy and Los Angeles and Maya's Jewelry features silver mined from Guanajuato, Mexico.

Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, the developer and manager of the Mercado, is currently negotiating with another potential tenant that would collaborate with the organization in selling Mexican imports.

Another space will be reserved as the GM Gallery, featuring rotating exhibits that will help draw visitors to the Mercado. There is also space designed for a restaurant.

This leaves space for five additional vendors -- one of the spaces is 700 square feet and four are 320. The larger leases for $1,200 per month and the smaller, $710. Interested entrepreneurs should contact Myrna Segura, the manager of the business incubator, at 313-967-9898.

It's always great to see former borrowers like Mexicantown CDC doing such great work throughout the state. The organization was formed in 1989, and its goals and programs include:

1) Promotion of the Mexicantown restaurant, shopping, and cultural district to audiences across southeastern Michigan;

2) Cultural programs and activities that educate and enrich the lives of residents of the neighborhood and the southeast Michigan region;

3) Physical improvements and maintenance in the Mexicantown district - including parks and streetscapes;

4) Entrepreneurial training and incubation to increase the economic self-sufficiency of neighborhood residents

5) Reuse of vacant land and development of the Mexicantown International Welcome Center and Mercado.

We wish everyone at Mexicantown CDC luck with the Mercado project, and look forward to collaborating with them in the future.