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Spark East located on Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti. SPARK was awarded $190,000 for its work on the eastern side of the county by the Board of Commissioners.

(Patrick Record | The Ann Arbor News)

Nearly $300,000 will be granted from Washtenaw County to organizations working to build and develop Ypsilanti's economy.

The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners gave preliminary approval to a plan for funding from the county's Act 88 millage to be distributed to Growing Hope, the Eastern Michigan University Foundation and Ann Arbor SPARK.

The EMU Foundation will use $68,000 to continue building the LiveYpsi program that incentivizes EMU faculty and staff to purchase homes and live in the City of Ypsilanti.

Growing Hope will receive $37,000 for a variety of programs including Ypsilanti Farmers Markets, the Growing Home Farm Stand, the organizing and marketing of signature food-related events in Ypsilanti and an advertising campaign rolled out for farmers markets across the county.

SPARK's funding will be used for baseline economic development activities as well as job creation initiatives in the 48197 and 48198 zip codes through the SPARK East incubator, real estate incentives and Go Passes, among other programs. The county's economic development agency was awarded $190,000 for its programs on top of the $125,000 earmarked in the initial distribution of Act 88 funding.

The final $100,000 in funding will be distributed between the Ecology Center, the Michigan Land Use Institute and the Michigan State University Extension program. Those organizations will use their funding for 4-H development, an online food and farming database and a study to investigate if a local food purchasing incentive program could help improve opportunities for county farmers.

The board voted 8-1 in its Ways and Means Committee to approve the disbursements, and voted a second time by the same count later in the evening to give the measure final approval.

Act 88 funding comes from a special millage levied across the county that is earmarked for local economic development. According to a memo to the board, money is meant to strategically and meaningfully impact the community through local business expansion and job creation.

In 2015, the millage raised approximately $1 million and about $400,000 of that money will be distributed through a request for proposal process to entities that assist in promoting the growth and development of the local economy.

A committee including United Bank and Trust president Todd Clark and Art Serinski from the Ypsilanti Convention and Visitors Bureau in addition to commissioners Ronnie Peterson, D-Ypsilanti, Alicia Ping, R-Saline, and Conan Smith, D-Ann Arbor was formed to review the proposals and divvy up the available funds.

Ben Freed is a general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2. He also answers the phone at 734-623-2528.