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Michigan UIA does not offer any Self Employment Programs

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) does not currently provide any small business start-up assistance or training. The UIA does help qualifying applicants to find appropriate funding to attend trade schools. The funding for potential students to attend these schools is generally provided by the federal government and not the State of Michigan. However, the UIA can help potential students in obtaining the funding and can give valuable information about local schools and the processes involved in applying to take classes. Some of these classes can lead students to creating their own small businesses.

The federal government currently does not provide any grants for small business development to individuals. The federal government does however provide these funds to state governments. The contact information listed above is your best shot at getting in touch with the state programs available in Michigan.

The Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center has all the information you need to apply for state resources and grants for small business development. You can call 1 (877)-873-4567 or visit www.gvsu.edu/misbtdc/ for more information. Another site that offers information to those looking to create small businesses in Michigan is www.business.gov/states/michigan/assistance.html; here you will find links to external sources with information on legally building your business. You will also find information on obtaining the necessary funding for your business and building marketing strategies to reach potential customers.

Taking advantage of the global transformation to clean energy and green jobs could make small businesses going into this field more attractive to lenders and state agencies looking to dish out funding. Solar technology and wind technology can be very attractive to state governments looking to curb pollution and create jobs at the same time. Small business loans and other sources of funding like tax breaks and grants are available to states for the sole purpose of creating these types of industries and the states have to use the money for this purpose.

In addition to state funding, many private lenders can help small businesses obtain loans. Most of these loans are backed by the federal government and are available to anyone with a good business plan. Information about these loans is available at www.sba.gov and www.business.gov.

There are several ways for you to file for unemployment insurance in the state of Michigan, once you’ve lost your job. The thing that you need to remember is to file for unemployment insurance compensation in Michigan as soon as possible after finding out that you’re going to be displaced in your employment so that you don’t lose possible benefits or money.

As soon as you are given notice that you will be unemployed, begin to gather the information that you’re going to need to file, such as the pink slip, your social security number, the name and address of your employer and your earnings statements.

When you are displaced, wait any waiting time that you must wait and file immediately for your Michigan unemployment insurance. Doing so will assure that you don’t lose any of the days to which you are entitled to compensation.

To file for unemployment in Michigan, you may file either in person, over the telephone or by filing directly online on the Michigan web site for Unemployment.

The best, and probably the faster way for you to file will be online, as it saves travel, time and paper work in the long run. The online filing will also make things easier for the Unemployment office as well so your checks may actually begin to arrive more quickly.

The Michigan unemployment web sit, located at http://www.michigan.gov/uia/

Offers you all of the forms that you need to file online. It gives you the necessary documents and helps you to answer the questions that need answers, and when you’ve clicked the submit button, will take you to another page, giving you verification that your unemployment claim in Michigan has been filed.

Weekly certifications are far more easily accomplished online as well, by offering proof that you were eligible for work, didn’t turn down work and where you applied for work during your past week.

If you select filing for your unemployment over the telephone, you may phone the Michigan Unemployment office to file your claim by filing between 9 and 12:30 or between 1 and 4:30 on weekdays at the following phone number.

+18663660004.

Your last option for filing for Unemployment insurance in Michigan will be to file in person at the Michigan unemployment office, most of which are listed for you on the Michigan unemployment insurance web site. While you may wait a while in a line, if you don’t have a computer or access to one, it may be the method of choice for you.

The UIA will be using your standard base period to determine if your income allows you to obtain unemployment benefits. The standard includes the base period of the first four of the last five completed quarters before you filed your claim. The four quarters in a year:

January-March, April-June, July to September and October to December.
If you can not qualify in terms of its standard base period, the UIA will verify their income on
“Substitute” base period, the most recent four quarters ended.
There are two ways in which their income can qualify for unemployment uia benefits:

The four calendar quarters in a year are:
January – March, April – June, July – September and October – December.
If you cannot qualify based on your standard base period, the UIA will check your earnings in the “alternate” base period, which is the four most recently completed calendar quarters.
There are two ways in which your earnings may qualify you for unemployment benefits:
• “Regular” qualifying method: (a) For benefit years beginning January 4, 2009, and after,
you must have wages in at least two quarters in your base period. In one quarter, your wages
must be at least $2,871; and (b) total wages for all four quarters must equal at least one and a
half times the highest amount of wages paid in any quarter of the base period. ($2,871 x 1.5 =
$4,306.50)
OR
• Alternate Earnings Qualifier (AEQ): (a) You must have wages in at least two quarters; and
(b) total wages for all four quarters must equal at least 20 times the state average weekly wage
(SAWW). For 2009, the AEQ amount is $16,695.80. [20 x $834.79 (SAWW) = $16,695.80]