The Michigan Black Business Alliance brought Base Builder Labs in as a vetted technical assistance provider for their Biz Wiz program. The Biz Wiz program delivers hands-on branding strategy and business operations support directly to Black business owners statewide.

The situation

MBBA's Biz Wiz program was built to give Black-owned businesses subsidized access to professional services a meaningful intervention in an ecosystem where quality support is often out of reach. The program worked. But as demand grew, MBBA faced a capacity problem: they didn't have enough qualified technical assistance providers within their network to serve their members at the level they needed.

The gap wasn't in intent or funding it was in the provider bench. MBBA needed partners who could show up with real expertise, work directly with business owners, and deliver tangible outcomes that moved businesses forward. That's where Base Builder Labs came in.

The Engagement

MBBA needed providers who could do more than fill a seat. We built brand foundations for their members from the ground up logo direction, color systems, typography, tone of voice, mission and values. Every guide was built around the specific business, not pulled from a template.

Throughout the engagement we coordinated directly with MBBA's program team getting approval before each session and delivering completed brand guides that fed back into their reporting every time.

What we delivered

Every business owner we worked with walked away with a complete brand guide logo direction, color system, typography, tone of voice, and mission and values all in one place. Something they could hand to a designer, a printer, or a new team member and say: this is who we are.

Closing

For a lot of these business owners, this was their first time having a real brand. That moment matters. Access to subsidized services only closes the wealth gap if the services are actually good. That's the bar we hold ourselves to every time.