First National Bank & Trust is proud to announce it has secured $10,000 grants for Proformance Pros LLC and Kopach Filters LLC through the 2025 Elevate Small Business Grant (“Elevate”) program from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis.
Wes Stripling, Community Bank President for the Menominee market, was honored to present both entities with the grants. “Menominee is a small community. Every business is important to the economics and we are pleased to help this year’s recipients grow.”
Elevate Small Business Grants are awarded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis through its member financial institutions. Member institutions apply for the grant on behalf of their small business customers, and eligible applications are awarded up to $20,000 in funds to support the growth and development of small businesses across Indiana and Michigan.
According to Randy Kleikamp, owner of Proformance Pros LLC, the funds will be used for major computer/server upgrades to help streamline production and sales. What started out as a one-man operation in 2001 is now known internationally as the one of the sport’s most innovative custom product manufacturers and is a leading supplier of specialized high-performance parts. They supply everything from lug nuts to motors and chassis for tractor/truck pulling, monster trucks, mud drags and even your everyday truck.
Proformance Pros customers continue to win at every level of the sport using Proformace Pro’s custom designs, engineering expertise and experience in the sport. Randy and his team of eight employees are all active in the Carney/Menominee communities and were grateful to receive the grant. More information about the business can be found at www.proformancepros.com.
Kopach Filters is located in Wallace, MI and is owned by Don Kolehmainen. Don saw a need when the local filter plant closed in 2006. After a few years of research and planning, this family-owned business created their own shop vac filters hoping to bring some of those jobs back to their community. Their company manufactures replacement filters for both Craftsman and Ridgid wet/dry vacs and are 100% made in the USA by US Citizens and Veterans.
They currently offer their products through Amazon.com, ebay and their website www.kopachfilter.com. The grant money was used to help them purchase fine particle filtration media in bulk which helped to offset rising material and freight and provided continuity of production. This media is essential to their production and allows them to offer a superior long-lasting filter enhancing customer safety (catches smaller particles) and extending vacuum motor life.
Elevate is available annually through participating member financial institutions of FHLBank Indianapolis. FHLBank Indianapolis does not award funds directly to small businesses; business owners who are interested in the program must work with a participating member financial institution to access grant funds.
Eligible businesses must be headquartered in Indiana or Michigan, have been in continuous operation for at least one year and earn less than $1M in annual gross revenue. Full program requirements can be found at http://www.fhlbi.com/elevate. In 2025, FHLBank Indianapolis committed $3M in funds for the program.
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