At just 21 years old, Jamauri Bogan realized his football career at Western Michigan University was coming to an end. He assessed his options and sought counsel by reaching out to the Michigan SBDC, where he met business consultant John Schmitt. 

One of Jamauri’s first interactions with John was pretty pointed: “There’s no entrepreneurship framework here in Kalamazoo – why shouldn’t I just go back to New Jersey?” John’s answer: “You’ve just answered your own question. You create the entrepreneurship framework.” Jamarui accepted the challenge, and now walks and talks it every day of his life.

Jamauri founded Bogan Developments, a real estate development company focused on uplifting the living standard of children, families, and individuals by providing affordable and workforce housing in urban communities to households making below 120% of average median income. “We noticed that urban communities lack basic amenities, like an early learning center. We changed that by building a YMCA early learning center in our very first building project,” said Jamauri.

Jamauri explained, “I was a young driven developer of color in a business that looks a lot different than that. There were unique opportunities that showed up at my front door that I had to figure out how to navigate. I was fortunate to have a plethora of great mentors, including the Michigan SBDC’s amazing John Schmitt, who helped guide me through some tough storms that every entrepreneur goes through in their startup phase. Thank you to the Michigan SBDC for your relationship, your partnership and what you mean to our community here locally and statewide.”

John added, “I like to tell everyone that I’ve got the best job in the world, and partly it’s because Jamari is a shining example of that. He has taught me more about life and really more about business than I think maybe I’ve helped him. Jamauri is a unique individual, and somebody that we’re very lucky in Kalamazoo to have,” said John.