Michigan Taxpayers Funding Jimmy John’s Location Under Whitmer

The City of Petoskey just scored a $315,000 brownfield redevelopment grant from Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). The money will clean up a contaminated lot on Mitchell Street, once home to gas pumps and grease-stained repair bays. The replacement? Not affordable housing. Not a local entrepreneur’s fresh idea. Nope. It’s a Jimmy John’s franchise.

“Economic development” in this case appears to have come in the form of slathering taxpayer dollars on a national sandwich chain. Critics on X aren’t exactly hungry for this deal. “Why are we funding this?” asks a commenter on social media after learning about the grant. Another says, “I want a government that spends my tax dollars for the people not corporate or franchise owners. Seriously what is wrong Lansing?”

Petoskey-based author and political figure Izzy Lyman brought the grant to the attention of her folders on X by posting about the grant and saying, “MI taxpayers forced to subsidize a low-quality sandwich franchise.” Independent journalist Dave Bondy chimed in saying, “So they’re picking winners and losers? What about restaurants across the state that need help as well. What about the thousands of restaurants that were closed because of Covid lockdowns.”

Pickles on the side – and Subway across the street.
Here’s the kicker: the shiny new Jimmy John’s will basically sit across the road from another sandwich chain – a Subway. That’s right – your tax dollars are funding a sandwich turf war.

Half-baked promises.
State officials, however, paint a very different picture of the deal. EGLE insists the brownfield program reduces environmental risks while boosting local investment. The $1 million project promises 30 jobs and a polished new storefront by fall 2026. Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) offers Brownfield Program grants to help clean up and bring new life to polluted, rundown, or abandoned properties.