The 2026 MYPros Community Crowdfund recipient is Live Oak Coffeehouse, specifically for a project called Little Midland — a children's play space in the loft above their Ashman Street Midtown location. The campaign is running on Patronicity with a goal of $25,000, a deadline of May 1, 2026, and $35,000 in MACF matching funds at stake.
There's a lot worth understanding about this selection. Let's go through it.
Live Oak is not a scrappy local startup. At the time of its 2026 crowdfund selection, it operates five locations: two in Midland (the Midtown Ashman Street location and the Eastside location on Abbott Road, formerly Grove Tea Lounge), plus locations in Bay City, Saginaw, and Freeland. It employs over 65 people and operates a roastery with wholesale partnerships.
It is a successful, multi-location regional business. That's not a disqualification from the crowdfund program — the program's eligibility criteria don't specify business size. But it does raise the question of whether a five-location chain is the kind of business the community crowdfund was designed to support.
The crowdfund project — Little Midland — was already operational and generating revenue at the time of selection. The Patronicity campaign page and Live Oak's own booking system showed private playdate rentals at $40 per 90-minute session, with add-on fees for additional children, chair rentals ($5-$9.40), table rentals ($8.50), and Ping-Pong add-ons. The community was asked to crowdfund $25,000 for an expansion of a business amenity that was already charging admission.
This is documented in published sources. The 2025 MYPros pitch competition was held on June 18, 2025. Three finalists pitched: Crepes Et Amis/Iron Dame (won), Live Oak/Little Midland (did not win), and Salt Spring Ice Cream (did not win).
Live Oak was then selected as the 2026 recipient — pitching what appears to be the same Little Midland concept. No public explanation has been provided by MYPros or the Midland Business Alliance for why a business that competed and lost one year was selected the following year.
Kait Philp, Live Oak's Director of Business, is a confirmed MYPros member listed in the public MBA member directory. Jazz Benitez, Live Oak's Director of Operations, is also a confirmed MYPros member. Both are senior operational leaders at the business — not entry-level employees. Both donated to their own employer's crowdfund campaign (Philp $100, Benitez $50).
Live Oak has hosted official MYPros PerkUp morning networking events. The business that won the crowdfund is also the venue where the crowdfund organizers network monthly. This is a small community and overlap is inevitable — but it adds to the pattern of closeness between selector and recipient.
The public donor list for the 2026 campaign includes several notable names beyond the Live Oak employees:
The insider network is visibly participating in the campaign it selected. That's worth noting.