What if Grand Rapids could help you live a longer, happier life? The city you live in has the ability to impact your health. The communities we create can increase your quality of life and lower your health care costs.  

When Siliconature Corp. examined potential sites in West Michigan for its North American headquarters, the company knew finding an existing building that fit its specific needs would be challenging.

GRANDVILLE — Grand River Bank’s parent company has raised $14.4 million in new investor capital to support the firm’s continued growth, MiBiz has learned.

GRAND RAPIDS — One West Michigan electronics manufacturer plans to leverage a recent deal in Europe to further capitalize on the growing electronics manufacturing market.

As a business consulting firm, O’Keefe & Associates Consulting LLC has increasingly seen a need to advise its clients on the best ways to invest in automation equipment. Tim Thompson, the firm’s managing director at its Grand Rapids office, spoke with MiBiz about how investing in automation equipment can affect an organization’s long-term investment strategies.

As executive director of the Kent County Land Bank Authority, David Allen thinks his organization contributes to more affordable housing options in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Legislation requiring doctors to use a state-run drug-monitoring system before prescribing a controlled substance represents the “start of a journey” to address the opioid epidemic in Michigan.

Employment in Michigan’s health care sector grew steadily during the first half of the decade, reaching nearly 588,000 jobs as of 2015 and generating an economic impact of about $35 billion.

MUSKEGON — As a result of the challenging economics of maintaining decades-old coal plants, communities nationwide have wrestled with how to replace lost tax revenue and repurpose large industrial brownfield sites when those facilities close.

Even as West Michigan’s economy continues to improve, its public education system faces considerable uncertainty.

GRAND RAPIDS — The growth of a fund established three years ago by a same-sex couple from Grand Rapids proves there’s interest in addressing issues the LGBT community faces in West Michigan.

The new head of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Michigan office believes lending should continue to grow, even as volumes for the agency’s federally backed loans keep moving upward.

Heralded by backers as a novel way for in-state businesses to raise capital, 2014’s Michigan Invests Locally Exemption (MILE) Act came with great promise.

As Neil Brown and Wade Thompson considered acquiring Central Interconnect Inc. late last year, they found themselves interested in the opportunity the company presented.

Over the past decade, many small business owners put off expansions or capital equipment purchases for as long as they could.

As the co-owners of Zeeland-based trucking, warehousing and logistics firm Inontime Inc., Jon Lanning and business partner Eric Bruins have tried to build a culture based on trust and entrepreneurship, where every one of the more than 300 employees has a sense of ownership. That culture earned the two executives the Small Business People of the Year honor for the state of Michigan, as awarded by the U.S. Small Business Association. Lanning spoke with MiBiz about the role culture played in enabling growth for the company that has annual revenues in excess of $25 million, and how the general business climate affects small business executives.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for May 15, 2017: 

• M&A: Muskegon-based KL Outdoor LLC will add a bevvy of new products to its business through a recent merger with GSC Technologies Corp., a Montreal-based manufacturer of kayaks and other plastic products. About three months ago, KL Outdoor — a manufacturer of kayaks, paddleboards and other watercraft — was purchased by New Water Capital LP, a private equity firm based in Boca Raton, Fla. The private equity firm plans to wrap GSC Technologies under the KL Outdoor brand, according to Dan Harris, vice president of sales at KL Outdoor. Harris expects the merger to expand KL Outdoor’s product offerings, as GSC manufactures a variety of products including outdoor furniture, totes and other related products.