Many businesses are grappling with labor issues amid a stay-home order issued by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

BATTLE CREEK — The city of Battle Creek’s economic development agency has doubled its emergency loan fund to $1 million as more small businesses are impacted by the coronavirus. 

Unemployment claims in Michigan have increased 1,500 percent following the widespread closure of food and entertainment businesses to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

GRAND RAPIDS — Spectrum Health is seeking items like face masks and hand sanitizer in light of a national shortage of personal protective equipment for hospital workers and patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

BATTLE CREEK — Battle Creek Unlimited Inc., the economic development arm for the city of Battle Creek, has established a $500,000 emergency small business loan fund in the wake of COVID-19.

Michigan unemployment claims have increased 550 percent since the state ordered service industry businesses to largely close down to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Medical and recreational marijuana businesses are determining how to deliver cannabis to customers after the state’s regulatory agency issued temporary rules to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

GRAND RAPIDS — Following mixed messages from the Grand Rapids City Commission late last month, marijuana advocates hope city officials will ultimately open more properties for medical and recreational facilities.

GRAND RAPIDS — Restaurants and breweries across West Michigan are taking precautions to protect employees and patrons from coronavirus. 

Leigh Schultz, a senior principal attorney in the Kalamazoo office of Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone PLC, has been fielding calls from her clients about what action they need to take regarding COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus.

Retailers serving the outdoor recreation niche say focusing on that specialty has helped them remain viable operations in West Michigan.

Some Grand Rapids residents have never stepped foot in the Grand River. In fact, a very small population of people currently use the river to recreate.

Women entrepreneurs face significant challenges in growing their companies, but there are ways to improve the business environment to make it better. That’s the central theme of a study released by Bank of America and Babson College that identified what entrepreneurs can learn from industry-leading women business owners.

GRAND RAPIDS — Recreational marijuana sales in Grand Rapids are one step closer to reality.

Muskegon County officials are hoping the possible purchase of 377 acres of private land will increase the quality of life and help with talent attraction.

Christina Keller has led family-owned plastic-injection molding manufacturer Cascade Engineering Inc. since 2018. Keller recently spoke at an event focused on women’s leadership and increasing opportunities for women and others in the West Michigan workforce, and detailed the efforts Cascade Engineering has taken to increase diversity and foster an inclusive working environment. A 10-year veteran of Cascade Engineering, Keller spoke with MiBiz about why being inclusive is important for West Michigan businesses that want to keep growing. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Regional economic development firm The Right Place Inc. will focus on new areas of economic opportunity over the next three years.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Grand Rapids Planning Commission postponed talks about allowing recreational marijuana businesses in the city to hold more discussion on separation requirements and other aspects of the ordinance.

Companies working in the marijuana industry are expecting a busy year in 2020, as more licensed businesses open and additional communities begin regulating recreational operations. 

The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce continues to seek out ways to address the persistent talent issues that local companies are facing. Rick Baker, president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Chamber, said the organization is advocating for ways to attract talent at the local and state levels, including by expanding programming in 2020. 

After unseating the two-term incumbent in the November election, Holland Mayor Nathan Bocks got right to work after being sworn into office. Holland is in the midst of several large projects, including brainstorming the framework that will inform the development of its waterfront, increasing affordable housing in the region, considering an anti-discrimination ordinance and rewriting its zoning. All of these projects will move along in 2020, as Bocks and city officials also keep an eye on the economy.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) has agreed to pay $5.5 million to resolve allegations that it failed to disclose on federal grant applications that Chinese government grants that funded two of its researchers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.

After a deposition leaked in the racial discrimination lawsuit filed against Grand Rapids-based Founders Brewing Co., the brewery again made national headlines when Graci Harkema, its diversity and inclusion director, publicly resigned after less than a year in the position. Founders went on to settle the lawsuit, although the case has remained a topic of conversation in the craft beer industry. Meanwhile, Harkema has started her own business, Graci LLC, to focus on sharing diversity and inclusion best practices within the adult beverage industry.

Plainfield and Algoma townships have reached a tentative $69.5 million settlement in the case filed by the state of Michigan against Rockford-based Wolverine World Wide Inc. over PFAS contamination.

GRAND RAPIDS — As the state Legislature continues budget talks, West Michigan economic development executives remain concerned about a $26 million cut to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. budget.

Just more than a year into his presidency at Central Michigan University, Bob Davies has embarked on an ambitious 10-year strategic plan that outlines the vision for where the school needs to be by 2030. He said he initiated the effort in response to challenges CMU and other universities face in the current social, political and economic landscape. Davies sat down with MiBiz to talk about his time with the university thus far, how its students fit into the workforce and his goals for the future sustainability of CMU.

A popular Grand Rapids brewery learned the hard way that focusing on winning a lawsuit can cost a company in other tangible ways if it loses first in the court of public opinion. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Faced with multiple departures from leadership positions at the city of Grand Rapids, City Manager Mark Washington wants to avoid being “hasty” about hiring replacements.

HOLLAND — Last year, travelers from all 50 states and 47 countries stopped into the Holland Area Visitors Bureau while visiting the city. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The owner of Anna’s House restaurant has voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against the Meritage Hospitality Group over its newly-opened Morning Belle restaurant.