The Michigan Senate passed a package of bills today that would allow municipalities to award a range of tax incentives to developers for affordable housing projects. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The city’s Local Development Finance Authority has recommended that Start Garden Inc. and Spartan Innovations L3C administer the Grand Rapids SmartZone business incubator through a collaborative approach.  

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters is trying to stop proposed federal changes that would take away the metropolitan area status and jeopardize crucial federal funding for six Michigan communities.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Right Place Inc. has published a new digital database of businesses owned by people of color, women, veterans and people in the LGBTQ community operating in a 13-county region of West Michigan. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Glass fabricator and installer Vos Glass LLC is planning to relocate within the city of Grand Rapids to accommodate growth and expansion.

NORTON SHORES — Adhesives, sealants and coatings manufacturer Seal Bond Inc. is planning to relocate its operations and headquarters from Spring Lake Township to a new 200,000-square-foot facility in Norton Shores.

GRAND RAPIDS — Cindy Schneider was ready to apply for a small business loan in March 2020 to open a new restaurant in downtown Grand Rapids when COVID-19 put her plans on hold.

Proposed changes to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program administered by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority seek to increase access to the funding tool to communities beyond downtowns and city centers.

WALKER — Two former golf courses in the city of Walker are poised to be redeveloped into large-scale housing projects with a combined total of 757 rental units and 67 single-family homes.

Local officials and affordable housing advocates in Michigan have been vocally opposed to legislation that would make short-term rentals a permitted use in all residential zones.

GRAND RAPIDS — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled a multi-million dollar plan Thursday that targets boosting wages, helping small businesses and providing access to childcare.

West Michigan tourism officials are reporting upward trends in travel and hotel stays as COVID-19 restrictions lift, and leaders are optimistic about the local tourism economy for the rest of the summer.

GRAND RAPIDS — Jill Biden visited Grand Rapids Community College Thursday as part of the Biden administration’s push to partner with community colleges to get students vaccinated against COVID-19.

GRAND RAPIDS — A Detroit-based developer recently acquired three properties near downtown Grand Rapids as part of a larger mixed-use plan to redevelop the former Sligh Furniture Co. building.

Municipalities could lose a significant amount of their authority to regulate short-term rental properties under legislation that was approved Tuesday by a state House committee.

GRAND RAPIDS —The Dwelling Place board of directors has selected Jeremy DeRoo as the nonprofit housing developer’s next CEO.

The lifting of Michigan’s in-person work restrictions is a light at the end of the tunnel for remote workers eager to get back to the office, while others are hoping flexible work settings will stick long term.

GRAND RAPIDS — The lack of affordable housing supply is increasingly important for members of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, which is now helping lead a legislative effort to give municipalities more tools to advance projects. 

GRAND RAPIDS — When Winsome Kirton worked in advertising, she was often disappointed by executives’ uninspired corporate gifts that didn’t match the company’s values. 

When restaurants were forced to change how they did business during the pandemic, Garrick Pohl saw an opportunity to test the market for a curbside service that focused on local small businesses.

GRAND RAPIDS — A year after starting her boutique real estate law firm, Sara Lachman is moving operations to leased office space in an iconic downtown Grand Rapids building.

KALAMAZOO — A grant program launched last year to provide crucial relief to small businesses in Kalamazoo at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic will offer a second round of funding to 90 additional businesses.

Kalamazoo County and the Southcentral Michigan Planning Council are receiving a total of $900,000 in federal grants to assess commercial and industrial brownfield properties.

MUSKEGON — Agri-Med LLC’s three dispensaries — which operate as Park Place Provisionary in Muskegon, Edmore Provisionary in Edmore, and Exit 9 Provisionary in Nunica — will be rebranded and operate as New Standard stores under an agreement announced this week. 

WALKER — The Walker City Commission has approved plans for a new 285,000-square-foot speculative industrial manufacturing building and the creation of an industrial development district on the property.

GRAND RAPIDS — Construction is expected to start next spring at the historic Sligh Furniture Co. factory near downtown on what would be one of the city’s biggest housing developments in recent years.

It’s been a year since social media timelines were filled with Black Lives Matter hashtags, messages of solidarity with people of color, and promises to address racism as organizations responded to the national racial justice movement.