Displaying items tagged: COVID19

A new $409 million state grant program will be available starting March 1 for Michigan businesses that experienced financial hardship as a result of state-ordered shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The ongoing high demand for care both from people ill with COVID-19 and non-COVID patients who have delayed procedures has some West Michigan hospitals nearing capacity.

ALLEGAN — Perrigo Co. plc’s CEO says business has rebounded well after taking a hit in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, although a “historically weak cough/cold season” dampened quarterly sales growth.

GRAND RAPIDS — Eligible small businesses located on the west and south sides of Grand Rapids can soon apply for grants of up to $10,000 to help mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Michigan is the latest state to offer a lottery-style incentive for residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine under a new partnership with Meijer Inc. and the Michigan Association of United Ways.

Michigan residents will no longer have to contend with COVID-19 gathering and masking restrictions beginning next week.

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

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.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has announced “slimmed down” COVID-19 emergency safety rules that begin to ease workplace restrictions and guidelines for employers.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders cut a deal Thursday that includes withdrawing proposed permanent COVID-19 workplace safety rules.

Business advocates welcomed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s move to begin easing state COVID-19 restrictions on activities beginning next month. Restrictions on all outdoor activities expire June 1 and capacity limits on indoor gatherings double to 50 percent, Whitmer announced today.

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.

Michigan hit the first milestone Monday in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions as vaccination thresholds are met.

BATTLE CREEK — As the state transitions from mass COVID-19 vaccination sites to smaller, more targeted clinics to immunize the general public, onsite employer-hosted vaccination clinics are taking on a new importance.

GRAND RAPIDS — The West Michigan Vaccine Clinic at DeVos Place downtown closes in two weeks after delivering nearly 250,000 doses in four months to people who sought COVID-19 vaccinations from as far away as the Upper Peninsula, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has outlined a new plan that lifts restrictions on restaurants, event venues and workplaces as the state meets a series of COVID-19 vaccination thresholds.

GRAND RAPIDS — Spectrum Health’s chief executive hopes the present surge of COVID-19 cases that has been affecting younger people and children more than prior strains may have peaked in recent days.

LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is strongly encouraging — but not mandating — new public measures to stem Michigan’s recent spike in COVID-19 metrics, saying pandemic dynamics have changed as millions of vaccines are administered.

GRAND RAPIDS — The mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids raised eligibility Tuesday to anyone 16 years and older as more doses become available and amid recent surges in cases among a younger population and rising positive tests.

The state today reported more than 4,500 additional COVID-19 cases, continuing recent increases in cases that have caused hospitalization rates to spike in Michigan, particularly among younger people.

The COVID-19 vaccine is “the ticket out” of the pandemic and will play a key role in employees’ return to the workplace, state officials said Monday while announcing a workgroup to provide recommendations for office safety.

The state has significantly broadened eligibility for a COVID-19 vaccine that will take effect later this month.

GRAND RAPIDS — Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Inc. expects to ship the first filled vials today of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, following approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over the weekend.

After a year of reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes increasingly difficult to capture all of the nuanced and at times discordant effects it has had on businesses. While some have thrived or pivoted, many others have struggled to hold on or closed up shop. 

The Biden administration on Monday announced a series of changes to the Paycheck Protection Program that are aimed at improving access to federal COVID-19 relief loans for small and minority-owned businesses.

HOLLAND — Macatawa Bank Corp. increased earnings in the fourth quarter, although full-year results declined from the prior year.

Michigan small businesses were approved for more than $1.5 billion in federal loans during the first two weeks of the new Paycheck Protection Program the U.S. Small Business Administration launched earlier this month.

KALAMAZOO — Stryker Corp.’s sales grew 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter amid a resurgence of COVID-19 infections that affected market demand for elective medical procedures.

Statewide business groups announced their support today for House Republicans’ COVID-19 spending plan that’s a rebuttal to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $5.6 billion plan unveiled last week.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday that restaurants and bars can resume indoor service on Feb. 1 with a 25 percent capacity limit and 10 p.m. curfew.