GRAND RAPIDS — The Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority Board has selected Torrance Richardson as the new president and CEO of the airport, the board announced Friday.
ZEELAND — A new “economic catalyst” fund and advisory committee hopes to further economic growth in Ottawa County.
BATTLE CREEK -- Ministry Designs, a communication and web development company, is moving to downtown Battle Creek.
GRAND RAPIDS — Legal Aid of Western Michigan is asking a state agency to investigate alleged fair housing violations that negatively affect minorities and people with disabilities at properties owned by Midland-based Live Downtown Grand Rapids LLC.
WYOMING — My Personal Credit Union of Wyoming changed its name to Bloom Credit Union.
NILES — French Paper Co., a Niles-based manufacturer of premium colored paper and envelopes for graphic design, specialty prints and gifts, was recently been acquired by New York-based Finch Paper LLC.
A coalition of business groups today urged state lawmakers to finally come up with a way to fix Michigan’s crumbling roads and bridges.
GRANDVILLE — Littlefoot Coffee Roasters plans to open a roasting facility in Grandville by the end of August.
BROKEN SYSTEM: Historic underinvestment in communities of color is root of uptick in gun violence, Grand Rapids leaders say
Written by Andy BalaskovitzFive weeks before a pair of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio rocked the nation, community leaders in Grand Rapids held a press conference on the city’s southeast side to address the city’s recent spike in gun violence.
GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP — Grand River Bank plans to open a new office on the east side of Grand Rapids by the middle of next year.
CAR MEETINGS: As demand shrinks, auto suppliers need to ramp up innovation, agility
Written by Jessica YoungACME — After a decade of bullish outlooks, automotive suppliers need to buckle up for a period of upcoming disruptions.
AUTOMOTIVE ROUNDTABLE: West Michigan automotive suppliers stay steady, despite uncertainties
By JOE BOOMGAARD & JESSICA YOUNGA decade into the economic recovery, the region’s automotive suppliers continue to ride the wave of vehicle sales volume in the North Amercian and global auto market. Yet, many are bracing for an impending downturn, which analysts predict will occur somewhere in the early 2020s. Primarily, suppliers are planning on weathering any upcoming downturn by banking on investments in new technologies, including electric vehicles and automation, whether through increased R&D spending or through acquisitions.
The autonomous promise
Written by Jessica YoungSelf-driving shuttles may be traveling through downtown Grand Rapids these days, but automakers say broad acceptance for autonomous, connected, electric and shared vehicles will take more patience.
Uncertainties related to trade policies continue to plague the automotive industry, which has closely linked production operations in Canada, Mexico and overseas.
From rubber horseshoes to roll-covers for paper, metal and other industries, Vail Rubber Works Inc. has been steadily serving supply chains in West Michigan for more than a century.
GRAND RAPIDS — Within three days of opening applications, 500 people applied to live in the new Garfield Park Lofts’ 36 units of affordable housing.
When Meijer Inc. last month nearly halved the taxable value of its 195,000-square-foot store in Marquette just a year after it opened, the move set off an outcry from advocates for local government.
Beneath all of the recent attention-grabbing issues such as escalating pharmaceutical prices, hospital pricing and surprise billing, there lurks what Ken Thorpe says is the real leading cause of ever-rising health care costs in America: Growing incidence rates of chronic illness.
As students head off to college this fall, some of them in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will be blazing a trail when it comes to new fields of study: growing and testing hemp and learning how to lead a cannabis business.
Don’t expect Michigan’s burgeoning cannabis sector to be a repeat of the state’s booming craft beer business.
ENERGY: Environmental groups and utilities brace for energy-intensive cannabis operations
Written by Andy BalaskovitzMichigan has had its share of blackouts and brownouts over the years. Could “greenouts” be on the horizon?
REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPMENT: Developers see opportunities with incoming marijuana companies
Written by Sydney SmithFor a decade, mixed-used and industrial property developments have fueled West Michigan’s building boom. Now, we may be seeing the dawn of a cannabis construction era.
BANKING: Banks and credit unions wait for federal law to become more cannabis-friendly
Written by Mark SanchezThe legalization of cannabis in Michigan offers an emerging economic sector for banks and credit unions, but only if Congress enacts legislation to change existing federal law and allow them into the market.
HEALTH CARE: Medical groups work to keep public informed of marijuana’s effect on health
Written by Mark SanchezAs the state begins to implement new laws allowing adult recreational marijuana use, the Michigan State Medical Society wants a voice in the process.
ALL VERY HIGH: Risks, rewards, barriers-to-entry elevated for Michigan cannabis investors
Written by Mark SanchezGRAND RAPIDS — Brandon Kanitz walks through a cavernous area of a former auto-parts manufacturing plant, pointing out areas that in the months ahead will become growing rooms for marijuana plants.
INDIAN COUNTRY: Tribes grapple with how to approach cannabis economically, legally
Written by Joe BoomgaardNative American tribes that want to participate in Michigan’s fledgling cannabis industry face many bureaucratic hurdles.
LAW ENFORCEMENT: Police weigh options in cracking down on black market marijuana
Written by Andy BalaskovitzNews stories published over the past three months have said the Michigan State Police was preparing to both “crack down” on black market marijuana activity and also let it “slide” because of a lack of resources.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Many communities opt out of medical marijuana business, for now
Written by Andy BalaskovitzNearly 600 Michigan communities have reportedly opted out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses, which experts say is the result of uncertainty clouding the 2018 ballot initiative.
The death count from frightful incidents involving enclosed grain elevators is on the rise — a stark reminder to West Michigan’s agricultural industry of the dangers of grain handling.
Just over three years ago, Joe Sobieralski was hired as the President and CEO of Battle Creek Unlimited. Sobieralski joined BCU in 2015 as vice president and was then appointed interim CEO in 2016. Later that year, the interim title was removed. While there has been a lot of forward momentum under his leadership, he says there is still a lot more to be accomplished. With the renewal of his contract for another three years, we wanted to check in with him to get his view from the corner office.
The company Confident Cannabis was launched less than four years ago by four Stanford Business School alums. Today, 50 percent of the legal cannabis produced in the U.S. across 25 states passes through the Palo Alto, Calif-based company’s lab-testing platform, which allows business-to-business buying and selling of cannabis.
MUSKEGON — Muskegon Heights-based Wonderland Distilling Co. has leased a location at 1989 Lakeshore Drive in Muskegon’s Lakeside neighborhood for its tasting room and cocktail bar.
Office furniture maker Trendway Corp., a fixture in the Holland business community for five decades, has been sold to Fellowes Brands, an Itasca, Ill.-based manufacturer of office and technology accessories.
Acrisure LLC, a Caledonia-based insurance brokerage, is moving its global headquarters to the new Studio Park development in downtown Grand Rapids, MiBiz has learned.
Motus Integrated Technologies LLC, a Holland-based Tier 1 and Tier 2 auto supplier, has signed a definitive agreement to buy Janesville Fiber Solutions, a division of Milwaukee, Wisc.-based Jason Industries Inc.
SpartanNash President/CEO Dave Staples resigns, former CEO Dennis Eidson returns
Written by Mark SanchezSpartanNash Co.’s present chairman and former CEO, Dennis Eidson, returned to running the company today following the abrupt resignation of President and CEO David Staples amid an expected quarterly loss.
Consumers Energy settlement could lead to hundreds of megawatts of solar power
Written by Andy BalaskovitzA proposed settlement between Consumers Energy and independent power producers could lead to hundreds of megawatts of solar power being built within the next four years.
WALKER — A federal agency has accused supercenter retailer Meijer Inc. of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act over its treatment of an employee at a store in Oakland County in Southeast Michigan.
HOLLAND — Automotive supplier GHSP is expanding and moving its headquarters and engineering laboratory to the Holland Technical Center, MiBiz has learned.
Nanobrewery planned for Walker
Written by Sydney SmithWALKER — The owners of 1983 Brewing Company LLC are one step closer to opening Walker’s second brewery.
Kalamazoo area-based Consumers Credit Union recently began construction on a new branch on 54th Street SW in Wyoming, its sixth office in the Grand Rapids area.
GRAND RAPIDS — Orion Real Estate Solutions has filled its developments on Ottawa Avenue with the announcement of ground-floor restaurant Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar.
ALLENDALE TWP. — BizStream Inc., an Allendale Township-based online marketing and software solutions company, plans to expand with backing from the state.
ALLEGAN — Perrigo Co. plc reaffirmed its 2019 earnings guidance and reported a slight decline in net sales resulting from unfavorable currency translations and exited businesses.
GRAND RAPIDS — The owners of Russo’s International Market have decided to close the store after 115 years in West Michigan, the company announced Wednesday.
TRAVERSE CITY — Markel Corp., the Richmond, Va.-based holding company for various insurance, reinsurance, and investment operations, has acquired a minority stake in The Hagerty Group LLC, a Traverse City-based insurer of classic cars and high-end automobiles.