Here is the growth report for November 9, 2019.

GRAND RAPIDS — Restaurant operator Meritage Hospitality Group Inc. expanded its holdings in the Atlanta, Ga. market with the acquisition of five Wendy’s stores. 

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.

MiBiz Growth Report for Oct. 26, 2019.

MUSKEGON — L.C. Walker Arena will become Mercy Health Arena at the end of the year under a $1.5 million sponsorship deal between the city of Muskegon and the health system.

ZEELAND — The $70,000 grant Lakeshore Advantage Corp. received this summer will go toward examining one potential solution to a problem resulting from the economic vitality of Ottawa and Allegan counties: a lack of suitable available land for industrial development.

The Grand Rapids-based law firm Warner Norcross + Judd LLP has spent more than a decade as the U.S. counsel for Canada and the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority as it went through the arduous procurement process to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

This is the growth report for Oct. 12.

Michigan’s economic growth “slowed down considerably” during the spring and summer, although University of Michigan economists doubt the state is on track for a downtown in the next two years.

GRAND RAPIDS — SMG, the company that manages DeVos Place Convention Center, DeVos Performance Hall and Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, has merged with AEG Facilities LLC to form a venue management firm called ASM Global.

Michigan’s latest emphasis on the outdoor recreation industry serves as part of an economic development strategy that’s responding to the sector’s shifting demographics, natural resources officials say. 

Sarah Chartier has served as senior sustainability project manager at Spectrum Health for eight years. In her role, she assesses ways to improve Spectrum’s practices that will lead to reducing its environmental footprint. She also engages employees and the community to get involved in the sustainability conversation and think about how they have an effect on the environment and ways to lessen that impact. Chartier, who also serves as a board member of the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum, spoke to MiBiz about the future of the sustainable business movement. 

Growth report for Sept. 28, 2019.

Here is the growth report for September 14, 2019.

KALAMAZOO — Kara Wood, the managing director of economic development services for the city of Grand Rapids, will join Western Michigan University as an associate vice president for community partnerships on Oct. 7.

GRAND RAPIDS — Restaurant operator Meritage Hospitality Group Inc. has added to its growing portfolio of Wendy’s restaurants with the acquisition of five Texas locations.

West Michigan businesses are responding to reports from the White House that the U.S. government is considering drastic cuts to the number of refugees who are allowed to enter the country.

In response to growing concerns about groundwater issues, Ottawa County’s Olive Township has hit pause on plans for a platted subdivision that’s been in the works for nearly a decade. 

State Sen. Stephanie Chang says granting state driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants is as much of an issue of economics and public health as it is about immigration.

GRAND RAPIDS — A $90 million expansion at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport will aid in economic development in West Michigan, the airport authority board said Wednesday.

TRAVERSE CITY — Schmuckal Oil Co., a family-owned operator of gas station convenience stores in the northern and western Lower Peninsula, has sold its assets to an Ohio firm. 

Michigan retailers recorded a small improvement in business during July, as warm weather drew shoppers into stores and consumers began shopping for the new school year.

ZEELAND — A new “economic catalyst” fund and advisory committee hopes to further economic growth in Ottawa County. 

A coalition of business groups today urged state lawmakers to finally come up with a way to fix Michigan’s crumbling roads and bridges.

Five 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. 

Native American tribes that want to participate in Michigan’s fledgling cannabis industry face many bureaucratic hurdles.

News 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.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Aug. 19, 2019:

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.

GRAND RAPIDS — Restaurant operator Meritage Hospitality Group Inc. continues its growth spurt with a pair of deals to acquire the assets of 10 Wendy’s restaurants in Georgia and Texas. 

The latest outlook survey by Business Leaders for Michigan points to a stable state economy or slower growth in the months ahead with continued business investments.