MiBiz Growth Report: February 28, 2022

MiBiz Growth Report: February 28, 2022

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for February 28, 2022.

M&A

  • Gordon Food Service Inc. is poised to add new food categories to its offerings and expand its network of retailers through an upcoming acquisition. The Wyoming-based food supplier announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian family-owned food service company Macgregors Meat & Seafood Ltd., which will operate as a specialty company for GFS once the deal closes. Macgregors maintains partnerships with meat brands including Niman Ranch, Jail Island Salmon and Certified Angus Beef. The company serves food service, retail and private label segments of the food industry.
  • Grand Rapids-based Applied Imaging Corp., a nationwide provider of office technology products and services, continues to bolster its presence in Indiana with a recent acquisition. The company recently announced that it ended 2021 with the purchase of Warsaw, Ind.-based Sands Office Equipment Service. It was one of two acquisitions Applied Imaging made in the state in 2021 as the company now maintains offices in South Bend, Merrillville, Ft. Wayne and Warsaw. “This now gives us a strong presence in Northern Indiana as we continue our geographic expansion,” John Lowery, president and CEO of Applied Imaging, said in a statement.
  • PE-backed Angstrom Technology, a Walker-based company that designs, builds and maintains cleanrooms, has acquired England-based Specific Environments Ltd. Not only does the acquisition expand Angstrom’s footprint into the United Kingdom after already serving the United States, Canada and Mexico, but Specific Environments also brings specialized design and engineering capabilities. Angstrom has acquired three companies in the last six months and is backed by ASGARD Partners & Co., a New York-based private equity firm that focuses on manufacturing, distribution and services businesses.
  • Ascension Medical Group has acquired Kalamazoo Gastroenterology Hepatology. With offices in Kalamazoo, Three Rivers, Battle Creek and Portage, the practice consists of gastroenterologists, hepatologists, physicians and physician assistants. Kalamazoo Gastroenterology Hepatology diagnoses and manages complex and chronic disorders of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, anorectum, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and biliary tree.
  • Traverse City-based insurance brokerage firm High Street Insurance Partners marked its 100th acquisition in three years with the purchase of The Craft Agency in Jackson. With 100 years of history to its name, The Craft Agency provides personal, commercial and life insurance to clients through the state of Michigan.

HEALTH CARE

  • Directors at Catherine’s Health Center in Grand Rapids have appointed Megan Erskine as CEO. Erskine will join the nonprofit health care provider on April 12 after her tenure with Heartland Health Centers in Chicago, where she served as chief operating officer. Erskine will succeed longtime CEO Karen Kaashoek, who’s retiring after more than 24 years with Catherine’s Health Center, a federally qualified health center.

EXPANSION

  • General contractor, construction management and design firm Erhardt Construction Co. is opening a new office in Muskegon, company officials announced. The Ada-based firm was founded 60 years ago and has built up relationships along the lakeshore through various projects in Muskegon, creating an opportunity to establish a physical presence there with an office at 425 W. Western Ave., Suite 308. “Being active and engaged in the community where we do business is important to us,” President and CEO Ben Wickstrom said in a statement. “We’re in it for the long haul. That’s why we’re putting down roots.”

  • Barrio, a Cleveland-based taco chain with multiple locations in Michigan, is expected to open this spring on the first floor of the historic Helmer Building in downtown Grand Rapids. Roughly $1 million in renovations to the 4,600-square-foot space at 37 Ottawa Ave. NW began about two months ago, franchisee Jake Hawley told MiBiz. Hawley owns Barrio’s forthcoming Grand Rapids location as well as the restaurant’s other Michigan locations in East Lansing and Traverse City. The Cleveland-based restaurant chain currently has 12 locations in Ohio, Michigan, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

  • Grand Haven-based specialty sandwich shop The Toasted Pickle is expanding with a second location in downtown Rockford at the former Ramona’s Table restaurant. Karen Avery and her husband, Jim Avery, opened The Toasted Pickle in 2016 in downtown Grand Haven. The couple had been looking for additional locations across the state to open a second restaurant, and Rockford was “at the top of the list,” Jim Avery said. The owners of the longtime Rockford staple, Ramona’s Table, announced their retirement and closing of the downtown Rockford restaurant in December 2021, opening the space for a new venture.

  • The Pine Rest Psychological Consultation Center nearly doubled capacity from 21 clinical offices and testing rooms to 40 with the opening of a new facility at 6500 Byron Center Ave. The Psychological Consultation Center last year grew 40 percent to serve more than 4,800 patients.

NONPROFIT

  • Dr. Teri Behrens, who has served as executive director of Grand Valley State University’s Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy since 2018, has announced that she will retire this year. Behrens worked for the university’s nonprofit research center in various capacities for nearly 14 years. She joined the center part-time in 2009 while founding The Foundation Review, the nation’s first peer-reviewed journal on philanthropy. Prior to joining GVSU, Behrens served as director of evaluation at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for seven years.

REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPMENT

  • The Plainfield Township Planning Commission has approved Eastern Kille Distillery’s plan to relocate its distilling operation to a 16-acre property along the White Pine Trail. Eastern Kille co-owners Steve Vander Pol and Brandon Voorhees plan to move the distillery to 7755 Childsdale Ave. NE in Plainfield Township, southwest of downtown Rockford near Third Nature Brewing Co. Plans call for a 10,360-square-foot space for the distillery with a separate 4,144-square-foot tasting room with food service. The designs also feature a 2,786-square-foot outdoor cocktail garden.
  • A privately held real estate company in Georgia recently purchased Felch Street Shopping Center in Holland Charter Township for $21 million. The 166,100-square-foot shopping center is fully leased to national and regional retailers including Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath and Beyond, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Jonathan Stevens Mattress, Party City, PetSmart, Shoe Carnival, T.J.Maxx and Ulta Beauty. A subsidiary of Alpharetta, Georgia-based Octave Holdings and Investments LLC purchased the shopping center located at 12635 Felch St. on Feb. 7 from Cogency Global Inc., doing business as D F G Felch Street, according to property records. The sale included nine parcels.

FINANCE

  • Plante Moran Trust N.A., an independent trust-only bank, has earned a national trust charter from the Officer of the Comptroller of Currency, a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury that regulates national banks. The national charter allows Plante Moran Trust to expand services nationwide. The Southfield-based Plante Moran Trust is one of only 52 nationally chartered trust banks in the country.