MiBiz Growth Report: June 24, 2019

MiBiz Growth Report: June 24, 2019

Here is the growth report for June 24, 2019.

M&A

  • Critical Care Diagnostics Inc., a new medical device company in Kalamazoo, plans to begin building a business around a product acquired in January from Stryker Corp. to treat a painful and potentially life-threatening condition. Production of the STIC Pressure Monitor should begin later this year at contract manufacturer Keystone Solutions Group in Kalamazoo. The device can diagnose and treat acute and chronic compartment syndrome, a condition that typically results from severe injury where pressure in the muscles constricts blood flow. CEO Kevin McLeod started the company with Plymouth Growth Partners, an Ann Arbor-based investment firm that invests in growth-stage companies in Great Lakes states.
  • Nichols Paper & Supply Co. expanded its presence in northeastern Ohio with the acquisition of Cleveland-based DawnChem Inc., a supplier of janitorial and commercial cleaning supplies. The deal was the latest for the Norton Shores-based Nichols, a distributor of paper, packaging and sanitary supplies. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. 
  • Charlotte-based Spartan Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: SPAR) is expanding its manufacturing operations into the West Coast with the asset purchase of Montebello, Calif.-based General Truck Body Inc., a maker of truck bodies, refrigerated trucks, stake body trucks and other vehicles, according to a statement. The company will join Spartan Motors’ Fleet Vehicles and Services business unit and operate under the Utilimaster brand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Spartan Motors expects the deal to be accretive to earnings on an annual basis in 2020.
  • Grand Rapids-based Tech Defenders has acquired Bowling Green, Ohio-based Device Renew LLC, according to a statement. Device Renew, an I.T. asset disposition company, had been a customer of Tech Defenders. The deal will provide resources to the Ohio company to meet its growth strategy, according to a statement. Device Renew CEO Michael Oberdick will now serve as senior director of business development for Tech Defenders, an asset disposition and electronics repair company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 
  • Fuel distributor Crystal Flash has expanded along the lakeshore with the acquisition of Kohley’s Superior Propane Inc. in Muskegon. The deal closed June 7 and is the 12th acquisition the Grand Rapids-based Crystal Flash has closed since 2011. The deal adds more than 1,700 home heating customers in the lakeshore market. Terms of the transaction were undisclosed. Crystal Flash now has more than 280 employees with 15 locations across the state.
  • The planned acquisition of a Detroit-area third-party benefits administrator will give Priority Health a greater ability to pursue business with employers that self-fund their health benefits. Priority Health targets the deal for Southfield-based CAM Administrative Services Inc. to close by July 1. The company, also known as CAMADS, will continue to operate under its current name and business model. 
  • Redford, Mich.-based Alpine Power Systems Inc., a business-to-business supplier of backup power, telecom, cable and motive power systems, purchased the assets of Grandville-based Battcom Inc., a provider of industrial and commercial batteries and chargers, in a deal that closed June 5, according to a statement. Battcom co-founder and President Larry Grimm will stay on with Alpine Power and serve as senior sales manager for the West Michigan region. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 
  • Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) finalized the sale of its Vessi Fermentor brand to 80West Labs, a Chicago-based venture capital firm. Vessi, a homebrew beer fermentation system, was launched by Whirlpool’s W Labs “innovation incubator” in May 2016. 80West Labs is a partnership between Prota Ventures LLC, an operator-investor group based in Chicago, and KZCO Inc., a family-owned engineering and manufacturing business located near Omaha, Neb. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Expansion

  • Law firm Springstead Bartish Borgula & Lynch PLLC plans to move its Grand Rapids headquarters into larger offices after purchasing space downtown in the First Community Bank building. Via an affiliated entity owned by its partners, the Fremont-based criminal defense law firm purchased the 6,000-square-foot fifth floor at 60 Monroe Center St. NW for $1 million on May 24 from 60 Monroe Center LLC, an entity registered to developer Jon Rooks, principal of Muskegon-based Parkland Properties of West Michigan LLC. The partners plan to build out the new offices and move into the space in December. Springstead Bartish outgrew its current office at 15 Ionia Ave. SW, which it leases. 
  • Wolverine Glass Products Inc. expanded and moved into a refurbished 130,000-square-foot facility at 3400 Wentworth Drive SW in Wyoming, according to a report in USGlass News Network. The move, which consolidated glass fabrication to one facility, allowed the company to add a new glass tempering furnace and expand into commercial glass interior wall systems. 
  • Metal fabricator DeWys Manufacturing Inc. will invest nearly $7 million over three years in a 30,000-square-foot expansion to its existing facility in Ottawa County’s Wright Township. DeWys Manufacturing worked with Lakeshore Advantage Corp., a Zeeland-based economic development organization, to obtain a $267,000 grant for the project from a state-funded incentive program.
  • Mercy Health has opened a new $5.6 million outpatient facility at 6741 and 6745 E. Fulton Ave. in Ada. The location brought together 14 providers of primary care and specialty services, including internal medicine, pediatrics, pelvic medicine and urogynecology, laboratory services, X-ray and ultrasound. Future services will include obstetrics and gynecology, vascular and vein services, general neurology and physical therapy. Grand Rapids-based Progressive AE Inc. was the architect of the project, and Ada-based Erhardt Construction Co. served as the general contractor.
  • St. Joseph-based Edgewater Bancorp Inc. opened a loan office in Greenville after hiring veteran commercial lender Amy Homich. The Greenville office will offer commercial loans and extend into residential lending in the near future. Homich will lead the new loan office as vice president. She previously worked as a commercial lender at Chemical Bank.
  • Leisure Living in Grand Rapids began construction on Riley’s Grove, a 44-unit assisted living and memory care community at 96th Avenue and Riley Street in Zeeland. The $8.6 million project includes 14 memory care rooms and 30 assisted living residences. Omega Construction Co. in Grand Rapids is building the development, which is targeted for completion in spring 2020.
  • Grand Rapids physician Dr. Kirk Agerson opened a primary care practice affiliated with Boca Raton, Fla.-based MDVIP. With the office, MDVIP now has 25 physicians in Michigan focusing on wellness, prevention, and early detection and treatment of illness. Dr. Agerson is affiliated with Spectrum Health and has served as an assistant clinical professor at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine for 35 years. He was also the chief medical officer at Answer Health.
  • Allegiant Travel Co. (Nasdaq: ALGT) is adding two new routes out of Gerald R. Ford International Airport. With the new twice-weekly service to Jacksonville, Fla. and New Orleans, La., the low-cost carrier now offers flights to 11 cities from Grand Rapids.