GRAND RAPIDS — MiBiz Inc. has hired journalist Andy Balaskovitz as managing editor of its West Michigan business publication. 

For years, readers have relied on MiBiz to break through the noise, go beyond the easy stories and deliver top-notch local business news and information not available from any other source. We’re now asking readers of MiBiz.com to support those efforts directly by subscribing. 

A West Michigan car dealership group plans to acquire a pair of stores located a mile apart on Plainfield Avenue north of Grand Rapids.

Walker-based grocery retailer Meijer Inc. hopes to build a new gas station adjacent to its recently-opened Bridge Street Market west of downtown.

A Northern Michigan investor group has acquired the assets of Air-Services Inc., a charter aviation provider serving the business market in Northern Michigan.

Warner Norcross + Judd LLP plans to open a new office in downtown Detroit.

Most businesses remain vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, as online attacks continue to grow.

As West Michigan’s startup culture continues to develop, many new tech companies are growing out of business incubators around the region.

West Michigan-based technology executives increasingly view the industry as an up-and-coming star of the region’s economy.

Despite their strong ties to smartphones and virtual communication, Gen Xers and Millennials still crave face-to-face interaction, and the philanthropic sector is taking note.

Building a strong foundation for the community involves bricks and mortar, in addition to providing funds focused on health and human service issues.

The $14.5 million acquisition of 177 homes in the Grand Rapids and Lansing areas required a “leap of faith” from Ryan VerWys and his team at the Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF).

Read Muskegon grew out of an informal group of volunteers providing one-on-one literacy tutoring, but the organization in recent years has shifted gears to boost its visibility and impact in the community.

MiBiz presents the fourth-annual West Michigan’s Best-Managed Nonprofit Awards. This year, we received a record number of nominations for the awards, which were solicited in three organizational categories separated by annual revenues and one honoring professional achievement. 
Here are the winners and finalists: 

Conversations with donors about estate gifts can be long and drawn out affairs, but executives at the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area found a way to make those discussions easier and netted $30 million in the process.

Thomas Zmolek considered a career in photojournalism, but life experiences and a summer science institute during high school led him down a different path, one that still put him on the forefront of social change over the last 40 years.

The active mergers and acquisitions market shows no signs of slowing down for the foreseeable future. 

After steering Spartan Motors Inc. through a series of changes that helped the manufacturer return to profitability, Daryl Adams knew the timing worked to take the next step in the company’s growth strategy.

In his 28 years in practice, attorney Jeff Ott has worked on almost 70 transactions, nearly a dozen of which involved Chemical Financial Corp.’s acquisitions of other banks.

While advising on more than two-dozen transactions over a 12-month period, Dustin Daniels saw firsthand the growth of private equity’s role in mergers and acquisitions in West Michigan. 

A phone call Ranir LLC CEO Rich Sorota got in early 2016 offered an opportunity: Multinational medical device and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. wanted to sell its Rembrandt teeth-whitening product line. 

The 2014 sale of a Baltimore, Md.-based optical practice to a Los Angeles private equity firm was one of two industry deals that led to an opportunity for the partners at Grand Rapids Ophthalmology PC.

For its first acquisition following the transformational deal that created SpartanNash Co., the grocery retailer and distributor opted to buy a company that positioned it in a related high-growth market.

After experiencing explosive growth over the better part of a decade, executives at Muskegon-based KL Outdoor LLC knew they needed a partner to continue that pace of expansion into the years ahead. 

Join us for the Advanced Manufacturing Expo, Aug. 22 and Aug. 24, 2017.

Rodney Martin has seen a great deal ofprogress in Grand Rapids becoming a more diverse and inclusive community over the last three decades. 

About 20 years ago, energy experts predicted a major challenge with producing the amount of electricity needed to accommodate the huge growth of the internet and storing companies’ data on energy-intensive servers.

Driven by relatively affordable real estate and a diverse workforce, the West Michigan region has become a growing hub for call centers, administrative back offices and — to a lesser extent — data centers.

For Mark Sellers, the magic number of sorts is $300.

For Tracy Larsen, the work of evaluating and closing deals continues to push ahead even in the face of global tumult and a general sense of economic uncertainty. 

Mike VanGessel likes to talk about the “why” behind his company’s decision to invest in the long-neglected west side neighborhood of Grand Rapids.

It’s been a busy year and a half for David DeBoer.