A Kalamazoo-based investment fund that also looks to cultivate and support a new generation of entrepreneurs who want to own a business will use a $10 million investment to scale operations.

GRAND RAPIDS — Elevator Service Inc., a provider of elevator services for a growing coverage area throughout the Midwest, continued to expand its geographical footprint with another acquisition.

Start Garden Inc. is now accepting pitches from entrepreneurs competing in The 100, a business competition with $300,000 in funding for startups. 

A Grand Rapids staple for craft beverages and food, Siciliano’s Market Inc. is selling to new owners after nearly 30 years on the city’s west side.

GRAND RAPIDS — Siciliano’s Market Inc., the family-owned specialty store and launching pad for countless West Michigan breweries, is changing ownership after a decades-long run selling craft beverages and foods and the equipment used to make them.

GRAND RAPIDS — A West Michigan couple who launched their business through online platform Etsy in 2014 is now preparing to open their second brick-and-mortar retail store in downtown Grand Rapids.

Inno-Versity LLC and Th3rd Coast Digital Solutions, two portfolio companies of Ada-based family office Century Technology Group Inc., will merge and rebrand as MindSpring LLC, company officials announced.

Public relations and integrated communications firm Lambert & Co. has entered into a new strategic partnership with the largest minority-owned public relations agency in Michigan.

Grand Rapids marketing agency Deksia LLC has merged with Anvil Media, a digital marketing agency in Portland, Ore.

GRAND RAPIDS — Sock retailer boldSOCKS, which sells a wide ranging inventory of decorative socks both online and at a downtown Grand Rapids brick and mortar shop, has been sold and plans to relocate to Fruitport.

GRAND RAPIDS — VNN Inc., a developer of digital tools and media solutions for high school athletic programs, is merging with a tech company that has a long history of servicing the K-12 and college education markets.

Richard Maloley, senior security consultant with Grand Rapids-based software and I.T. firm OST, discusses best practices for small and mid-sized businesses to confront cybersecurity breaches and threats. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Charter Growth Capital Fund has acquired a minority stake in Grand Rapids-based public relations and investor relations firm Lambert & Co.

GRAND RAPIDS — Native News Online, a Grand Rapids-based, Indigenous-led news outlet covering tribal issues nationally, has been selected as the 10th member of URL Media, a national network of media organizations owned and operated by Black, Indigenous and People of Color. 

Nearly $237 million in federal funding coming to the state is planned to support small businesses in Michigan through lending initiatives and equity investments in venture capital funds.

GRAND RAPIDS — Digital and I.T. consultant OST has expanded its Cloud service capabilities through a recent acquisition.

The $20 million in capital that West Shore Bank Corp. raised toward the end of 2021 will go to support further commercial loan growth.

KALAMAZOO — SPARK Business Works in Kalamazoo has acquired Houston, Texas-based digital marketing agency Convergent1.

Small business advocates are calling for more support from the state Legislature to help companies that they say are not recovering at the same rate as other sectors in Michigan’s economy. 

Access to capital, markets and networks are the three primary barriers to success for Black entrepreneurs, according to Jamiel Robinson.

BYRON TWP. — Rohr Gasoline Equipment Inc. — a longtime provider of petroleum equipment sales, installation and service work — has been sold to an eastern Michigan company.

CADILLAC — A decades-old Northern Michigan fireplace and chimney business was recently purchased by four of its own employees.

Michigan’s economy overall is recovering from last year, but lingering effects from COVID-19 are having a disproportionately negative effect on small businesses, according to a new report released by the Small Business Association of Michigan.

ADA TWP. — Grand Rapids business consulting firm Gantry Business Solutions LLC has acquired Amicus Management Inc.

GRAND RAPIDS — When Michelle Olson joined Lambert & Co. in 2019, she knew what she wanted to do for the integrated marketing, public relations and investor relations firm.

Angela Hill offers a unique perspective in providing  cybersecurity and general I.T. services to clients. Hill went to work with the U.S. Navy after 9/11 as a military intelligence analyst and a federal contractor for organizations including the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

GRAND RAPIDS — Five years ago, Jason Richardson couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy a tricycle freezer cart he found on Craigslist. It was the first step in starting artisan popsicle business Any Colour You Like Treats LLC with his wife, Korin Hollinshead.

GRAND RAPIDS — Jo Ellyn Clarey, former president and director of the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council, has worked to promote the often-overlooked roles that women have played throughout local history.

As the COVID-19 pandemic heads into its 19th month in the U.S., bankruptcy attorneys remain perplexed about why a once-expected wave of bankruptcy filings has not yet occurred.

Retailers across the state reported a small increase in sales in August over July.

A majority of Michigan small businesses oppose President Biden’s recently announced vaccine mandate as staffing shortages and rising costs remain the biggest obstacles for business owners, according to a new survey by the Small Business Association of Michigan.