Corey Hart returned to Grand Rapids last September to find that support for entrepreneurship and startup companies had grown well beyond what it was when he left for California a decade earlier.

Oswaldo Cordova and Evangelina Abundis opened El Globo Restaurant LLC 14 years ago.

MUSKEGON — The origin of HyVIDA Brands Inc. goes back six or seven years when Rick Smith took a taste of sparkling water.

GRAND RAPIDS — The owner of Anna’s House restaurant has voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against the Meritage Hospitality Group over its newly-opened Morning Belle restaurant.

Since securing a $40 million capital investment last spring, Vestaron Corp. has been assembling commercial and operating teams as it prepares for the broad launch of a brand of eco-friendly pesticides in 2020.

The February deal for Grand Rapids-based tech firm Conway, Dierking & Hillman Inc. allows Red Level Networks LLC to expand its client list, core I.T. services and reach across the state. 

Backed by a key small business advocate in Lansing, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have proposed a legislative package to boost state support for companies operating in the space between small startups and larger corporations.

GRAND RAPIDS — When John Van Tongeren became the owner of Ferris Coffee & Nut Co. in 1985, he did not imagine eventually passing it down within his family. 

Operating a family-owned business comes with unique circumstances and considerations that other companies and corporations don’t face. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The parent company of MiBiz has sold its Revue West Michigan title to Serendipity Media LLC, a Grand Rapids-based custom publisher and marketing firm. 

GRAND RAPIDS — An Atlanta-based pharmacy company that serves long-term care facilities and senior housing communities entered the Michigan market by buying a majority stake in TruCare LTC Pharmacy LLC in Grand Rapids.

West Michigan businesses are building strategies to accommodate and support the grand opening of the state’s new billion-dollar cannabis industry, although many still crowd behind a self-imposed shroud of secrecy. 

After a 40-year career at direct-selling giant Amway Corp., former Vice Chairman Bill Payne wanted to find a way to stay involved in the West Michigan business community. 

The burgeoning market for CBD, a health product derived from cannabis plants that avoid the “high” from marijuana, is considered “low-hanging fruit” for the nearly 600 Michigan farmers now growing hemp.

Federal legislation pushed by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters would boost the ability of Small Business Development Centers to help small employers guard against cyber attacks.

While flooding and erosion are wreaking havoc for waterfront businesses and property owners, the changes are creating business opportunities for local marine construction and dock companies, who say they’ve been busy with scheduled projects and inundated with calls in recent weeks.

GRAND RAPIDS — Start Garden Inc. says it’s gaining traction on an effort launched two years ago that put more emphasis on diversity.

GRAND RAPIDS — Five Michigan breweries are suing the Michigan Liquor Control Commission over the regulatory agency’s quashing of free bingo promotions at their taprooms.

GRAND RAPIDS — Carl Erickson began thinking 12 years ago about how Atomic Object LLC would eventually carry on without him.

GRAND RAPIDS — Springstead Bartish Borgula & Lynch PLLC plans to move its Grand Rapids headquarters after purchasing space downtown in the First Community Bank building.

DOUGLAS — Laundry Tyme, a laundry service company based in Douglas, sold recently to investor Brian Gowen.

Business law firm Kotz Sangster Wysocki PC acquired Rockford-based Van Eck Law PC.

GRAND RAPIDS — If Steve Jbara needed a sign that he made the right decision in turning down a recent request to relocate his Grand Rapids-based NBA Gatorade League basketball team to Detroit, he got one rather quickly.

GRAND RAPIDS — More than seven years, $2 million and 500 companies later, Varnum LLP signed on for a third round of providing free legal services to help new companies get off the ground. The Grand Rapids-based law firm will give away another $1 million in legal services through the MiSpringboard program that launched in 2011 under a push by then-Gov. Rick Snyder to support entrepreneurism as Michigan’s economy began recovering from the Great Recession.

GRAND RAPIDS — At 15 years old, Elevator Up LLC had come to what founder Aaron Schaap called a “big milestone.” The Grand Rapids digital design consultancy for products and services had grown nicely from the early days. Schaap began considering what the next 15 years would look like, putting together goals, and weighing what leadership and talent Elevator Up would need.

Legislation that state lawmakers in Lansing are considering would raise requirements for how businesses must handle a data breach. The bills would define the sensitive personal information covered and who is responsible for reporting a data breach, and establish processes and timelines for investigating, responding to and publicly reporting an incident. The law would cover entities with 50 or more employees.

GRAND RAPIDS — Many companies offer employees an anonymous way to report to management various problems, impropriety or other violations, often via a telephone hotline or a dedicated email account. But a new startup company is offering workers a better way to blow the whistle, and in doing so, could allow businesses to get a better handle on potential issues before they spin out of control.

A West Michigan marine transportation firm is significantly increasing its freight capacity in response to higher demand from a key customer. Port City Barge Inc. of Muskegon last month took delivery of the Commander, a 495-foot by 72-foot freight barge that it plans to use to haul cement for St. Marys Cement US LLC.

MARNE — McCann Industries Inc. will expand to Michigan with a new facility currently under construction in Marne. The equipment and construction supply sales company hopes to open the new location in September, said James Maioho, Michigan branch manager for McCann.

GRAND RAPIDS — The company that owns and operates the HopCat craft beer bar chain has secured another $6 million in capital it will use to open three to four more locations in 2019 and 2020, MiBiz has learned. In confirming BarFly Ventures LLC’s latest round of fundraising, founder and owner Mark Sellers told MiBiz approximately $5 million of the funding came from one new investor while $1 million came from Sellers himself. The company is still in the process of raising another $1 million from existing investors to reach its $7 million goal.

J.D. Collins became state director of the Grand Rapids-based Small Business Development Center in mid-December. He spent years at larger organizations — Fifth Third Bank, Amway, Spectrum Health — working as a technologist and innovator “before I really found my niche.” Collins also ran his own consulting firm, Collins Innovations LLC, and was chief innovation officer at a heavy equipment technology startup.

The recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act purported to simplify tax structures, rates and exemptions, but accountants say small businesses face plenty of nuances depending on their size, structure and profits. “One thing I have noticed, people thought they were going to be left with simpler tax laws and to some extent, some have,” said Sally Steffes, CPA and one of the partners at H&S Companies PC. “There are many variables to contend with.”