Mitch Ermatinger’s outlook has improved in the weeks since the mid-March closure of all Michigan bars and restaurants, but the economic effects of the pandemic are still weighing heavily on the co-founder of Speciation Artisan Ales LLC. 

The recent shutdown forced many small craft beverage companies to shift their business models on the fly. 

Oktober Design LLC proves the aphorism of being in the right place at the right time when it comes to finding success in business. 

Michigan’s craft beverage industry is facing a challenge with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic that is unlike any other in its history. 

Craft beverage companies have been rocked by an unprecedented crisis, one caused not by bad business decisions or fundamental industry shifts, but by widespread closures related to a sweeping public health concern. 

Launching a new craft beverage business can prove challenging in even the best of economic times, let alone in the middle of a global pandemic.

Call it the six stages of COVID-19 coping: Experiencing shock. Assessing. Recalibrating. Cash Flowing. Helping. Imagining. That seems to sum up an emotional and intellectual path many West Michigan business owners have travelled recently as their companies faced extraordinary circumstances brought on by the spread of coronavirus. 

A series of measures intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus could have implications for Michigan’s recreational fishery in the coming years. 

Michigan’s contribution to a key project aimed at stopping the spread of invasive Asian carp has been put on hold as the state shifted funds last week to help respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Small business owners with multiple entities affected by the coronavirus may be in for a surprise when they go to apply for U.S. Small Business Administration loans. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Public relations and investor relations firm Lambert & Co. has acquired ad agency Fairly Painless Advertising Inc. of Holland.

GRAND RAPIDS — Amway Corp. affiliate AHC Hospitality has laid off 1,000 workers and closed all but the downtown Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

KALAMAZOO — Medical device maker Stryker Corp. expects the growing push to defer elective surgeries as health care organizations deal with a rush of COVID-19 patients to have “a significant negative impact” on its operations and financial performance. 

The coronavirus that’s affected lives and upended operations across the globe has become the kind of transformational business story that only comes around once every generation.

ZEELAND — As Brad Davis tracked news about the spread of the coronavirus in early March, he cautioned his production team at MedViron LLC that the company might need to shut down to do its part with social distancing.

ROCKFORD — Footwear and apparel retailer Wolverine World Wide Inc. is in the “early stages” of converting one of its manufacturing facilities to produce protective masks for health care workers. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Universal Forest Products Inc. warned investors today that the coronavirus pandemic could pose serious challenges to the business. 

ZEELAND — Herman Miller Inc. is continuing to pay its Michigan workers affected by the temporary shutdown of its manufacturing operations in compliance with the state’s stay-home order. 

BENTON HARBOR — Appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp. has joined other publicly traded companies in withdrawing its 2020 earnings guidance, citing “unprecedented uncertainty” and concerns over disruptions related to coronavirus. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Steelcase Inc. said Tuesday that reduced or halted operations at its global manufacturing and distribution centers because of the coronavirus will “temporarily, but significantly” affect the company’s ability to generate revenue in its current quarter. 

ROCKFORD — Citing “heightened uncertainty and recent volatility” related to the coronavirus, footwear and apparel marketer Wolverine World Wide Inc. says it is withdrawing its previous guidance for the 2020 fiscal year.

HOLLAND —  Coppercraft Distillery is joining a number of distilleries in the state with plans to produce hand sanitizer. 

The federal regulatory body that oversees the alcohol industry has cleared the way for U.S. distilleries to begin producing hand sanitizer. 

West Michigan brewery owners are reeling this morning over news that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will issue an order later today to temporarily close bars, restaurants and other venues over concerns related to coronavirus. 

Stock prices for West Michigan’s publicly traded companies continued to plummet on Monday, a sign of Wall Street’s growing concern about the effect the coronavirus outbreak could have on the U.S. economy and rising tensions over oil production between Russia and Saudi Arabia. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Goodrich Quality Theaters Inc., a Grand Rapids-based chain of 30 movie theaters in five states, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan.

A bill introduced in the state Legislature would change how beer festivals operate in Michigan.

WALKER — A final mile logistics company that lost a contract to deliver packages for e-commerce giant Amazon.com is closing its facility in West Michigan. 

A tooling engineer from Grand Rapids-based Tier-1 supplier ADAC Automotive was traveling in the Wuhan area of China when the Coronavirus public health crisis broke in late January. 

New laws aim to bring parity to the state’s alcoholic beverage sector.