WALKER — Krieger Craftsmen Inc., a manufacturer of plastic injection molds for the automotive, medical, appliance and consumer products industries, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit alleging that a local egg producer created a hostile work environment for a former female employee and then retaliated against her when she filed a complaint about her treatment.

BIG RAPIDS — Ferris State University has landed a nearly $670,000 federal grant to expand virtual-based science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programming for rural high school students.

ALTO — A key aspect of Industry 4.0 technology is finding a way to automate processes that are repetitive, dull, dirty or even dangerous.

Even at the age of 25, Andrew Nikolopoulos has 10 years of experience in the growing space. The journey started in a high school program, where he worked at a greenhouse building irrigation systems and then transitioned to stints for irrigation and construction companies. At the age of 21, he brought all of those skills together to grow cannabis, creating his own caregiver grow operation. He is now the grower and part owner for Summer House, a planned 1,500-plant cannabis grow and processing facility that will start its build out this fall in Muskegon Heights. He talked to MiBiz about how Industry 4.0 concepts and advanced technology have transformed growing.

As executive director of the Manufacturing Growth Alliance, Jennifer Deamud helps connect small and medium-size manufacturers across Michigan with necessary resources to conquer challenges in the marketplace.

Dozens of Michigan farms and food processors have been awarded $15 million in COVID-19 relief grants to create safer work conditions for employees and protect the food industry as a whole, state officials announced Wednesday.

More than five years ago, Avio-Tech Ltd. quoted a project to produce control panels and components for industrial conglomerate Textron Inc.

In the summer of 2019, Chris Ake and a couple of fellow tech entrepreneurs entertained the idea of building out artificial intelligence-fueled smart scheduling software they were already using to quickly and easily schedule meetings.

Facing limited capacity and modified business models, restaurants in every segment are looking for all possible ways to whittle down costs.

At Tech Defenders — a business that specializes in repairing, refurbishing and reselling laptops and mobile devices — processing a used device and finding it a new home used to take about 60 days.

Thanks to recent upgrades to its network, Comcast Corp.’s residential and commercial clients across a large swath of West Michigan now have easier access to 1 gigabit-per-second internet speeds.

KALAMAZOO — With an uncertain future ahead and the opportunity to make a clean exit from his business, owner Kevin Tibbs and his team at Kalamazoo-based Tibbs Brewing Company announced this week that it would be shutting its doors.

ZEELAND — With some lingering economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic weighing it down, Zeeland-based office furniture giant Herman Miller (NASDAQ: MLHR) still offered a better-than-expected earnings report late Wednesday.

LANSING — More than a dozen statewide beer, wine and liquor retailers spoke out against a potential liquor license at the Michigan Liquor Control Commission Wednesday as corporate retailer Total Wine & More seeks to establish its first store in Michigan.

The 81 employees who were furloughed by national restaurant chain Dave & Buster’s in Kentwood will be laid off permanently.

GRAND RAPIDS — After the ouster of its CEO last summer, SpartanNash Co. has found a new leader.

Grand Rapids-based technology and digital consultant OST announced last week an acquisition that would bolster its existing presence in Minneapolis, Minn.

Jeff Brennan is hungry for new ideas and best practices that might help his manufacturing business slog its way through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Steven Martinez-Thiel put together a detailed timeline that would transform his love and expertise of breakfast tacos and Tex-Mex fare into a new food business.

MUSKEGON — About five years ago, the fledgling Pigeon Hill Brewing Co. LLC in Muskegon shipped its beer out of the state for the first time when it sent a single keg to the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia.

A new partnership will bring whiskey from Three Oaks-based Journeyman Distillery LLC to all 50 states.

GRAND RAPIDS — Reduced demand brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant workforce reduction at Steelcase Inc.

In a business climate in which manufacturers are pressured to stay up on the latest technology, there is little wonder why Michigan-based companies might look to Israel for best practices.

BATTLE CREEK — Economic development organization Battle Creek Unlimited and St. Philip Roman Catholic Church in Battle Creek have come together for a project that embraces the identity of the Cereal City.

HOLLAND — Live music stages in West Michigan and across the country have been largely empty over the last six months with the COVID-19 pandemic suspending traditional concerts. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the supply of hand sanitizer dried up, nearly every member organization of the Michigan Craft Distillers Association rolled up their sleeves to pivot from producing spirits to making hand sanitizer.