Displaying items by tag: foodagri

With already thin profit margins, dine-in restaurants have faced the brunt of COVID-19 restrictions in Michigan, and many won’t emerge on the other side. Some owners — including Jeff Lobdell, president of Restaurant Partners Management Inc. — feel their businesses have been unfairly targeted as state officials sought to stem the surge of cases over the past month. Lobdell owns restaurants across the state, including several in the Grand Rapids area like Bagel Beanery, Sundance Grill & Bar, Beltline Bar, The Omelette Shoppe, Rockwell Republic and Noble Restaurant. Lobdell started the year operating 20 restaurants, nearly half of which have closed at least temporarily.

In addition to farming his own 1,800 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat in Ionia County, Jeff Sanborn is also active in both the Michigan and National Corn Growers associations. In fact, he has represented Michigan on the NCGA board and was a chairman on the NCGA Ethanol Committee. Sandborn shared insights on how the COVID-19 pandemic, new administration and other issues are poised to affect the agriculture industry in 2021.

If patronage of local Christmas tree lots and farms is any indication, then Michigan residents are really in the holiday spirit this year.

DUTTON — Opening a business in arguably the hardest hit industry of the COVID-19 pandemic era doesn’t seem like a promising concept on paper, but Justin Buiter and his team at Railtown Brewing Co. are leveraging special circumstances to do exactly that.

GRAND RAPIDS — Founders Brewing Co. has temporarily laid off 89 employees as the bar, restaurant, entertainment and hospitality industries cope with recent health guidelines handed down by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

GRAND RAPIDS — Chicago-based Factorial Holdings plans to construct 10 new Burger King restaurants in Grand Rapids over the next five years.

GRAND RAPIDS — Black Calder Brewing Co. is launching its first beer on Nov. 27, or “The Blackest Friday,” as the new brewery’s owners are calling it.

Heading into 2021, Brewery Vivant has worked with its distributor to get three different six-pack placements into Meijer Inc. stores on a statewide basis. 

The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association and two hospitality businesses filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the head of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in response to new business restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19.

GRAND RAPIDS — Grand Valley State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Project (SAP) has partnered with the nonprofit New City Neighbors to expand the Grand Rapids organization’s educational farm.