GRAND RAPIDS — The $2.05 million in funding Sportsman Tracker Inc. raised this spring will go to further develop a social media platform and mobile app for hunters. As some social media platforms begin to give lower value to hunting content, Sportsman Tracker CEO Jeff Courter saw an opportunity to further build his HuntWise app that has been downloaded by 2 million users.

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.

Business advocates in Lansing panned Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposal to implement what she called “tax parity” by having small businesses pay the same 6-percent state income tax now levied on corporations in Michigan.

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.

Matt Emery felt ready to move on from the automotive industry after 15 years, so last fall he began looking around for a business to buy. After considering a contract manufacturer, machine shops, an HVAC business and others, Emery found the “perfect fit” in Think Chromatic LLC, a Comstock Park-based small company that does 3-D rendering and animation.

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.