Displaying items tagged: small business

WYOMING — The owners of the Garage Bar & Grill are selling the bar to the owners of India Town, a restaurant located adjacent to the bar along South Division Avenue.

Turn Key Installation LLC, a Grandville-based contracting company that specializes in conveyor systems, made a recent strategic acquisition by purchasing another West Michigan business.

GRAND RAPIDS — Chris Wawee, owner of MWS Wholesale Auto Outlet in Grand Rapids is expanding operations just north of his business after acquiring property that houses Al’s Trailer Mart.

The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying shutdowns of bars, brewpubs, taprooms and tasting rooms had an undeniably negative effect on West Michigan craft beverage makers and their balance sheets.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dennis Grumm’s brand of can seamers went from a luxury amenity to a requirement for many craft beverage producers.

A health plan that for years has provided coverage for employees at beer and wine wholesalers in Michigan now looks to offer the same benefits to craft brewers, distilleries and wineries across the state, providing a potential lower-cost option to consider.

Looking back on a 2020 plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ed Collazo didn’t sound like a business owner who just saw his company’s revenue plummet by half a million dollars for the year.

Opening a cannabis dispensary comes with significant barriers, but West Michigan entrepreneurs are looking at opportunities other than retail storefronts to get their foot in the door of the burgeoning industry.

Brewery Nyx LLC owner Jessica Stricklen recently unveiled plans for what will be the first gluten-free microbrewery in Michigan, to be located at 506 Oakland Ave. SW in Grand Rapids’ Roosevelt Park neighborhood.

GRAND RAPIDS — The city’s first cannabis dispensary has launched a business incubator called Fluresh Accelerator, which aims to increase access and equity in the growing cannabis industry.

Kent County restaurant owners will get a break from paying food service licensing fees for 2021 after county commissioners approved the one-time waiver on Thursday.

GRAND RAPIDS — From the moment Steven Martinez-Thiel launched his Grand Rapids-based food startup Basalt, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to derail it.

GRAND RAPIDS — Brothers Chris and Andy Schaefer managed through cost overruns and construction delays during the COVID-19 pandemic and recently opened their new Pux Cider Taphouse in the city’s Midtown neighborhood.

Venue owners celebrated in late December when the $900 billion federal stimulus package was passed and included $15 billion earmarked for live venues. But more than two months have passed and funding applications still haven’t been released, pending guidance from federal officials.

GRAND RAPIDS — Owners of indoor event centers are pushing state officials for expanded capacity limitations and a clearer reopening timeline as key COVID-19 metrics continue to decline and vaccines become more widely available.

GRAND RAPIDS — One Trick Pony Grill & Taproom and the nearly century-old Cottage Bar and Restaurant have both sold a year after one of the owners announced plans to retire and find a buyer for the businesses.

GRAND RAPIDS— Safety training company TrainMOR saw business come to a screeching halt last spring when the COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions to the general industrial clients that it serves.

BYRON CENTER — It’s hard for Break Room Therapy owner Dawn Levian to tell whether she is getting more customers by word of mouth since opening two years ago or because people are looking for an outlet for pandemic-induced stress. 

The Biden administration on Monday announced a series of changes to the Paycheck Protection Program that are aimed at improving access to federal COVID-19 relief loans for small and minority-owned businesses.

Max Friar, managing partner at Grand Rapids-based M&A firm Calder Capital LLC, routinely found his company passing on potential clients because of the size of their businesses.

Working in the wedding industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread restrictions on large gatherings has been stressful for Jennifer Elenbaas.

Tami VandenBerg successfully applied for the first round of federal Paycheck Protection Program loans for her small businesses in 2020.

KALAMAZOO — As she connected with businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, long-time professional recruiter Sheri Welsh noticed that HR departments were becoming largely depleted as the economic slowdown decimated many industries.

As clients began reaching out in recent weeks to gather documents and apply for forgiveness of their federal Paycheck Protection Program loans from last year, executives at Level One Bank urged them to wait. 

Robin Burns took over as head of the Grand Rapids-based Family Business Alliance in November after nearly 12 years as marketing director at the Rhoades McKee law firm in Grand Rapids. The FBA was created in 2006 as a partnership with the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and Grand Valley State University and later reorganized as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit. With more than 150 member companies, the FBA’s mission is to ensure family-owned businesses in the region are passed down to future generations. Burns spoke with MiBiz about what’s next for the organization.

Michigan small businesses were approved for more than $1.5 billion in federal loans during the first two weeks of the new Paycheck Protection Program the U.S. Small Business Administration launched earlier this month.

The new round of federal Paycheck Protection Program loans includes a number of changes from the prior funding intended to aid small businesses hurting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

SPRING LAKE — It has been nearly a year since Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake had a crowd of people packed together for a live music performance, but owners Gary and Michelle Hanks hope to see shows return in some capacity in 2021. 

SPARTA TOWNSHIP — Stoney Ridge Winery LLC officially opened in June 2020 after a few soft opening events at the start of the pandemic.

GRAND HAVEN — A West Michigan-based company that developed a patented ultraviolet light technology to kill off pathogens on surfaces and in the air will see its technology deployed in select McDonald’s restaurants.