The Kent County Road Commission has voted to deny a more than $5 million bid for its Central Complex property along the Grand River
Sparta-based ChoiceOne Financial Services Inc. plans to merge with Lapeer-based County Bank Corp. in a deal that would create a bank with a combined $1.28 billion in assets.
Biz groups await word on minimum wage, paid sick leave ahead of March 29 deadline
Written by Mark SanchezState laws raising the minimum wage and setting new requirements on employers for paid sick leave go into effect toward at the end of this week, unless Michigan’s attorney general or highest court say otherwise. Laws that legislators first enacted following petition drives and subsequently amended in the lame-duck session at the end of 2018 are the subject of requests to both state Attorney General Dana Nessel and the Michigan Supreme Court. At issue is whether the legislature has the ability under the state Constitution to amend laws in the same legislative session in which they were originated through citizen petition.
GRANDVILLE — Mall owner Brookfield Property Partners LP has purchased the former Younkers store at RiverTown Crossings in Grandville. The purchase came as part of A&G Realty Partners’ auction of 10 department store properties formerly owned by Milwaukee-based The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2018. The Younkers location at The Lakes Mall in Fruitport Charter Township near Muskegon was also included in the auction.
LINC UP partners with Ohio developer on proposed $17 million housing project
Written by Sydney SmithGRAND RAPIDS — To help curb fears of gentrification, a local nonprofit and an Ohio-based developer have partnered on an affordable housing development on the city’s southeast side. Ohio-based MVAH Development LLC, a development, construction and property management firm, is working with LINC UP on the proposed Eastern Lofts at 623 Eastern Ave. SE. The two hope to secure Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) in the April funding round.
For nearly 90 years, workers in the rural community of Evart processed dairy products out of the Dean’s Dairy building. After shutting its doors and ending an era in 2013, the vacant building now has new owners who plan to repurpose it for automotive component manufacturing.
Scripps bid for WXMI, other stations could pave way for Nexstar-Tribune merger
Written by Jessica YoungE.W. Scripps Co. plans to acquire eight television stations, including Grand Rapids-based WXMI, in the most recent arrangement to come from the mega-merger of a pair the nation’s largest media giants.
Taylor Tooling Group LLC, a Walker-based CNC machining company and tool and die maker, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Grand Rapids-based Long Road Distillers LLC hopes to open a new satellite tasting room on the lakeshore.
A vacant church in Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill neighborhood could be transformed into affordable housing by next year.
Ninety applicants must now await a lottery drawing to see when the city of Grand Rapids will consider their plans for medical marijuana-based businesses.
Spectrum Health-owned hospitals in Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Zeeland and St. Joseph are among seven in Michigan ranked in an annual list of the 100 Top Hospitals in the U.S.
When Chico, Calif.-based Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. put out the “bat signal” seeking help to support victims of last year’s catastrophic Camp Fire in northern California, the Michigan craft brewing industry set into motion. Their rallying point: Resilience Butte County Proud IPA. Sierra Nevada created the beer as a fundraiser, pledging to donate 100 percent of its profits from the sale of the product to the Camp Fire Relief Fund. The 10th-largest U.S. brewery then shared the recipe online and encouraged breweries all over the country to participate.
MUSKEGON — The city of Muskegon has bolstered its economic development office amid a wave of major redevelopment projects, and while a local support organization continues to define its future and transition to private-sector support. The city reorganized and expanded the office from a half-time economic development position shared through a contract with Muskegon County, to two new full-time, in-house staffers.
VICKSBURG — A proposed large-scale redevelopment in Southwest Michigan is angling to be the second project in the state to use a new funding tool. Paper City Development LLC is hopeful its proposal will meet the Michigan Strategic Fund’s criteria to use the state’s transformational brownfield program, an incentive first enacted in 2017.
Michigan’s handling of past chemical contamination incidents offers perspective on what it’s going to take to clean up the state’s PFAS problems. Expect it to take decades, billions of dollars and some awkward dances of cooperation. Reporting on PFAS to date has focused mostly on environmental concerns and pointing blame at the companies and organizations that have discharged the emerging contaminant into water supplies. MiBiz's three-part series will go beyond the heated rhetoric to offer a dose of reality about how to handle the complex challenges stemming from the equally complex chemical.
The path to cleaning up man-made chemical contamination is expensive, complex and can take generations. That’s according to Richard Rediske, senior program manager and professor of environmental chemistry at Grand Valley State University’s Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute. Rediske, an expert on PFAS, has worked with the Concerned Citizens for Responsible Remediation, the group that for years has been chronicling contamination at the former Wolverine World Wide Inc. tannery site in Rockford.
Michigan congressional delegation takes leadership position as first responder to PFAS
Written by Jessica YoungAs the scope of PFAS contamination continues to grow nationwide, lawmakers in other states increasingly are taking note of how the situation is being handled in Michigan. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, recruited about 30 members of Congress “from virtually every part of the county” to join a bipartisan “PFAS taskforce” he formed with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Pennsylvania.
The practice of environmental law in the United States has evolved to better define who is liable for contamination cleanups. That’s according to veteran environmental lawyer Alan Schwartz, a member of Grand Rapids-based Miller, Johnson, Snell & Cummiskey PLC.
Michigan needs to buckle up for a long, long ride on the PFAS rollercoaster. If history is any guide, coming up with workable solutions to PFAS contamination around the state is going to take decades of painstaking work, billions of dollars and many awkward dances of cooperation between companies, government agencies and citizens groups.
After 25 years representing manufacturers in Lansing through the Michigan Manufacturers Association, President and CEO Chuck Hadden is retiring at the end of 2019. He took over leadership of MMA at a nadir for manufacturers, when the fate of the auto industry and its supply chain was a big question mark looming over the state.
MUSKEGON — Shifting dynamics in the automotive industry convinced family-owned Hines Corp., an industrial holding company, to seek a buyer for its Michigan Spring & Stamping LLC operations. The decision came after Michigan Spring successfully launched a new production facility in China in September 2018 in response to demands from a key customer, said George “Bud” Hendrick III, executive vice president of corporate development at Hines Corp.
HUDSONVILLE — SoundOff Signal, a global supplier of LED vehicle lighting, control systems, and electronic warning products, prides itself on a quarter century of “smart design” and hometown service. The Hudsonville-based company started in 1992 with a single innovative solution to a uniquely dangerous problem. At the time, research indicated that motorcyclists were inadvertently leaving their turn signals on after completing a turn, resulting in motorist confusion and leading to serious accidents. SoundOff Signal designed a device that initiated a beeping sound once the turn signal was activated, reminding the cyclist to turn the signal off once a turn was complete.
Key aspects of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s first budget proposal involving education and road funding have drawn mixed reactions from the business community, but advocates are aligned in opposition of leveling the tax rate among Michigan companies. Whitmer has proposed reinstating a tax exemption on pensions that was eliminated by former Gov. Rick Snyder, and offsetting the decreased revenue with higher taxes on smaller businesses.
Startup helps employers create channels for whistleblowers to report problems
Written by Mark SanchezGRAND 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.
Affiliation of Porter Hills, United Methodist Retirement Communities drives efficiencies
Written by Mark SanchezGRAND RAPIDS — A need to generate administrative efficiencies and better compete for talent contributed to driving the affiliation between senior living providers Porter Hills Presbyterian Village Inc. in Grand Rapids and Chelsea-based United Methodist Retirement Communities Inc.
A $1.4 million line item in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $60.2 billion budget proposal unveiled March 5 calls for a three-year project to catalog “hazardous materials pipelines” that cross Michigan waterways. Department of Natural Resources Director Daniel Eichinger told lawmakers this month the study, spurred by the debate over Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, is needed to fill an information gap about dangers posed to Michigan waters.
GRAND RAPIDS — A capital fund providing commercial real estate bridge loans raised more than $11 million from investors in its first few months and closed on transactions with three borrowers. Red Oak Capital GP LLC of Grand Rapids continues to close monthly on investments from new investors en route to a goal of raising $50 million through a bond offering by the end of 2019, with two six-month extensions if needed. The capital raised goes to a national fund that provides senior lines of credit for commercial real estate deals that do not yet qualify for bank financing.
GRAND RAPIDS — Nearly a year after closing on the acquisition of a community bank on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Lake Michigan Credit Union could extend its footprint further in the Sunshine State. By following members who are migrating south for the warmer climate in retirement, the Grand Rapids-based Lake Michigan Credit Union is presently looking at other community banks in Florida, said President and CEO Sandra Jelinski.
Generational shifts, need for efficiencies drive consolidation for some United Ways
Written by Jane C. SimonsBuilding the United Way brand and providing a consistent donor experience is imperative for the organization and its affiliates to remain relevant. Those were among the factors that led to the announcement in January of the Van Buren County United Way’s decision to join forces with the United Way of Southwest Michigan for back office operations.