GRAND RAPIDS — More than seven years, $2 million and 500 companies later, Varnum LLP signed on for a third round of providing free legal services to help new companies get off the ground. The Grand Rapids-based law firm will give away another $1 million in legal services through the MiSpringboard program that launched in 2011 under a push by then-Gov. Rick Snyder to support entrepreneurism as Michigan’s economy began recovering from the Great Recession.

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.

LANSING — A partnership between the state and an economic development organization for the Lansing area is providing an incubator and investment for high-tech, innovative insurance startups.

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.

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.

Novi-based I.T. firm Red Level Group LLC has acquired West Michigan business and technology consultant C/D/H.

The recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act purported to simplify tax structures, rates and exemptions, but accountants say small businesses face plenty of nuances depending on their size, structure and profits. “One thing I have noticed, people thought they were going to be left with simpler tax laws and to some extent, some have,” said Sally Steffes, CPA and one of the partners at H&S Companies PC. “There are many variables to contend with.” 

The federal tax reform Congress enacted at the end of 2017 comes with significant complexity that tax professionals say they’re still sorting through as the 2019 tax season begins. For the first time, tax advisers are beginning to prepare and file returns for clients under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Given the depth of the changes and the complexity of the new federal tax code, the only certainty for the 2019 tax season is the expectation that business owners will need to spend more time with their CPAs and tax advisers as they dive into the details and work through their returns.

Mandi Brower’s first job with the family business was working in college as a cashier at the Quality Car Wash store on Eighth Street in Holland. 

GRAND RAPIDS — When  realized it needed to add vehicles to its fleet to grow the business, founder Rich Flowers ran into some roadblocks familiar to many African American and minority entrepreneurs. 

GRAND RAPIDS — EPS Security has made its second acquisition of 2018.

GRAND RAPIDS — A niche law firm plans to relocate its Michigan headquarters to downtown, MiBiz has learned. 

The Michigan Strategic Fund steered additional money into two capital funds that support high-tech startups and growing small businesses in the state.

The Invest Michigan Pre-Seed Fund II received $3 million to invest in startups through loans or equity. Grow Michigan LLC will receive $9.6 million for a second mezzanine-style fund that will provide loans to growing small businesses.

A recent kerfuffle between Grand Rapids economic development officials and executives at Start Garden Inc. highlights the challenges cities face when they try to encourage more entrepreneurial investments. 

One West Michigan adviser hopes to channel the cultural shift toward localism into corporate succession planning by helping business owners preserve local ownership of their companies after an exit.

A $150,000 federal grant will enable Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women to expand virtual entrepreneurial training into new areas of Michigan.

Family-owned businesses have a few new items to sort through after the passage last year of the federal Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. Here is a look at some of the key considerations. 

In the middle of an extended construction industry expansion across West Michigan, most contractors are focused on running their businesses, rather than transitioning them to new ownership. 

A continued robust economy provides the right timing for business owners to consider selling their companies throughout the remainder of the year.

When Alan Hartline purchased Kingma’s Market four years ago, he pivoted away from a corporate world in which he was at the “mercy of quarterly earnings and Wall Street.”

More than 130 startups sought capital this year from a state-backed fund, far exceeding expectations and serving as another example of the need for funding at the earliest stages of the capital continuum.

Beyond angel funds and venture capital, entrepreneurs behind startup companies today have an assortment of business plan and pitch competitions to test their ideas and win funding.

Until last year, state law barred alcoholic beverage makers and wholesalers from using social media to promote their products at the retailer level, even though many of them did anyway.

GRAND RAPIDS — Accounting, law and marketing firms are hosting more educational and social gatherings than they were just three years ago.

HOLLAND — When Randy Boileau started his Holland-based communications company 14 years ago, he never intended to hand it off to the next generation in his family.

When two former executives of Pitsch Holding Company Inc. filed a lawsuit against three of their siblings in 2007, they probably didn’t know they’d be starting a 10-year war.