Newsmakers: People On The Move

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Kurt Bard has joined State Savings Financial Services as a financial advisor. He has helped clients through a comprehensive investment planning approach for the past 18 years. He holds Series 7,9 and 10 as well as 63 and 65 securities certifications.

Theresa Barton has joined Prout Financial Design …

Briefly: Big News In A Small Format

Consolidation In Local Concrete Industry

Traverse City-based Cornillie Concrete and McBain's Lake City Redi-Mix have combined their assets and operations and are now LC Materials.

The consolidation brings together two established companies in the concrete and aggregates industry in northern Michigan. The company is run by partners Rick Deneweth, Joe …

Propane: A Barrier To Affordable Development

Though there are numerous obstacles to improving the region’s affordable housing concerns, many feel dependence on propane in northern Michigan is chief among them.

For homeowners, propane can mean compounding costs, especially during winter and periods when supply is strained. For affordable housing developers, propane-only infrastructure can result in a …

Who Knew They Made it Here?

Since its beginning in 1988, a Traverse City company has grown into one of the largest independent manufacturers of store fixtures and commercial casework in Michigan.

Strata Design, at 1645 Park Drive, designs, builds and installs all types of modular commercial cabinets, laminate counters, store fixtures and more for hospitals, …

From Hiring To Firing (And All The Issues In Between)

Let’s say you’re a business manager or owner suddenly dealing with a difficult employee. You’re not sure whether to fire the employee or try to work things out.

If your company has a full-time human resources department, no problem; they can deal with it. But if you don’t, you might …

Real Estate As Economic Powerhouse

Many discussions are had each year about the regional economy and what drives economic prosperity for northwestern Michigan. Industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, service and health care always top the list. Noticeably missing, is real estate. Yet every one of these key industries share a common and humble thread as …

Power to the People: A Who's Who of Utilities Serving The Region

Most of us don’t think about electricity – or who supplies it – until we wake up in pitch-blackness during an outage and can’t make coffee the next morning. Fortunately, the region’s utility companies work behind the scenes 24/7 to make sure we don’t have so much as a blip …

Protect Investments To Stay Pointed In The Right Direction

Latest Pairing: Wine & Renewable Energy

Three local vineyards are proving that the 8,000-year-old art of winemaking can co-exist happily alongside new environmentally-friendly, cost-saving technologies.

Chateau Chantal on the Old Mission Peninsula and Brengman Brothers/Crain Hill Vineyards across the bay in Leelanau County are going big with harnessing solar power. Meanwhile, the under-construction Mari Vineyards, also …

Northwest Michigan's Food Economy Leads Way

Two years ago Mark Abbott envisioned FarmRaiser, a company that would take a new approach to school fundraisers by giving kids the chance to sell locally grown food. Buying local had become a major economic driver in just about every corner of the country. People seemed fatigued by the same …

The Great Electric Debate

Plant shutdowns, energy choice, renewables – What does the future hold for Michigan energy?

Few issues are more complex – and more important to northern Michigan businesses – than the generation and delivery of electric energy.

Lawmakers periodically have enacted sweeping changes in state energy policy, and they’re about to …

Local Control – A right and a privilege needing will and balance

When the world went into its downward spiral in 2008, fingers started pointing for who, what, when and why. Then, when the economy did not bounce right back, a lot of the blame for the bubble bursting got pushed from the federal government to the states, to the counties and …