January 2015 Issue

Trend Watch: Local Banks Adapt, Capitalize

By Ross Boissoneau

With mergers, morphing regulations, continued innovations in technology and new options for consumers, the financial industry is undergoing a massive amount of change – requiring nimble thinking and quick adaptation. The TCBN tapped some local banking professionals for the trends they are watching – and reacting to – in 2015.

DRIVE TO DIGITAL

Led by technology, the increasing focus on digital and mobile applications has demanded that banks adjust the ways in which they interact with customers.

Consulting firm Accenture reports that 35 percent of banks’ market share could be in play by 2020 as traditional branch banking gives way …

Financial Planning: Get The Big Picture

Do you picture yourself owning a new home, starting a business or retiring comfortably? These are a few of the financial goals that may be important to you and each comes with a price tag attached.

That’s where financial planning comes in. Financial planning is a process that can help you target your goals by evaluating your whole financial picture, then outlining strategies that are tailored to your individual needs and available resources.

A comprehensive …

Mobile Payment Programs Grow Up

By Ross Boissoneau

As retailers look for more options for collecting and processing payments from customers, customers are similarly seeking ways to use technology and not be be forced to carry cash. The result is a variety of innovative software applications, many of which are being used regularly in this market.

PayPal was one of the first “digital wallets,” used for online payments at eBay, among other places. It soon became a subsidiary of the online commerce giant, …

Traverse City Business Hall Of Fame

By Jodee Taylor

The annual Business Hall of Fame enshrines the most influential and notable leaders who have helped build Traverse City throughout the decades. Now in its third year, we induct its two newest members: James Munson – who was innovative in his treatment of psychiatry as the leader of Traverse City's State Hospital and gave northern Michigan its first hospital, and Art Schmuckal, whose business was gas stations and convenience stores but whose philanthropy touched all …

Resolved For Positive Things In 2015

The coming year is a significant benchmark for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce as it celebrates its 100th year of operation. The Chamber’s been blessed over the decades by the many pioneers of business who took on major roles in the organization – and continue to do so …

By Doug Luciani

Keeping The Family Business Alive

Family firms comprise 80 to 90 percent of all business enterprises. Less than half of these family-owned businesses survive into the second generation. And only 12 percent will still be viable into the third generation, with three percent of all family businesses operating at the fourth-generation level and beyond, according …

The Beers Bankers

For some families, it’s common for one or two generations to follow the same career path. The Kennedys in politics and the Bernsteins in law are just a couple of examples.

But it’s very rare when five generations of the same family – dating back more than a century-and-a-half – …

By Al Parker

Newsmakers: People On The Move

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Ian Ashton recently joined Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as a branch manager in its Traverse City, Grand Rapids and Portage offices.

Peggy Campbell has joined State Savings Bank’s new loan center in downtown Traverse City as vice president of mortgage lending. …

By Lynn Geiger

2-Minute Business Lesson

Beyond Revenue – Measuring Company Performance

The Case Study:

Ginny Martin, owner of Academy Publishing, knew she could dominate the educational textbook industry by creating graphically superior textbooks coupled with third-party evidence of increased academic outcomes. In addition to being spot on with her product, she had hired a team …

By Mary Rogers

Lenders Of Choice

In may best be described as a classic case of supply meeting demand. Several area credit unions are increasingly targeting business owners looking for an alternative to banks as their lender of choice.

Case in point: Lake Michigan Credit Union, which for the last four years has been actively pursing …

Cherry Capital Airport Rising With TC

Many new and exciting changes took place in 2014 at Cherry Capital Airport. New business opportunities from fueling to flight instruction, festivals to flights, our airport has seen the positive growth continue in a way the rest of the nation has not. Why? TripAdvisor said it best … in naming …

By Kevin Klein

Briefly: Big News In A Small Format

ACCOLADES

SCORE TURNS 25

SCORE Traverse City recently marked its 25th year serving small businesses in the five-county Grand Traverse region. The all-volunteer, nonprofit association provides free and confidential business mentoring to more than 600 entrepreneurs each year. In addition, last year it offered free workshops to nearly 500 attendees. …

By Lynn Geiger

Book Review: Hatching Twitter

Hatching Twitter

A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal

320 pages, Portfolio Trade, 2013

Hardcover $17.00, e-Read version $7.99

Most of us have an image of an inventor shaped by the works of Edison, Bell and the Wright Brothers: Hardworking souls toiling through hours of experiments until a …

By Chris Wendel

People, Places and Products

PEOPLE, PLACES AND PRODUCTS TO WATCH 2015

NATE GRISWOLD

PRESIDENT OF INHABITECT, LLC

If you think green roofs are simply roofs painted green, think again.

Meet Nate Griswold, whose name is landing on many developers’ short list these days. Griswold installs custom green roofs – also called garden roofs, living …

By Lynn Geiger

Michigan’s Energy Future: Get Real, Or Lights Out

By 2016, Michigan will lose 1.3 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power the combined populations of Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing! That alarming factoid is found in a new report on electric reliability from Public Sector Consultants (PSC) of Lansing. The report states that Michigan will fall below the standard …

By Ron Jolly

Don't Shrink From Big Thinking

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood….”

American architect Daniel Burnham is known for helping design some of the country’s most notable structures and majestic cities, including Chicago and San Francisco. His time-tested words from more than a century ago are as relevant as ever …

By Doug Luciani

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