January 2019 Issue

What to Watch: What will make headlines in 2019?

By Tcbn Staff

What will we be reading and hearing about this year? From big changes in key community leadership positions to medical marijuana businesses in Traverse City, the TCBN has once again compiled a list of the people, places and products that we predict will be making headlines in 2019.

Below are five items from the What to Watch list. See the January print edition for the entire list, which includes updates on the home sharing debate, a proposed child care center, Sugar Loaf, a new mobile wine bottling service, and much more.

Marijuana Poised To Light Up TC Market

By …

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

By Chris Wendel

By Brene´Brown

Reviewed by Chris Wendel

260 pages, Random House, Oct. 2018, Hardcover $20

In a Nutshell: In the latest of her bestselling books, research professor, author and speaker Brené Brown takes on the issue of vulnerability that prevents us from leading our companies, groups and families.

Who’s it for? “Dare to Lead” is a handbook of sorts for 21st century interpersonal communication. So, that includes essentially all of us.

Author’s Quote: “Rather than spending …

Building Your Brand: Five creative leaders weigh in on strategy, new clients and the challenge of rising above the crowd

By Lynn Geiger

Is your social media strategy working? How did that customer hear about your product? Is your brand identity projecting the image you really want? These are just a few of the countless questions marketing and design professionals tackle daily in their work for companies and organizations locally and across the country. This month, the TCBN asked the leaders at five local creative agencies to reflect on their work in 2018, and what they are excited …

After the Funeral: The cost of grief and how to support grieving colleagues

By Tonya Wildfong

Another year older and life is still happening. The New Year is a time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. Time to reflect on life and your place in it (attending three funerals will do that to you, especially when one funeral is on my birthday.)

The unexpected loss of a co-worker’s teenage grandchild, or loss of another co-worker’s daughter after a long struggle they thought she overcame, or the loss …

Traverse City Business Legends Hall of Fame - Meet the Inductees: Thirlby and Marsh Sr.

This year the TCBN inducts two more Traverse City business legends into the list we’ve been building and celebrating for seven years now: the entrepreneurs who have made lifetime contributions to the economic growth of the Grand Traverse area.

In 2013, we introduced the 10-member charter class. This year, we …

By Mary Bevans Gillett

New Obligations for Employers in 2019: Laws mandate paid medical leave, minimum wage increases

The Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA) and Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act (IWOWA) were signed into law by Gov. Snyder last month. Both laws will become effective 91 days after the last day of the legislative session, or around April 1, 2019.

The PMLA mandates that employers with 50 or …

Trademarking Pot-Based Products: Budding cannabis entrepreneurs have a growing list of options

Marijuana is now legal in Michigan, so it is probably a good time to take a look at the intersection of federal and state law and talk about what can or cannot be protected within a cannabis-based business under intellectual property law.

Let’s start with trademarks. Generally speaking, a trademark …

Ampel Feedback gets customers' comments on the spot

Local entrepreneur Sebastian Garbsch got the idea for his latest startup business in the least likely of places: an airport bathroom.

As Garbsch recalls it, he was catching a connecting flight at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago about six years ago. While washing his hands in a bathroom, he noticed …

By Craig Manning

Beyond the Logo: The importance of branding, what it really means and how to apply it to your business

We live in a branded world.

Think about it – every single day we are exposed to thousands of brands. It begins as soon as we wake up and check our phones for emails and messages. The barrage of brands continues as we drive to and from work, read a …

By Kevin Gillespie

Business and (Community) Service Go Hand in Hand

Business and service go together. A business may have the best product or concept on the planet, but without the service necessary to connect with customers, even the brightest ideas won’t reach their full potential. Same is true for success and service. Traverse City’s leadership landscape is packed with people …

By Doug Luciani

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