News
Good Jobs, Clean Homes, Stronger Communities: The Ripple Effect of a People-First Business
When I started Jeannie Cleaning ten years ago, I thought excellent customer service was enough. I quickly learned it went beyond that. Coming from a restaurant background, I assumed my leadership experience would translate seamlessly to my cleaning business. But in...
AI Is Here. The Real Question for Southwest Michigan Businesses Is Whether Our Systems Are Ready.
If you run a small or mid-sized business in Southwest Michigan, you’ve probably heard some version of this sentence lately: “AI is going to change everything.” That part is probably true. What’s less helpful is everything that usually comes after it. Most...
Goodwill Golf Classic Tees Up Third Annual Event
Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan will bring back its Goodwill Golf Classic on Monday, July 27 at Gull Lake View Golf Resort, with registration opening March 1. The third annual outing continues to support Goodwill’s work in education, training, skill...
Battle Creek VA Lands Federal Funding
WMU Names Student Pitch Finalists
Is Your Website Your Hardest-Working Employee?
Over the past few months, while meeting with business owners across Michigan, Northern Indiana, and the Chicago region, one comment keeps coming up: "We have a website… but we're not sure if it's actually helping our business grow." Many companies launched their...
The Evolving Role of Property Management in Southwest Michigan
As the Southwest Michigan housing market continues to grow and evolve, so does the role of property management. What was once viewed as a largely administrative function has become a strategic service that directly impacts investment performance, housing quality, and...
Every Stitch Matters: Inside the Hand-Guided Process at Heirloom Stitching
In Nottawa Township, where open farmland and small businesses shape the landscape east of Three Rivers, a quiet manufacturing operation is turning out hundreds of boot uppers a day through a process that depends as much on skilled hands as it does on machinery....
Aligning Workforce, Housing, and Michigan’s Economic Competitiveness
Recent conversations in Lansing highlight an important reality for Michigan’s economy: long-term competitiveness will depend on how well the state aligns workforce development, housing availability, and economic development policy. Last month, economic development...
AI Search and the Pitfalls of Chasing Google AI Overviews
Google search results never stop evolving. And, as a small business, it can be a huge challenge to stay on top of new updates, understand new features, and explore the new opportunities they offer. If you get all of your Google- and SEO-related news from LinkedIn, you...
Southwest Michigan Brewery Earns National No. 1 Ranking for Best Beer Garden
Beyond the Bottom Line: Breaking the Three-Generation Curse in Family Business
In the world of family business, there is a haunting proverb often whispered in boardrooms: “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”. The first generation builds the business through grit and sacrifice, the second enjoys the fruits of that labor, and the...