'You've Just Got to Keep Rolling': Inside the mind of Jeff Schmitz, Traverse City's most unflinching developer

By Art Bukowski

Jeff Schmitz isn’t going to rest on his laurels.

There's a better chance he burns the laurels and scatters the ashes into the wind, maybe at the Arctic Circle (more on that later).

Even if a development project is a hit by all accounts – even if it looks good, turns a profit and earns rave reviews – he’s more interested in what went wrong than what went right.

Schmitz has been watching as his latest local hotel project, the ambitious Syndicate, rises along Grandview Parkway across from the Open Space and next to Hotel Indigo (his first Traverse City …

Best of Times or Worst of Times?: Five burning questions about TC's milestone summer tourism season

By Craig Manning

It’s not every year the United States celebrates its “semiquincentennial” – the word for a 250th anniversary. It’s also not every year that your town’s marquee festival (and biggest tourism draw) marks its own centennial.

For Traverse City, both of those major milestones are happening in the very same summer – and on the very same weekend.

Trevor Tkach, president and CEO of Traverse City Tourism (TVC), says that convergence is enough to set up …

Power to the Workers: Employee-owned companies gain momentum in region's business community

By Rick Haglund

Although they’re years away from retirement, Tyler and Jen Cerny wanted to ensure their company would remain locally owned long after they left. They decided an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, was the way to go.

“I’m a big advocate of it,” said Tyler Cerny, 53, president of Strata Design in Traverse City. “I have acquaintances who sold their businesses to larger companies. It changed their whole businesses and how they operate.”

Cerny

Strata …

Bottling the Great Lakes: One perfumer's take on the 'quiet luxury' trend in northern Michigan

By Kierstin Gunsberg

In the branding realm, “quiet” might not be the first word to hit the pitch deck. Then again, if we’re talking “quiet luxury,” an aspirational consumer lifestyle, the word is a harbinger to one of the largest and most profitable market shifts following the mid-2000’s fall of the conspicuous “logomania” era, when emblazoned designer goods from Gucci and Louis Vuitton reigned and to which quiet luxury acts as an understated antithesis.

Research firm Polaris estimates that …

The Big Balancing Act: Seasonality presents a cashflow crunch for businesses

By Art Bukowski

'We're Trying to Catch Up': Emmet County housing push falls short of demand

By Ross Boissoneau

Learning to Fly: Talking roots and wings with six NMC Aviation alumni

By Craig Manning

Keeping Our Grads: Why northern Michigan's future depends on bridging the gap from college to career

By Warren Call

'Our Market is Strong and Very Resilient': Airport director Kevin Klein sees blue skies ahead

By Luke Haase

Market FOMO?: Psychology of money sheds light on investment choices

By Holly Gallagher

The Friendly Skies: Demand remains strong for private flights in northern Michigan

By Art Bukowski

'Truly Iconic': Former Stafford's properties get new life within Cotton Collection

By Art Bukowski

The Price of Money: Rising capital costs should make founders more disciplined, not less ambitious

By Jody Lundquist

Turning a 'No' to a 'Yes': Navigating the commercial loan application process

By Steve Strasko

From the Desk of Andrew Kohlmann, Owner of Image360

By Art Bukowski

Taking the Wheel: Why financial education is the ultimate power move for women

By Heidi Cartwright

When COVID Created Community: How an unfinished third floor became a hub for collaboration

By Sid Van Slyke

Briefly

By Lynn Geiger

Newsmakers

By Lynn Geiger

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