June 2018 Issue

Groundwork Center Digs Deep: Stopping Line 5 and clean energy expo high on docket

By Jeff Smith

Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities is working hard and deep on two major initiatives these days: stopping Enbridge Inc's Line 5 and organizing this month's Michigan Clean Energy Conference and Expo.

Line 5 Pipeline

The risk of the Line 5 oil pipeline leaking and polluting the Mackinac Straits was made vividly real on April 1 when what is suspected to be a tugboat anchor dragged across the pipeline, causing three dents. Just a month later, Michigan State University released a study predicting a pipeline rupture lasting two hours could cause $5.6 billion in economic damage to northern Michigan.

Gov. Rick …

An Uncommon Melting Pot: Commonplace slated to open third co-working space

By Ross Boissoneau

A lawyer, a graphic designer and a business consultant walk into an office ... and it's no joke. It's the way Commonplace, a co-working space, functions on a daily basis.

And if not a lawyer, designer and consultant, it may be a social worker, a business broker or a home inspector – all those and more have called Commonplace their workspace at one time or another.

Commonplace is the brainchild of attorney Kate Redman, who …

Meet the Vineyard Managers Who Pair Skills with Winemakers

By Amy Lane

Making an award-winning wine takes more than good grapes. It takes a village.

Coenraad Stassen, winemaker and estate manager at Brys Estate Vineyard.

To that end, Coenraad Stassen, winemaker and estate manager at Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery, has teamed up with vineyard managers Agrivine Inc.

The company, owned by husband and wife Ben and Jen Bramer, works with Stassen to grow grapes for Brys' wines – a mission challenged by Mother Nature in no …

Making It In Northern MI: Traverse Solar

By Clark Miller

Local startup Traverse Solar is out to capture energy from the sun. But instead of buying and selling solar panels, company owner Nathan Bildeaux and his two partners have designed, tested and are now marketing their own high-tech mounting system that automatically adjusts the angle of solar panels.

The goal of the technology is simple: solar panels that catch more of the sun’s rays produce more electricity, often at a rate 30 percent higher than …

Tariffs, Aging Farmers and This Year's Farm Bill: Local growers weigh in

By Craig Manning

The Business of the Bay: Watery livelihoods work to protect their resource

For 21 days this summer, more than 4,000 kayakers will launch on the region's waters for a floating pub crawl.

The six-hour Paddle for Pints tours, which feature stops at six breweries for beers and snacks, sell out quickly. A late-winter Facebook post about the sale dates ended with, "Who's …

By Craig Manning

How TC State Bank's merger with Independent came to be and what happens next

An informal meeting last year prompted a $63.2 million merger between a downstate banking behemoth and Traverse City State Bank (TCSB).

The deal was one of many in the Midwest last year, which leads the nation in the number of bank mergers.

Lending limit restrictions in a growing market for …

By Rick Haglund

Building 58: Offices, condos, underground parking transform former warehouse

(See the "Inside the Village" insert inside the June TCBN for more updates on the Village at Grand Traverse Commons.)

New office space and premium condominiums are transforming a former warehouse at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons.

Construction is well underway at Building 58's $10 million redo, adding 24 …

By Mary Bevans Gillett

Credit Unions Look to Serve Marijuana Businesses

This isn't your father's credit union.

Credit unions, long known for loans to everyday Joes, are looking into a controversial new market: the cannabis industry.

Since the state began licensing dispensaries, interest in marijuana-related businesses in Michigan is rising.

This could allow credit unions and other financial institutions to legally …

By Rick Haglund

Patience is a Virtue in Public Advocacy

Several well-worn adages extol the benefits of patience and perseverance in pursuit of major, long-term goals.

And while it's true Rome wasn't built in a day, patience and perseverance are necessities in the political arena. It's more important now than ever in this age of precious little political compromise and …

By Doug Luciani

Book Review: The Gig Economy

The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing the Life You Want

by Diane Mulcahy

240 pages, published Nov. 8, 2016, AMACOM Press

Hardcover $22, e-read edition $10.95

In a nutshell: Diversifying into several job skills doesn’t just protect one from unemployment, it also means …

By Chris Wendel

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