By Karen Stein Two years ago, Traverse City’s Trinity Lutheran School board of directors set out to revitalize the school and push it to the cutting edge of best practices. One of the upshots of the subsequent year of strategic planning and research was the Trinity...
Success in business is not always just about a good idea and a business plan.For Matt and Keegan Myers, success hinges on happiness and good relationships. Be happy where you are and who you are working with. Then you can build it, and they will...
TRAVERSE CITY - Carter Schmidt's business sense belies his age - except when he shows off the toy figurines that the budding entrepreneur buys with some of his earnings.Schmidt is eight years old, a third grader at Eastern Elementary, and has just celebrated the one-year...
Two enterprising youths launch businesses aimed to help - and help feed - animals.Declan Hilt's wish for a dog led not only to his family getting Bauer, a Jack Russell and Beagle mix, but also the start of a successful business."I haven't met a dog...
TRAVERSE CITY-A chance meeting 11 years ago at Mardi Gras in New Orleans between an energetic Aussie and an Elk Rapids tourist sparked the founding of Michigan's largest boat and watercraft rental business. "He made it sound so good, I came to the area to...
Michelle White began her career working with cherries in a food processing plant, an experience that would catapult her development of Michelle's Miracle Original Tart Montmorency Cherry Concentrate.White was dismayed by farmers having to dump their cherries on the ground to get paid for the...
One Small Business - One Smart IdeaPatent awarded to Northern Michigan roofing companyBy Karen JohnsonKINGSLEY - Springfield Commercial Roofing was recently awarded a patent for a breakthrough roofing system that removes the greatest threat posed to modern commercial roofs - water. The Springfield SmartShield™ -...
The local building and construction market may seem sluggish to some, but for one local entrepreneur time is on his side, and his building business is flourishing.Dean Adams, the young and gregarious owner of Bay Area Contracting, in part attributes his business success to taking...
On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. This new piece of legislation is undisputedly the most comprehensive overhaul to our nation's patent system in nearly six decades.The new law aims to spur innovation nationally by improving patent quality...
REGION - It's a popular misconception that only behemoth corporations can succeed in exporting internationally. Many small companies are finding that their competitive advantage lies in unique or niche-type products. Nowhere is that truer today than among Michigan's farmers, growers and food producers.In 2010, more...
