A new venture that could help farmers and budding entrepreneurs turn ideas and recipes into marketable products - and possibly businesses - is coming onto the northern Michigan food scene.Grow Benzie, the community nonprofit farmstead in Benzie County's Benzonia, is launching a state-licensed incubator kitchen...
Many entrepreneurs are just as cavalier in an unsteady business environment as they are during boom times. When I opened my own web presence and digital marketing business last year I jumped in with both feet. Like a geek, I always enjoyed building websites, blogging...
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...
Maxbauer Ace HardwareOpened 1954Three locations: Front Street, Chum's Corners, AcmeCo-owned by:Joan Boyd and Don Maxbauer'If you're smart, you adjust.'In the months before Lowe's and Menards opened their doors in 2005, the co-owners of Maxbauer Ace Hardware buckled down and strategized."We'd been through it before," said...
Ask any business owner to name the worst job they've ever held, and they'll often point to work they did in high school: flipping burgers, washing dishes, or cleaning cars. But for Traverse City entrepreneur Dan Brady, a $7-an-hour high school job painting houses led to...
TRAVERSE CITY - Weeds and broken concrete once greeted those who strolled alongside the Boardman River between Union and Cass streets 20 years ago.The arsenic-polluted soil underneath scared developers away until a ground-breaking state and federal concept lured them back with tax credits, cleanup assistance,...
TC Saves loan program comes to a close; more than 20 percent of city homeowners have participated in the energy assessment program so far.A residential energy savings program that has helped 550 Traverse City homeowners conserve energy and reduce heating bills while providing jobs for...
Whether you're getting ready to sell your home, plan to sell in five years, or just want to improve your surroundings, investing a few thousand dollars in your nest is a good way to augment your home's value. So, what should you do with $5,000...
A good friend recently sold his parents' home in Grand Rapids as it became too much for his elderly mother to care for. The house wasn't on the market for a day or two before an eager buyer snapped it up at the family's asking...
