Kentwood-based Supply Chain Solutions Inc. has acquired a logistics company based in Mexico in a deal that executives say will create efficiencies through more seamless cross-border transportation.  The recent deal for Mexico City-based Transport Accion S.A. marks the ninth acquisition for Supply Chain Solutions since its founding in 2001.  Transport Accion is a full-service logistics company that provides international freight and maritime cargo transportation as well as supply chain logistics. The company was founded in 1976 and currently has 18 employees.  Les Brand, co-execu ..read more

After a tornado swept through Portage Tuesday evening, breweries are supporting and being supported by the community around them as the area starts to recover.  According to the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids, the tornado took place from 5:55 p.m. to approximately 6:15 p.m. in the Kalamazoo-Portage area, leaving a swath of destruction that has damaged dozens of homes and businesses.  “It brought us to tears today when we were finally able to get out of our neighborhood (both entrances are still blocked by downed trees and live wires), driving through our city and seeing the ..read more

Don Parfet is hoping he can experience some deja vu all over again, to use a phrase coined by that great microbiologist Yogi Berra. Parfet is managing director of Kalamazoo-based Apjohn Group LLC, which focuses on investments in early-stage life-science companies and which has led a seed funding round of $1.25 million in Iaso Therapeutics Inc., a spinoff of Michigan State University housed in the school’s Van Camp Incubator building east of its East Lansing campus. Apjohn invested $387,000 in the round, joined by two MSU funds, the Michigan Rise fund, which invested $175,000 and Red Cedar Vent ..read more

Businesses in Portage are scrambling to recover, and banding together, in the wake of at least one confirmed tornado that touched down Tuesday night in the city south of Kalamazoo. The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids confirmed via radar and on-the-ground spotters that a tornado took place around 5:55 p.m. to approximately 6:15 p.m. in the Kalamazoo-Portage area.  Another cell went through the Portage area about an hour and 15 minutes after the first tornado, with spotters on the ground saying it was a tornado. National Weather Service Meteorologist Nathan Jeruzal said the second ..read more

Dowagiac-based Mno-Bmadsen, the non-gaming investment arm of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, has expanded its construction portfolio with the recent acquisition of a Northwest Indiana contractor.  OJS Building Services Inc. is based in Mishawaka, Ind., and specializes in HVAC, plumbing and building automation services.  The deal brings on new clients in Mno-Bmadsen’s construction services group, stronger HVAC control services, and OJS’ approximately 7-acre location. OJS also complements Rolling Prairie, Ind.-based mechanical contractor D.A. Dodd, which Mno-Bmadsen acquired in ..read more

Corina and Vasilios Sepsakos, owners of Brickyard Tavern and Brick and Porter in Grand Rapids, are opening a third restaurant in their hometown of Holland at the former Ottawa Beach Inn.  The restaurant, named Reservoir, will seat 165 guests for upscale Italian-American fare during the summer and switch to a menu of easy comfort food during the off-season for local diners.  Reservoir is located at 2155 Ottawa Beach Road, the site of the former Ottawa Beach Inn in Park Township on the north side of Lake Macatawa, adjacent to Holland State Park. The restaurant space was rebranded as ye ..read more

Demolition work started this week at the future site of the 12,000-capacity Acrisure Amphitheater at 201 Market Ave. SW, the latest in several moving pieces ahead of an anticipated 2026 opening. On Friday, local officials announced a formal groundbreaking on May 21 for the project, and that multinational concert promoter and booker Live Nation has joined the fold. To make way for the amphitheater, several city departments had to be relocated from 201 Market to make way for the development. Grand Rapids Public Works Director John Gorney told WOOD-TV8 that the mild winter helped with the departm ..read more

Grand Rapids entrepreneur Winsome Kirton is building a national e-commerce marketplace connecting local, BIPOC, LGBTQ, women and veteran-owned businesses to businesses aiming to support them through marketing or corporate gifting purchases.  Winsome Kirton, Heard.io Heard.io connects companies looking for client or employee gifts with a wide range of diverse-owned small businesses across the country, allowing users to filter between local and national makers. In addition to bridging the gap between small businesses and larger companies, the platform allows companies to search for makers t ..read more

A new initiative from Fifth Third Bank will offer local economic data for clients, employers, and business and political leaders to use to better understand local trends as they plan for the future.  The Empowering American Cities program is a collaboration between Cincinnati, Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It will offer insights on the local economy of 150 mid-sized markets across the U.S., with data including micro-economic outlooks, growth characteristics, local workforce concentrations and c ..read more

Priority Health has named Dr. Elif Oker as senior vice president and chief medical officer.  Oker will lead clinical, pharmacy and population health programs as well as chronic disease management strategy for the 1.3-million-member Priority Health, Michigan’s second-largest health plan. She starts May 20 and comes from Indianapolis-based health insurer Elevance Health Inc., formerly Anthem Health, where she served as chief clinical officer since early 2020.  Dr. Elif Oker “Elif is an accomplished health care executive and board-certified physician who has led health care transformati ..read more