Success Stories

Creating prosperous communities and thriving businesses

Featured Success Stories

Buck’s Port Hope Diner

Port Hope, Michigan
The 217 residents of Port Hope are grateful. “Thank you for investing in our town.” “You’ve changed my business by opening yours.” “You put Port…
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Americana Manufacturing

Lapeer, Michigan
For Ben Logan, school was often a struggle. Dyslexia made traditional learning challenging, and he spent much of his time watching cartoons in a special…
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2024 Gift Guide

All Over Michigan
Support these wonderful small businesses this giving season This year, skip the big box stores and discover unique, thoughtfully crafted gifts from small businesses across…
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Cannas Capital

Muskegon, Michigan
Cimone Casson just wanted Martin Luther King Jr. Day off. When she asked for it, at her high-powered beauty stylist job in Chicago, and was…
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Myconaut

Marquette, Michigan
 While Joe Lane, left, and Ryan Iacovacci are growing mushrooms to feed people, they’re also working to save the planet. The owners of Myconaut were…
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All Success Stories

Fox and Hen Vineyards
Grand Haven, Michigan
Wil Malski was pretty excited when he planted his first grapes in 2014. The heartbreak was equally strong when he had to rip them out…
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Tastefull Vegan
Wyoming, Michigan
Kalene McElveen grew up on the east side of Detroit in a food desert. “Our closest grocery store was a liquor store,” she says. There…
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Suipi’s East End Eatery
Battle Creek, Michigan
Za Nei Thuai knows her gift is feeding people. “God gave me the talent to cook,” says the 49-year-old Burmese refugee known as Suipi (Swee-Pee).…
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Yummy Delights on the Lakeshore
Muskegon, Michigan
If you need another example of how business ownership builds generational wealth, there’s one happening in Muskegon. Mari Romero owns Yummy Delights by the Lakeshore,…
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Dabney & Co.
Kalamazoo, Michigan
For years, Daniel May has been a driving force behind community celebrations in Kalamazoo, including a Juneteenth bar crawl that left an indelible mark on…
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Four Leaf Brewing
Clare, Michigan
The whistle of trains mixes with the clop-clop of horses pulling buggies in downtown Clare. Outside of Four Leaf Brewing, it also mixes with the…
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RJ’s Printing
Kalamazoo, Mich.
Sean Hollins knows all too well the challenges of being a Black business owner – the search for funding, the wealth disparities, the lack of…
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J.bird Provisions
Charlevoix, Michigan
Jessica Nagel didn’t realize the depths of plumbing knowledge she was going to need to start a business. “There was virtually no plumbing I could…
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Sip Coffee and Cocktails
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jonathan Farman says the best business move he ever made was finding the right partner. Jonathan Frantz, his partner, agrees. The two met in 2016…
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