Crain's Grand Rapids Business

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission launched a new $10 million ordering system Monday after state auditors found the agency failed to track $1.6 billion in liquor sales over two years. The agency upgraded the liquor ordering system to “provide the MLCC greater functionality, flexibility, and control in its finance, inventory, and product registration,” according to a statement on its website. David Marvin, director of the MLCC executive services division, said the previous sales, inventory and purchasing program was between 40 and 50 years old. The program was written in COBOL, a programming language from the 1960s. “It was just showing its age,” Marvin told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. The new SIPS+ system requires order numbers and matching invoices for every order and mandates Michigan Liquor Ordering System records for all orders, including those taken in-person by the state’s authorized distribution agents. The system upgrade follows two Michigan Office of the Auditor General audits released in 2024 and early 2025 showed that the MLCC failed to oversee a total of $1.6 billion in spirits orders. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gVyGVpK8

Airbnb and Michigan’s hospitality industry are at odds over legislation that would let cities tax short-term rentals and hotels to pay for police, fire departments and other infrastructure strained by tourism. The Essential Services Tax Enabling Act marks the latest in at least 13 attempts since 2017 to tax short-term rentals, which tourism-heavy communities say strain local services without contributing tax revenue. The complaints have intensified since the pandemic fueled explosive growth in platforms like Airbnb as tourists sought socially distanced forms of lodging. At least 10 bill packages have been introduced to address the issue since the pandemic, according to data provided to Crain’s from the Michigan Municipal League. Backers of the latest bills say the new tax would bring revenue to address the strain on public services caused by the proliferation of short-term rentals. Opponents say it would add to Michigan residents’ tax burden and layer on top of taxes traditional lodging establishments already pay while doing very little to fund tourism promotion. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gt9vVJaB

Crain's Grand Rapids Business is pleased to announce our 2025 Notable Leaders in Philanthropy. Across West Michigan, a powerful network of philanthropic leaders drives community transformation through visionary innovation, relentless dedication and compassionate service. These individuals are the changemakers, representing a diverse cross-section of nonprofits and philanthropic organizations, each committed to empowering communities, advancing equity and making a difference. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gWfwCCFE

The 11-member Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula submitted a settlement proposal to Peninsula Township this week, four months after winning a nearly $50 million judgment in their five-year legal battle over business restrictions. The winery coalition contacted the township to propose terms of compromise including the adoption of noise standards and capacity limits based on state building and fire codes. Two Lads Winery co-founder Chris Baldyga has been leading the winery coalition as it developed the proposal and efforts to communicate with Peninsula Township, which the wineries sued in 2020 over what they alleged were unconstitutional restrictions on their farm-based businesses. Baldyga told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business that he hopes the proposal can be the start of a resolution to the protracted legal battle with Peninsula Township. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dE442iQS

A former car wash on Plainfield Avenue is being converted into office space with adjacent retail, aligning more closely with the township’s goal of mixed-use development along the corridor. Farm Bureau Insurance Agent Jeff Lamborne purchased the former Ride the Tide Car Wash property at 5002 Plainfield Ave. NE for $450,000 in August 2023. Lamborne purchased the 3-acre property after his nearby office at 4976 Plainfield Avenue burned down in January 2023. Work has just begun on the conversion project, which will turn the approximately 5,000-square-foot car wash portion of the building into office space. Lamborne hopes the car wash conversion will be completed for the insurance office portion of the project by the second quarter of 2026. He had been working out of his office on Plainfield since 2003 before the building burned down. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ghVkAtDq

Grand Rapids-based restaurant group Project BarFly LLC, the operator of the HopCat beer bar chain, has sold to a Chicago-based private investment firm in a deal that comes five years after a previous owner filed for bankruptcy. In a transaction announced today, Uncommon Equity LLC purchased Project BarFly, which owns 11 HopCat restaurants in Michigan as well as Stella’s Lounge in downtown Grand Rapids and a restaurant in Lincoln, Neb. “We are excited to be acquiring HopCat at this pivotal point in time,” Dan Kipp, co-founder and CEO of Uncommon Equity, said in a statement on the deal. He added that Uncommon Equity plans to “carefully grow the HopCat brand while continuing their maniacal focus on great, value-priced food served in a friendly, neighborhood atmosphere.” Uncommon Equity’s portfolio includes franchise restaurant operators Redberry Restaurants and Rackson, which operate Burger King, Taco Bell, Jersey Mike’s and Dave’s Hot Chicken stores. The firm also invested in Matt’s Cookies, Feel Good Foods, sauce maker Rib Rack and coffee equipment maker Diedrich Roasters. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gYs67DfM

The Grand Rapids Art Museum has secured $2 million in state funding to fix critical infrastructure problems caused by the experimental green building materials it used to achieve LEED Gold certification 18 years ago. GRAM got $2 million of a requested state earmark of just more than $2.4 million as part of the $81 billion budget for fiscal year 2026 signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Oct. 7. Erin Henges, the museum’s donor engagement and government relations manager, said in a July 30 House appropriations subcommittee hearing on the funding request that although the 18-year-old facility has a long list of projects to tackle, this funding specifically will go toward three “essential safety and operational projects.” They include “replacing damaged HVAC floor grades with steel — the original aluminum grates are buckling and pose safety hazards to our guests and staff,” and “upgrading our outdated security system, which cannot be repaired if it fails,” she said. The museum also plans to modernize its lighting system, “which relies on obsolete components that are no longer available,” Henges said. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gj5zUxpU

Tony McGhee has been driving 40 miles round-trip for the past nine months to manage a city where he can’t find a house. McGhee in January became the city manager of Buchanan, a largely agricultural Berrien County community of about 4,300 residents and 20 miles inland of Lake Michigan. His housing predicament reflects a broader shift across rural Southwest Michigan, where buyers from Chicago and South Bend are driving up costs after being priced out of traditional lakeshore destinations. “New Buffalo and the Harbor Country area, six, seven years ago, really got (cost) prohibitive for people, so those people moved inland,” McGhee said, referring specifically to the Three Oaks area, about 10 miles east of New Buffalo. “Now, Three Oaks has been bought out, and so that pressure is starting to move our way.” However, Buchanan is preparing for that growth. The city is in the middle of a $20 million redevelopment of its downtown infrastructure to add all-new water, sewer and roads. With state and federal grant support, the work will mostly wrap by November. Buchanan is also joined by other Southwest Michigan communities that are buying up obsolete industrial properties for mixed-use conversions, ushering in zoning reforms to help lure developers and turning to the state for funding support. It’s all a game of catch up after decades of stagnant housing construction. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dwKMAg5K

The emerging leaders in this year’s 40 Under 40 class represent 19 industries and hold a dozen C-suite titles — including eight CEOs. Crain’s welcomed them to the Amway Grand Plaza on Wednesday to celebrate a group whose energy and enthusiasm continue to drive West Michigan forward. Our newest honorees heard from 40 Under 40 alumni Camila Noordeloos, Jen Schottke and Joseph Infante, who shared lessons and insights from their journeys since being recognized. Read more about this year’s dynamic class of leaders here: https://lnkd.in/g7sWCzUf