Signature Associates

Posted By: The Detroit News on March 10, 2023.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.   For more than a decade, a former Kmart store sat vacant in the Utica Park Place shopping center on Hall Road. The 61,000-square-foot space finally got a new use this past fall with the opening of the […]

After falling into vacancy and abandonment, a small commercial plaza on Bancroft Street near the University of Toledo is being revived thanks to three businesses breathing new life into it. Jo Jo’s Pizza, Sunrise Skillet, and Arnie’s Toledo are committed to making a go of it in the plaza located in the 2600 block of […]

The number of community entertainment districts in the downtown area could grow substantially if a new proposal is approved by Toledo City Council. Community entertainment districts are designated areas consisting of a combination of entertainment, retail, social, or cultural businesses with access to additional liquor licensing. The Regional Growth, Development and Small Business Enterprise Committee […]

An area in Ann Arbor’s Research Park has been designated an industrial development district after it was approved by Ann Arbor City Council earlier this week. The resolution to turn 3874 Research Park Drive and four adjacent lots into an industrial development district was passed by City Council on March 7. The land is currently […]

By the time Brandon Carnegie was in his early 20s, he’d had two knee surgeries and a back injury thanks to football. His days playing cornerback at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., where he landed after a standout four years at Novi High School, were over after his junior season.  He played in 18 […]

As the city updates its nearly 20-year-old Master Plan to guide future development, local officials say a first-of-its-kind study last year can help ensure equitable outcomes while providing the best return on investments. Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. commissioned the “Economics of Place” study by Washington, D.C.-based Places Platform LLC, which first presented its preliminary findings to business […]

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-21 directing all “Michigan businesses and operations to temporarily suspend in-person operations that are not necessary to sustain or protect life.” The downside of the order reverberated throughout the state’s economy, resulting in bankruptcies, a sharp runup in unemployment filings, […]

Site Selection Magazine has named Toledo No. 1 for new business investment among metropolitan areas with populations between 200,000 and 1 million, a ranking Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said the city has never before secured. Toledo tied with Savannah, Ga., for the top spot in the magazine’s Governor’s Cup 2020 awards. The mayor announced the economic […]

Much of 2020 was about change and loss. Most businesses, at least temporarily, lost business as the pandemic drove customer spending behavior in new ways. Many more had to change — either the way their business operated or who operated it. Last year, much of the largest merger and acquisition activity wasn’t driven by opportunity, […]

Michigan has been ranked third in the country, and Detroit has been ranked first in the country for foreign direct investment projects, according to new rankings released by Site Selection magazine. The rankings are based on U.S. projects the magazine has tracked since 2015 that have had at least a share of involvement by a foreign-based firm. […]

A pair of industrial sites in West Michigan — including the future Kent County Department of Public Works sustainable business park — have been awarded a total of $150,000 in site readiness grants from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) said Wednesday that it issued $728,500 in site readiness grants […]

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The chain of HopCat restaurants has been sold to new owners some five months after the former owner, BarFly Ventures, filed for bankruptcy. Two investment firms — Congruent Investment Partners and Main Street Capital — teamed up to buy BarFly Ventures for $17.5 million. They created a new operating company, Project […]

Michigan is No. 1 in automotive manufacturing strength, according to the recent rankings by Business Facilities magazine, but the Great Lakes State also scored top-10 honors in seven other categories. The state was in the top 10 in manufacturing output percentage of GNP (No. 3), manufacturing employment (No. 4), foreign direct investments (No. 5), opportunity zones (No. […]

Michigan is now No. 13 in Chief Executive magazine’s 16th annual Best and Worst States for Business survey, released this week. The state jumped 19 spots, one of the biggest single-year moves in the ranking’s history. According to Chief Executive, CEOs who selected Michigan as the best state for doing business cited the workforce, regulatory environment, overall favorable business […]

When Gov. Mike DeWine ordered all nonessential businesses to close by March 24 due to the coronavirus pandemic, pet groomer Telia Williams said she immediately felt a sense of loss and disconnection as the job she so loved doing was suddenly taken from her. “To be perfectly honest, I sat home and avoided everything because […]

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor will launch a real estate center that will offer a suite of practice-oriented courses thanks to a $10 million gift from Ron Weiser, a regent and alumnus of U-M. Students at the Weiser Center for Real Estate will learn from […]

Michigan was ranked 12th among the top states for doing business, according to the Tax Foundation’s 2020 State Business Tax Climate Index that was released this week. The new ranking is up five spots from last year, and Michigan is one of only two Midwest states to be in the top half of the rankings. […]

In a broad effort to entice new businesses and promote economic vibrancy, Southgate city officials are working to carve out a new identity for the downriver community’s commercial district. Southgate’s downtown district, largely defined as Eureka Road between Allen Road and Fort Street and parts of Trenton and Dix Toledo roads, is slowly taking shape […]

Michigan ranks ninth among the top 10 states with the most economic development projects according to Site Selection magazine’s 2018 Governor’s Cup rankings, moving up two places from last year’s list. The magazine covers economic planning and expansion nationwide. “There is no doubt that Michigan is a home for economic opportunity, and these rankings are a testament […]

Detroit is finalizing plans to revamp seven business corridors across the city this spring as part of a $125 million campaign to breathe life into its neighborhoods. A request for proposals for the projects will be released later this month. Dozens of city blocks, from the Livernois “Avenue of Fashion” to the heart of Mexicantown, […]