Michigan Business Network

Chris Holman welcomes Ryan Hundt, CEO, Michigan Works! Association, Lansing, MI. Chris Holman of Michigan Business Beat interviews Ryan Hundt, CEO of the Michigan Works! Association, about the organization's upcoming 2025 Annual Conference in Kalamazoo — the first time the event has been held there since 2019. The conference features three keynote speakers covering AI and innovation, people-center...

Chris Holman welcomes Roger Curtis, Executive Director, Youth Solutions, Benton Harbor, MI. Chris Holman of Michigan Business Beat interviews Roger Curtis, Executive Director of Youth Solutions, a Benton Harbor-based organization working at the intersection of education and workforce development to help young people across Michigan discover career pathways. Over 16 years, Youth Solutions has impac...

Chris Holman welcomes Tim Daman, President and CEO, Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, Lansing, MI. Chris Holman of Michigan Business Beat interviews Tim Daman, President and CEO of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, about the highlights of their Lansing Economic Club season, which featured speakers including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a women's leadership panel, the Canadian Consul Gene...

Chris Holman welcomes Erin Kaylor, President, Biggby Coffee, East Lansing, MI. Erin Kaylor, the newly appointed president of Biggby Coffee in East Lansing, spoke with Michigan Business Beat about her vision for the rapidly growing franchise, which recently expanded to 438 locations across 13 states. Drawing on two decades of experience at McDonald's, she plans to focus on unified brand messaging a...

Chris Holman welcomes Ryan Hundt, CEO, Michigan Works Association, Lansing, MI. Ryan Hundt, CEO of the Michigan Works Association, joined Michigan Business Beat to discuss the organization's annual Impact Awards, held at Heritage Hall in Lansing, which celebrate standout success stories from across the Michigan Works network in all 83 counties. The event honored 16 winners — including businesses,...

Chris Holman welcomes Kim Bode, Owner, 8THIRTYFOUR Integrated Communications, Grand Rapids, MI. Kim Bode, owner of 8THIRTYFOUR Integrated Communications in Grand Rapids, was recently honored as Women-Owned Small Business of the Year at the Michigan Celebrates Small Business Gala — her second recognition at the event, having also received a Michigan 50 Companies to Watch award in 2021. She founded...

Chris Holman welcomes Paul King, President, ROI Insight, Grosse Pointe, MI. Paul King, president of ROI Insight in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, founded his market research firm in 2016 after a long career in marketing and PR, and now conducts a wide range of research projects — from pricing studies for new product launches to nonprofit research on youth organ donor registration. He has also expanded i...

Chris Holman welcomes Pam Lippitt, Owner, Hill Street Group, Southfield, MI. Pam Lippitt, owner of Hill Street Group in Southfield, Michigan, specializes in strategic communications, helping teams and executives sharpen their messaging and public speaking skills — work she has built on a career-long philosophy that no one should take the stage without thorough preparation and practice. She recentl...

Chris Holman welcomes Jason Cords, Executive Manager, Shaheen Chevrolet and Shaheen Cadillac, Lansing, MI. Jason Cords, Executive Manager of Shaheen Chevrolet and Shaheen Cadillac in Lansing, discussed the current state of the auto market on Michigan Business Beat, noting that while sales remain steady after 55 years in business, tariff uncertainty is beginning to thin the vehicle pipeline as GM s...

Chris Holman welcomes John Walsh, President and CEO, Michigan Manufacturers Association (MMA), Lansing, MI. John Walsh, President and CEO of the Michigan Manufacturers Association (MMA), joined Michigan Business Beat to discuss several key initiatives, including a new series of executive roundtable meetings aimed at helping Michigan manufacturers explore and expand their participation in the defen...

Chris Holman welcomes Stephanie Beckhorn, Deputy Director of Employment and Training, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), Lansing, MI. Michigan ranks fourth in the nation for active registered apprenticeships despite being only tenth in population, according to Stephanie Beckhorn, Deputy Director of Employment and Training for the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic...

Chris Holman welcomes Laurie Supinski, Director, Company Name, Grand Rapids, MI. Host Chris Holman speaks with Laurie Supinski, director of Start Garden, a Grand Rapids-based entrepreneurial support organization founded in 2012 with a mission to help early-stage entrepreneurs reach their first million dollars. Supinski describes their annual pitch competition, "the 100," in which entrants submit a...

Tuesday, May 19th, MBN was on the road to Turner Street, Old Town, North Lansing, MI. Capital Area Michigan Works! was hosting "Race To Talent". This video shares the program opening, after breakfast, and before breakout sessions. Race to Talent - this video included remarks from ● Tekea Norwood, Chief Operating Officer of CAMW! ● Julie Mann, Founder & CEO of Lead With Collective. ● Jay LaNew, App...

Originally uploaded May 14th, reloaded May 19th. Chris Holman welcomes back Phil Roos, Director, EGLE (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy), Lansing, MI. Michigan has experienced significant flooding in recent weeks, with more than 40 dams under stress at one point. Can you walk us through what EGLE has been seeing on the ground? Your teams have been working around the cloc...

Chris Holman welcomes Chris Rizik, Founder and CEO, Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, Ann Arbor, MI. Chris Rizik, founder and CEO of Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, joins Michigan Business Beat to discuss his firm's unique "fund of funds" model, which invests in venture capital funds nationwide and then works to attract those funds to invest in Michigan startups. He highlights the firm's signatu...

Chris Holman welcomes Ara Topouzian, Executive Director, Michigan Venture Capital Association, Bloomfield Hills, MI. The Michigan Business Beat segment features host Chris Holman interviewing Ara Topouzian, Executive Director of the Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA), a 20-year-old trade association representing over 100 organizations and 300–350 individual members, including venture capi...

Chris Holman welcomes Lisa Brown, SHRM-CP, VP, & Client Services, HR Collaborative, Grand Rapids, MI. Lisa Brown of HR Collaborative in Grand Rapids joined Michigan Business Beat to discuss the evolving role of human resources in today's business landscape. She emphasized that great HR has moved well beyond compliance and paperwork, now focusing on finding, keeping, and growing talent while servin...

Chris Holman welcomes Dr. Stephen Rapundalo, President and CEO, MichBio, Ann Arbor, MI. Dr. Stephen Rapundalo, President and CEO of MichBio, joined the Michigan Business Beat to discuss recent developments affecting Michigan's life sciences and biosciences industry. After a 15-year effort, Michigan reestablished a research and development tax credit, offering 10% for large companies and 15% for sm...

Chris Holman welcomes Tim Fair, President and CEO, Clinton County Catalyst, St. Johns, MI. Clinton County Catalyst is a 20-plus-year-old economic development organization in Clinton County, Michigan, originally founded by the Clinton County Commissioners to support local business growth. Tim Fair, the current President and CEO, became involved after reconnecting with board members he already knew,...

Chris Holman welcomes Lou Glazer, President, Michigan Future Inc., Ann Arbor, MI. Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., discussed findings from his organization's 20th anniversary update of a landmark 2004 report, which showed that prosperous states share two traits: concentration in knowledge economy industries and a high proportion of adults with four-year degrees. Michigan has failed t...

Chris Holman welcomes David Souder, Dean of the Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. David Souder, the newly appointed Dean of the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, joined Michigan Business Beat remotely from Connecticut, where he spent 17 years at the University of Connecticut before taking the role. He brings a background in strate...

Chris Holman welcomes Kim Bode, CEO, 834 Integrated Communications, Grand Rapids, MI. Kim Bode, CEO of 834 Integrated Communications in Grand Rapids, appeared on Michigan Business Beat while attending the Michigan Defense Expo, where her firm is presenting on recession preparedness. She warned that tariffs and federal spending cuts are pushing the economy toward a recession, with particular concer...

Chris Holman welcomes Andria Romkema, Senior Vice President of Development, The Right Place, Lansing, MI. Host Chris Holman speaks with Andria Romkema, Senior Vice President of Development at The Right Place, the economic development organization for the Greater Grand Rapids region, which meets with over 600 companies annually to support business growth and community development. A recent highligh...

Chris Holman welcomes Becky Burtka, VP of Member Engagement, Michigan State Chamber of Commerce, Lansing, MI and also Lorri Rishar Jandron, CEO, Edge Partnerships, Lansing, MI. Host Chris Holman introduces Lorri Rishar Jandron, CEO of Edge Partnerships, and Becky Burtka, VP of Member Engagement at the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce, who share their career backgrounds — Becky as a former legisl...

Chris Holman welcomes Kylee Guenther, Co-Founder, 3R Pallets, Okemos, MI. Kylee Guenther, co-founder of 3R Pallets based in Okemos, Michigan, is disrupting the $26 billion shipping pallet industry by offering cost-effective pallets made from recycled plastics and crop waste, replacing traditional wooden pallets that consume vast amounts of lumber. The company aims to help customers ship more effic...