Late last year, Grand Traverse County Commissioners approved an expenditure of nearly $280,000 for construction code and permitting software for the county’s construction code office. It was a rather non-controversial item, and simply reported in the newspaper in a blurb along with a list of other approved expenditures.

The gamy scents of the great outdoors permeate Altus Brands of Traverse City. Located at 9542 Sullivan Road just west of Chum’s Corners, the business has developed a reputation for producing fine outdoor sporting equipment including high-tech hearing protection, weapon storage and accessories, game calls and a cache of animal scents that are sure to taunt the human nose.

Two cities on the opposite sides of Grand Traverse Bay tell slightly different stories regarding their real estate markets in the last year, but both Northport and Elk Rapids report robust sales with quick turnover.

A changing of the guard is in progress in Suttons Bay.

If you asked Ray Minervini what the redevelopment of the Traverse City State Hospital means to him, he’ll tear up and find it difficult to answer.

Washed, dropped, sliced, paddled, boiled and bagged, the process of turning fist-sized potatoes into nickle-thick chips is swift and, in the end, savory, at the Great Lakes Potato Chip Company.

Our Great Lakes are the largest source of the world’s surface fresh water — and Traverse City is right in the middle of it all. Lake Michigan always has been behind our area’s cultural and economic prosperity and it is quickly taking on new importance. The quality and availability of fresh water is fast becoming a critically urgent issue worldwide.

Geography has much to do with northwest Lower Michigan’s business identity. We’re a beach town, a forest town, a water town. Our geography remains as beautiful as ever — but our identity is changing.

The little company that could almost didn’t.

The policy arena can be a contentious world on occasion. Every now and then, I’ll hear a comment about not understanding why the Chamber would take a policy position on a legislative or local issue.

Interlochen Arts Academy named Clyde Sheets as Director of Comparative Arts.

TRAVERSE CITY — Depending on the terrain — and the calendar — some northern Michigan businesses change tools of the trade like a chameleon changes colors.

HONOR — Rocking ‘n rolling in the hills of Benzie County is a happy days eatery that offers Chantilly lace splendor.

KALKASKA — Americans fell in love with their cars during the 1920s.

WILLIAMSBURG — There’s a wall in the Mariage Roofing showroom filled with handwritten thank you notes from appreciative customers.

TRAVERSE CITY — You can't buy a camper from Stromberg Carlson Products, Inc.

Our federal tax law, adopted in December 2017, had an interesting and largely overlooked piece of policy tucked in.

Some national retail chains reportedly launched holiday shopping season hiring efforts months ago in hopes they could attract retail talent before their competitors swooped in.

Before I was a high school graduate, or a writer, or even a father, grandfather or retired curmudgeon for that matter, I was a businessman.

Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra has a new conductor — Leslie B. Dunner.

I love it when chaos comes together.

TRAVERSE CITY — When Mike and Lynne Borer opened The Swan’s Nest 38 years ago, they never dreamed that today they would remain one of the last old-fashioned souvenir shops in Traverse City.

MANISTEE — Tyler Leppanen shuffled through a stack of papers and quickly found the sheets he was looking for.

TRAVERSE CITY — Ski resorts in northern Michigan work hard to find profitable summer activities that draw guests to their properties, helping them make money year-round.

CHARLEVOIX — Jacob Manthei is in the third year of a bold 10-year business plan to grow a division of his family’s company six times in size.

TRAVERSE CITY — The small lobby is the first clue that form and function are treated with equal emphasis at Opti Temp.

INTERLOCHEN — Nonprofit organizations like Interlochen Center for the Arts, by definition, don’t make a profit. Otherwise, though, they run much like a for-profit business. Both have expenses, income, employees, payroll, insurance requirements and balance sheets.

John Aiken moved his company, Web Canopy Studio, to Traverse City from Indiana 12 months ago.

Thermometers across northwest Lower Michigan already have spent plenty of time this summer hovering in the 80s and 90s.

Of all the seasons — salt, pepper, baseball, Frankie Valli — yard sale season is my favorite.

Scott Williams: Kingsley Lumber & Hardware named Scott Williams as President and Chief Operating Officer. (Plus more)

Let’s stop and consider steps we can all take to support local business and the economy right now.

TRAVERSE CITY — Captain Bryan Smith was shot at while ferrying a ship on Lake Huron five years ago, forcing the then 61-year-old Inland Seas sailor to return fire.

TRAVERSE CITY — On any given week, there are 30 or more temp jobs available at Northern Staffing in Traverse City, yet only five to 12 of those positions typically are filled.

TRAVERSE CITY — It’s been nearly 90 years since Del and Dawn Zimmerman hung out their shingle, announcing that their landscaping and garden shop was open for business in Traverse City.

TRAVERSE CITY — Hagerty officially came into being three decades ago as an insurer of wooden boats. Today it insures classic metal — cars, that is.

TRAVERSE CITY — There’s a semitractor-trailer truck in the right lane of the freeway. You ease into the left lane and accelerate, trying to get past the carrier of commerce as quickly as possible.

TRAVERSE CITY — Elmer’s trucks have been rumbling along the highways and byways of Michigan for more than 50 years.

The last several months have seen some seemingly dramatic job-creation announcements.

Northwest Lower Michigan is roaring toward tourist season, and businesses that directly benefit from visitor traffic are revving up for what could be a record-breaking summer.