News & Resources

Core Values: A Way to Foster Company Culture

By Brian Town, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine n this modern, virtual world, it has become growingly difficult to foster a thriving culture in the workplace. Even before the […]

November 17, 2021

Don’t Go Chasing Unicorns

By Heather Isch, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine Job listings are plentiful these days. As an employer, you wade through potential hires, typically looking for someone who can excel […]

November 10, 2021

Next Year’s Election Cycle is Already Heating Up

By Brian Calley, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine A year from now, Michigan will be holding a very important election to choose leaders in the executive, legislative and judicial […]

November 3, 2021

Start Planning Now for Your Ultimate Exit Strategy

By Michelle Eldridge, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine It’s pretty common knowledge that when thinking of starting a business, you should spend the time to create a thoughtful, written […]

October 20, 2021

Time to Climb Behind the Wheel and Drive

By David Rhoa, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine Have you ever been in a car accident? One moment you’re driving along without a care in the world. The next […]

October 6, 2021

Making Metrics Matter

By Dale Keipert, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine In today’s digital environment, being able to effectively measure how your marketing activity is performing, and then make business decisions from […]

September 22, 2021

How to Organize Employee Files

By Ahola HR Support Center, originally featured in our FOCUS magazine Having organized employee files allows employers easy access to the most important documents. Here are five files we recommend […]

September 15, 2021

Get Connected. The Future of Your Business Depends on it!

By Bill Kimble, originally featured in our FOCUS magazine Recently released surveys collected from thousands of small business owners across our state—from SE Detroit to the Iron Mountain region at […]

September 1, 2021

Michigan’s Innovative Approach to Child Care Crisis

By Brian Calley, originally featured in our FOCUS magazine Earlier this year, with substantial involvement from the Small Business Association of Michigan and the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, Governor […]

August 19, 2021

Successful Talent Acquisition Begins With Fixing Your Interview Bias

By Sheri Welsh, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS Magazine Are you tired of talking about talent acquisition challenges? Me too! Good people are hard to find; we all know it […]

August 10, 2021

One Workplace at a Time – Leadership Strategies for Retaining Women Employees

By Beki Fraser, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine Business leaders in Michigan and across the country are challenged to recruit and retain women employees—and may need to re-invent their […]

July 27, 2021

Experience for Hire: Filling the Gap in Michigan’s Talent Shortage

By Mark Hornbeck, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine About four years ago, AARP Michigan and a few heavyweight partners launched an ambitious program aimed at matching seasoned adult workers […]

July 13, 2021

Dutton Farm and EveryBody: A Shining Light of Hope

By Bona Van Dis, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS magazine Jenny Brown knows how to break down barriers and create opportunities. As the co-founder and CEO of Dutton Farm and […]

July 6, 2021

Be Innovative in Your Talent Acquisition and Retention

By Sarah Miller, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS Magazine Michigan is once again open fully open for business. While many of you have had your doors open throughout the pandemic, […]

July 6, 2021

We Should All be on Team Michigan

By State Representative Tommy Brann, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS on Business magazine Civility in politics. An easy statement but sometimes, hard to do. Politicians are human beings; we have egos […]

June 29, 2021

Small Business Owners Show True Entrepreneurial Spirit

By Sarah Miller, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS on Business Magazine i recently had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable discussion with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, SBAM president Brian […]

June 22, 2021

Economic Outlook for the State of Michigan

By Jacob Burton, Gabriel Ehrlich, and Michael McWilliams, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS on Business magazineResearch Seminar in Quantitative Economics, University of Michigan etween February and April of 2020, Michigan […]

June 15, 2021

OPINION: Digital Tools Offer Hope for Detroit’s Hurting Businesses

By Sheryl Sandberg and Brian Calley, originally published in The Detroit News on March 15, 2021 he pandemic has been devastating for small businesses across southeast Michigan. More than 800 entrepreneurs closed […]