Another fantastic year of the Chamber's Small Business Celebration was capped off last week with the crowning of Pine Hill Nursery & Landscaping as the Chamber's 2015 Hagerty Small Business of the Year. Thanks to all our Top 10 SBC finalists and the 200-plus Chamber members who came out for last week's SBC Award Ceremony held at NMC's Hagerty Center. Thanks also to McKeel Hagerty for his inspiring words at the event, and to the Hagerty family for their support of the SBC.

Learn more about our 2015 Hagerty Small Business of the Year - Pine Hill Nursery & Landscaping.

The Small Business Celebration is supported by:

Venture North Funding & Development - the Chamber's sister economic development organization that offers business financing across the 10-county region - received a major boost this week with a $30,000 grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation. David Mengebier, president of the foundation, presented the grant at the Venture North annual meeting in Traverse City this week. He also called on other community partners to support economic development efforts in the region. Here's more about the Consumers grant.

Venture North was formed through the recent merger of the Traverse City Area Chamber Foundation and the Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation. It's currently administering more than $2 million in loan funds assisting more than 40 businesses across Northwest Michigan.

Exciting things are happening at the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce following its recent organizational restructuring under the TraverseCONNECT umbrella. Starting later this month, the weekly Chamber Bulletin will roll out a new look with a stronger focus on Chamber events, leadership and related programming and our effective legislative advocacy efforts.

Also in June, we'll debut a new monthly newsletter from our economic development affiliate Venture North Funding & Development. It will offer information on Venture North's access to capital resources available to businesses in the 10-county region, links to other business development resources and the latest information on its lending activity.

Follow the Chamber's information outlets for updates on these exciting developments.

Another successful semester has been completed in Leadership Grand Traverse, the Chamber's flagship leadership development program. If you're among the hundreds of individuals who've participated in LGT over the years, there's a new way to re-engage with the program and connect with available leadership opportunies in the Grand Traverse region.

We're just over a week away from welcoming one of the state's top decision-makers to Northern Michigan - Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

Major changes are in store for Division Street in Traverse City, and state transportation officials want to hear from city residents and business owners on how best to rebuild this major thoroughfare.