KALAMAZOO, MI – While many restaurants in Kalamazoo and across the state were forced to temporarily close in March due to the coronavirus, a downtown Kalamazoo sandwich shop stayed the course.

Artisan Sandwich Co., located at 348 S. Kalamazoo Mall in downtown Kalamazoo, “never really” closed, store owner Ryan Schmidt said.

As Michigan’s stay-at-home order on March 16 stifled downtown walking traffic and led to a decline in business in March, Schmidt, 30, said his store’s food orders had in fact increased due to the pandemic.

After losing all of his staff, Schmidt kept his restaurant open and operated the store himself, offering take-out service, until the stay-at-home order was lifted in June. It has since added new and returning workers and currently has five employees, Schmidt said.

Since opening in August 2017, Artisan has been serving hot and cold deli-style sandwiches that emphasize fresh, homemade ingredients. Schmidt says his restaurant’s philosophy stems from two ideas: eat well and live better.

Related: Artisan Sandwich Co. opens in downtown Kalamazoo

Popular specialty sandwiches include: the Kalamazoo Club, with bacon, ham and turkey; the albacore tuna salad sandwich, with fresh albacore tuna prepared daily in small quantities; a turkey and avocado BLT, with fresh avocado sliced ​​to order and hickory-smoked bacon; and the Veggie, which offers a spread of hummus, cheese and vegetables.

After working odd jobs after graduating from Western Michigan University, Schmidt said he decided it was time to take a risk.

“I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do after I sort of tried to figure out life, I said, ‘I’m an entrepreneur and I just have to do it,'” Schmidt said.

After laying the groundwork and assessing the feasibility of making his idea a reality, Schmidt said, he was able to secure a loan from the bank and has since made Artisan Sandwich Co. his passion.

“We really scratched it together, but we got there and in a way that looks mature and professional,” Schmidt said.

Inside the 980 square foot space, guests will notice a modern yet rustic feel. Schmidt said that one of the main influences behind the design of his store was the name “Artisan” itself.

“If you look up Artisan in the dictionary it means handcrafted, specialized made, in smaller batches, so that’s the idea when I built the space, I said, ‘I’m going to handcraft everything ”and literally put the brick on the wall, built the counter myself, painted the ceilings on my birthday in 2017.”

Related: 12 restaurants opened in 2017 in the Kalamazoo district

All of the store’s sandwiches come wrapped in packaging designed to look like an old-school newspaper – which has been a somewhat unexpected hit with customers, Schmidt said.

You can find Schmidt, the new father of a four-month-old son, inside the Artisan Sandwich Shop on most days the Artisan doors are open.

“At first I said, ‘OK, I’m going to be here and let each of my clients know how special they are,’ because customer service is such a huge thing,” Schmidt said. “I remember when we first opened I had a customer ask me, ‘Why are you so nice? And that’s just who I am, but you realize nobody does it like us.

Those wishing to place an order in advance can contact Artisan Sandwich Co. at 269-220-5665.

Also on MLive:

Local Eats: Food Dance in Kalamazoo Adapts to Coronavirus Restrictions with Outdoor Seating and Cocktails to Go

Local Eats: Black-owned restaurants feature community favorites in Kalamazoo

Local Eats: Blue Dolphin owner grateful for support from Kalamazoo community during pandemic

The company that brought us hard lemonade has now created a hard lemonade seltzer.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade Seltzer is available now and comes in four flavors: Lemon, Strawberry, Mango and Pineapple.

“Made by THE hard lemonade experts who created the category on April 1, 1999, hard lemonade fans can rejoice and cheer with the new superior tasting hard lemonade seltzer,” Mike’s said in a press release.

“Made from the ultimate lemon trifecta – a proprietary blend of three specialty lemon grapes – Mike’s lemonade flavor delivers a unique taste and crunchy finish.”

Mike’s said he used “a special cold pressing method” to extract more flavor from the lemons. Seltzer has 100 calories, 1 gram of sugar, and is gluten free.

“We’re obsessed with making the tastiest hard lemonades, which we’ve perfected over the past 21 years,” said John Shea, Marketing Director, Mike’s Hard Lemonade Co. “Other companies are doing other things. , Mike makes lemonade. Mike’s has been the # 1 hard lemonade for over two decades to deliver superior taste, and now we’re excited to introduce Mike’s Hard Lemonade Seltzer, the best hard-tasting lemonade seltzer.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade Seltzer comes in a 12-box pack of four flavors.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade Seltzer is now available nationwide.

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Knock, a startup that helps people buy new homes before selling old ones, is the latest proptech company to consider going public.

The company hired Goldman Sachs to help advise it on a possible IPO, Bloomberg News reported. Knock is considering both a traditional initial public offering or a merger with a specialist acquisition company, and hopes to raise between $ 400 million and $ 500 million with an IPO. He is aiming for a valuation of around $ 2 billion.

Knock has raised $ 600 million in equity and debt to date, with investors such as Foundry Group, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Redpoint and Greycroft, according to Crunchbase.

Knock was originally launched in 2015 as a traditional iBuyer and has marketed homes directly to consumers. It has evolved since: last year it launched its Home Swap program, which allows consumers to buy new homes before selling their old ones by pre-financing mortgages. It also offers interest-free bridging loans to allow sellers to make repairs. The program is now available in nine states.

The startup was founded by former Trulia executives Sean Black and Jamie Glenn, who are CEOs and COOs of Knock respectively, as well as Karan Sakhuja, who is the company’s chief architect.

In recent months, Knock has been expanding its C suite. In January, it hired Michelle DeBella, who previously worked at Lyft and Uber, as its senior CFO.

[Bloomberg News] – Amy Plitt

RICHMOND, Ind. – A program set up to help small businesses in Wayne County survive the novel coronavirus pandemic distributed $ 331,000 to 15 businesses in the first round of applications.

Wayne County, the City of Richmond, the Wayne County Revolving Loan Fund Board, the Wayne County Economic Development Corporation and the Economic Growth Group came together a month ago to create a $ 900,000 fund to distribute under form of zero rate loans of up to $ 25,000 to qualifying small businesses.

The money can be used to pay for rent, mortgage, utilities, supplies, equipment, insurance, inventory, labor costs, and other operating expenses.

► RELATED: 8 Downtown, Depot District businesses chosen for COVID-19 relief funding

► RELATED: Over 80 Wayne County Businesses and Nonprofits Get P3 Loans

There are no loan origination fees and payments are deferred for six months. Businesses then have up to 54 months to repay the borrowed amount. Monthly payments that are 30 days past due will incur a late fee of 5% of the overdue amount.

“Our small business community is fighting just to survive the economic impact of this pandemic. We are proud to know that they will survive and continue to be the lifeblood of our communities, ”said Wayne County Commissioner Denny Burns, President of the Wayne County Revolving. Board of the Loan Fund.

In the first round of applications, 22 companies applied for loans, 15 of which were granted by the board of directors. Of the seven who did not receive loans, only one was outright rejected. Two others withdrew their applications on their own and four were suspended for a second round of funding.

Those who received the money included:

• Allen Antiques and Curiosities, $ 10,000;
• Armstrong Cleaners, $ 25,000;
• Cochran and Associates, $ 25,000;
• 5th Street Coffee and Bagel, $ 25,000;
• Galo’s Italian Grill, $ 25,000;
• Grace Sales and Marketing, $ 20,000;
• Handmade Halo, $ 6,000;
• Heartbreaker Entertainment, $ 25,000;
• Infinite Print, $ 25,000;
• Luxury Lizzies, $ 25,000;
• Molina Properties, $ 25,000;
• Olde Richmond Inn, $ 25,000;
• OnVine Media, $ 20,000;
• Swagatam hospitality, $ 25,000; and
• Warm glow candles, $ 25,000.

Second round of applications, funding

Applications for a second round of funding are being accepted until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, with some changes to the eligibility criteria.

Previously, the business owner had to live in Wayne County. Now, companies that can prove that at least 75% of their employees are county residents can apply.

In addition, the maximum number of employees has increased from 50 to around 100.

“I say ‘around’ because we don’t want to overlook a candidate who might have 104 or 108 employees,” said Valerie Shaffer, president of EDC. “We want to be a little flexible on that number of 100 to make sure that we are supporting businesses that are in desperate need of this loan in order to continue their operations.”

Businesses must always be for-profit, be physically located in the county, be subject to county taxes, be up to date with all property and social taxes, and meet the eligibility criteria of the US Small Business Administration.

“It’s quite a process we’re going through,” Shaffer said. “However, now that we’ve gone through the process once, we hope it will be a lot easier the second time around.”

Interested parties can visit EDC’s website, whywaynecounty.com/covidloan, for more details and to complete an application.

Jason Truitt is the team leader and senior reporter at Palladium-Item. Contact him at (765) 973-4459 or [email protected]

Revolving credit vs installment credit: an overview

There are two basic types of credit repayment: revolving credit and installment credit. Revolving credit allows borrowers to spend the borrowed money, pay it back, and spend it again. The lender advances them a fixed credit limit that can be used in whole or in part.

On the other hand, borrowers repay installment loans with scheduled periodic payments. This type of credit involves the gradual reduction of the principal and a possible full repayment, thus ending the credit cycle.

Revolving credit and installment credit come in both secured and unsecured forms, but it is more common to see secured installment loans.

What is revolving credit?

A credit card and a line of credit (LOC) are two common forms of revolving credit. Your credit limit does not change when you make payments to your revolving credit account. You can come back to your account to borrow more money as often as you like, as long as you don’t go over your limit.

Because you don’t borrow a lump sum when you open the account, there is no fixed payment plan with revolving credit. You can borrow up to a certain amount. However, this flexibility often results in lower loan amounts and higher interest rates. Borrowers owe interest on the amount they draw, not the entire credit limit.

What is installment credit?

The most distinctive features of an installment credit account are the predetermined term and end date, often referred to as the loan term. The loan agreement usually includes an amortization schedule, in which the principal is gradually reduced by installments over several years.

Common installment loans include mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and personal loans. With each of them, you know how much your monthly payments are and for how long you will be making payments. You need to apply for more credit to borrow more money.

A notice and request for comment has been issued for further interagency questions and answers regarding the acceptance of flood insurance issued by private insurers, as required by regulations implementing the Reform Act 2012 Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance.

On July 1, 2019, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Farm Credit Administration and the National Credit Union Administration (collectively, the Agencies) amended their regulations regarding lending in areas of particular flood risk to implement the private flood insurance provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. The regulations require lending institutions to accept policies that meet the legal definition of “private flood insurance” in the Biggert-Waters flood law. Credit institutions may also exercise their discretion to accept flood insurance policies issued by private insurers and plans offering flood coverage issued by mutual aid societies that do not meet the legal definition. “private flood insurance”, subject to certain restrictions.

The 24 proposed Q&A are “broadly applicable to lenders and supervised service providers” and provide clarification on three consolidated topics:

• Compulsory acceptance of private flood insurance;

• The circumstances under which discretionary acceptance or denial of private flood insurance is acceptable; and

• Additional general compliance issues related to regulations implementing the Biggert-Waters Act.

Comments on the proposed questions and answers must be submitted no later than May 17, 2021. Instructions for submitting written comments are available here.

The UK housing market will remain open during the lockdown, allowing property viewing to continue and people to move out. This is in stark contrast to the first foreclosure, which saw the market halt for seven weeks.

Realtors and other staff will continue to perform their jobs while adhering to coronavirus guidelines, such as wearing face coverings and social distancing.

Tomer Aboody of bridge loan specialist MT Finance said: “We believe that the market will not be disrupted as it was last year because the end is in sight, thanks to the roll-out of the vaccination program.

“This, together with the fact that appraisers and lawyers can still work and there is still access to properties, should boost confidence in the market as a whole. Borrowers, in turn, will feel more confident in completing their transactions. “

Government guidelines for the move remain the same, including:

• Initial visits should be made virtually whenever possible
• Members of the public visiting an agent’s office or touring property should wear appropriate face coverings, unless they are exempt from this requirement. This must be confirmed with the agent prior to arrival. Anyone with concerns should contact the agent prior to their visit to discuss appropriate action.
• Visits must be organized by appointment only and “open house” visits must not take place. When visiting properties in person, you should avoid touching surfaces as much as possible, wash your hands regularly, and / or use hand sanitizer. If you must be with young children, you should try to prevent them from touching surfaces and make sure they wash their hands regularly.

Industry calls for extended stamp duty holiday

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in July last year that for residential properties in England and Northern Ireland buyers would not have to pay property tax (SDLT) on the first £ 500,000 of the purchase price until March 31, 2021.

In Wales and Scotland the first £ 250,000 of the transaction value is exempt from property tax until the same date.

However, there are fears that the end of the SDLT holiday will cause the housing market to decline after March, with some industry experts calling for an extension of the deadline.

Mr Aboody said: “What this lockdown means is that the stamp duty holiday will have to be extended, if not made permanent. The Chancellor must review the deadline, in light of this unexpected lockdown. stamp duty holiday should be either postponed or removed from the agenda for the time being, in order to avoid any further shutdown or disruption to the already struggling economy. “

David Hannah of real estate tax consultancy Cornerstone Tax suggests that more should be done to help first-time buyers access the real estate ladder and give more security to the housing market: or change the date of payment of taxes so that buyers can still enjoy the holidays even if they cannot complete before March 31.

“The most preferable option would be a phasing out of vacations, to prevent those who are currently buying their properties from essentially being thrown onto the edge of a cliff.”

Situation in Scotland

New foreclosure regulations in Scotland state that you should only leave your home for a reasonable excuse. This includes: “moving or undertaking activities relating to the maintenance, purchase, sale, rental or rental of residential property that the person owns or is otherwise responsible for”.

Whenever possible, people, including those in the real estate industry, should be working from home until at least the end of January.

The market goes digital

Many real estate agents have stepped up or introduced innovative methods to carry out day-to-day operations to accommodate social distancing measures, such as live auctions and virtual viewings.

Utsav Goenka of VYOMM, a real estate portal for sellers, said: “There is no doubt that buyers and sellers want to do more digital and limit physical meetings to those that are essential. Unfortunately, most real estate agents have little to offer beyond virtual tours, which, while welcome, are only partially and occasionally useful.

“The industry needs a completely different level of clearance where sellers can appoint agents who can market and sell homes effectively, without requiring repeated physical exposure to each other. “

On August 31, the USDA announced the implementation of the agency’s OneRD guarantee loan initiative and released new information on rates and terms that will help lenders apply for loan guarantees to support rural businesses, community infrastructure and equipment.

The agency released a final rule on the initiative on July 13, noting that the program aims to facilitate lenders’ access to four guaranteed loan programs, including the Rural Energy for America program, the loan guarantee program for water and waste disposal, community facilities guaranteed. Loan Program and the Guaranteed Loan Program for Business and Industry.

The REAP program is particularly interesting for players in the biofuels and bioenergy industry. It provides loan guarantees and grants to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to improve energy efficiency. Solid biomass, biogas and biofuels projects are among the renewable energy systems eligible for the program.

As part of the OneRD Guarantee Loan initiative, the USDA said it is standardizing requirements for credit reviews, loan processing, loan services, and loss claims. The agency said these measures will make the application process simpler and faster for lenders. The changes include a common loan guarantee application and consistent forms that lenders can use across all four programs.

In July, the agency also said it plans to issue loan note guarantees to lenders within 48 hours of providing documentation proving that the requirements of the conditional commitment have been met. USDA will also provide percentage collateral and fee requirements to lenders through a single annual notice at the start of each fiscal year and allow lenders to obtain loan guarantee approval before projects start. of construction. The agency will also provide automatic approval to lenders in good standing who are overseen or created by state or federal regulators to participate in the four programs, while unregulated lenders can apply for approval to participate through a unique certification process that will be valid for five years.

In the announcement released Aug. 31, the USDA said it was providing guarantee percentages, annual fees, periodic retention fees, and optional construction fees before fiscal 2021 to help lenders apply for the four loan guarantee programs involved.

For the REAP program, the loan guarantee fee is set at 1%, the periodic guarantee retention fee is 0.25%, the loan guarantee percentage is 80% and the guarantee issuance fee loan before the completion of construction is 0.5%. The fees in the notice are effective October 1.

Additional information is available on the USDA website.

Half of all micro and small enterprises (MSBs) in Indonesia are either owned by women or women play a key role in their operation. Including small traders, street vendors and others, these businesses form the backbone of Indonesia’s economy.

The ills of the pandemic, however, have resulted in declining incomes and the female MSB owners are disproportionately ill-equipped to cope. This highlights the need to support women owners of MSBs and in so doing contribute to the overall economic recovery of the country.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), MSB women are at the forefront of adopting digital tools to stay afloat during the pandemic. But what does it actually mean for them to use these tools to deal with challenges, such as limited income streams due to physical distancing measures?

UN Women and Pulse Lab Jakarta recently released a research report that investigates this issue, titled “Optimizing Digitization to Address COVID-19: An Indonesian Case Study of Women-Owned Micro and Small Businesses”.

Funded by the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund for COVID-19 Response and Recovery (MPTF COVID-19) and conducted in partnership with Gojek and with the support of the National Council for Financial Inclusion of Indonesia (S-DNKI ), research has found that using digital platforms to sell products and services helps women-owned MSBs in the food and beverage industry keep their businesses afloat and support themselves. of their families.

In addition, 82% of female MSB owners surveyed indicated that using digital solutions, such as GoBiz, Selly and MokaPOS, allowed flexible hours to better balance work and household responsibilities at a time when care work is crucial. .

Most importantly, the benefits of digitization are not felt equally by all ESM women. The analysis showed that digital tools were particularly useful if the company was less than a year old. Inequalities in infrastructure, digital skills, affordability and time availability also inhibit the ability of some women to adopt and navigate new digital tools.

As the Indonesian government will continue to focus on economic recovery in 2021, now is the time to create synergies between boosting economic growth and advancing gender equality. So what can we do to help female MSB owners take advantage of digital tools to keep the lights on at work and at home?

Filling the data gaps is one of the essential first steps to understanding the full impact of the pandemic, especially the gender dynamics within the MSB sector. Investing in sex-disaggregated data collection and gender analysis can better inform targeted policy interventions, including monitoring the implementation of social protection and stimulus programs.

For example, information from the data highlighted that women who had informal MSBs were the least likely to access benefits such as those provided through government programs, including the National Economic Recovery Program ( PEN) from Indonesia, the Keluarga Harapan (PKH) and Kredit Usaha Rakyat (KUR) program. This evidence can and should be used to tailor stimulus packages and ensure that effective measures are in place to support these groups of women entrepreneurs.

Second, women are more likely than men to be employed informally, and many depend on MSBs for their livelihoods. Cash transfers, fiscal stimulus packages, and working capital loans or credit guarantee programs for MSBs, including informal MSBs, can help them cope and revitalize the economy. Targeting female-owned MSBs, especially those operating informally, should be a key priority in the response to COVID-19 to ensure equal opportunities and accelerate economic recovery.

Third, tackling the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work is key to removing barriers to women’s economic participation, especially in the context of the COVID-19 recovery. Digitization and the use of technology will be more useful if it can help entrepreneurs and / or MSBs to better balance their family and work responsibilities. The promotion of digital literacy among female MSB owners is also necessary to support this change.

Fourth, supporting women entrepreneurs will require a multi-stakeholder approach. Public policy must be complemented by actions resulting from intersectoral partnerships between the government, civil society organizations and the private sector. While 43% of new merchants who join GoFood are first-time business owners, technology or funding alone is not enough to help these young businesses thrive. Instead, a multidimensional approach including access to capacity building, markets and loans can have a more lasting and meaningful impact.

There is no single answer to the COVID-19 crisis, and therefore none of these four solutions is more important than the others. The different characteristics that define men and women entrepreneurs, from their gender and location to the size of their company and their level of formality, have motivated them to adopt different solutions to face the crisis.

The coping strategies deployed by Indonesian companies vary widely based on their different characteristics, which can be visualized by moving these seesaws.

Ultimately, these recommendations indicate a more inclusive strategy for the PEN program that should be based on gender-specific data and evidence, stronger targeting of female-owned MSBs, addressing inequality of unpaid care. and domestic responsibilities, and multisectoral partnerships to promote a strong and sustainable environment. economic recovery.

***

Jamshed M. Kazi is UN Women Representative in Indonesia, Maesy Angelina is Social Systems Manager at Pulse Lab Jakarta, Nila Marita is General Affairs Manager at Gojek.