Kim Altobello named associate director of Boyne Area Chamber

Boyne City native Kim Altobello has been named the new associate director of the Boyne Area Chamber. She replaces Deb Jason, who accepted a position with Northern Michigan Escapes, a new vacation property management company. Kim graduated from Boyne City High School and Patricia Stevens Career College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before moving to Southern California where she worked in the banking industry. She served most recently as executive vice president and chief administrative officer for a community bank in Santa Clarita CA. In 2012, Kim moved back to Boyne City, where she worked as a Realtor for Coldwell Banker Schmidt in Boyne City and as a sales associate at Chico's women's clothing store in Petoskey. She also assists her fiance Shawn MacNaughton with his business, MacNaughton's Pest Control. Her family has long been active in the local business community, as her late father Bob Herrmann owned a tire business and REH Acres, a wood stove business. Her mother Roseann Herrmann formerly owned a gift store call The Warm Spot  on Water Street. Kim is active in several local organizations including Eta Nu Women's Club, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Boyne City Eagles, and she is on the board of the Charlevoix Area Humane Society. Her adult children Christopher and Jonathan live in Southern California.

Van Dam Custom Boats cast in national retailer’s television commercial

Ben Van Dam and Jess Brown

The facilities and employees of Van Dam Custom Boats were recently cast to appear in a national television and web-based series of commercials for Sears, representing their Craftsman line of tools. The commercial production took place the week of Oct. 13 at the Van Dam facilities in Boyne City. In total, 35 individuals representing the production company, casting company, advertising agency and Sears came to Van Dam for a 12-hour one-day production shoot. The director for this commercial was flown in from Paris, France, while others came from Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Detroit.
Van Dam Custom Boats was chosen to be cast in this commercial from a field of 80 companies nationwide, and was chosen for their reputation in the field of custom wooden boat building, attention to hand craftsmanship, artistry and employee presence. Ben Van Dam and Jess Brown (pictured above) were cast as principals in the commercial. The advertising that will be developed from the day’s filming will consist of 15-second, 30-second and 90-second commercials. The commercials will air on television and on Sears’ website before year-end.

Leslie Neilson: "Boyne City is truly a great place to do business"

The Northern Express profiled Leslie Neilson, owner of the Inspired Living shop in Boyne City, as part of their special issue on the Little Traverse Bay area. Here is the interview with Kristi Kates: 

I’ve been doing this since: “We opened in July of 2000 as Bali and Beyond—importing gifts and goods from Bali—and we changed our name to Inspired Living in 2008.”

I can’t believe this has changed so much since we started: “Boyne City! When I started 14 years ago, Boyne City wasn’t much to write home about, but I could at least afford to have a store here. Now, with all of the wonderful improvements and developments, Boyne City is truly a great place to do business.”

I still love: “That our store has such a good energy. It truly inspires me and it makes me feel better just to be in the store. I love our customers and I love coming to work every day.”

Our business’ reputation is built on: “Providing a positive and inspiring experience through sights and music and aromas and energy. We offer a calm environment that allows you to just take a break.”

The most popular thing at our business when we started was: “When we first opened, our best-sellers were definitely the Balinese kites.”

Today, our most popular offerings are: “This will sound crazy—especially since people don’t write as much anymore—but greeting cards! We have three different lines of cards now and one of our most popular are the Positively Green cards by Compendium. We sell a ton of them. I’ve had people buy 30, 40 at a time.”

What I love most about doing business in the Little Traverse region: “I love the fact that we get a little break after summer and I love the change of seasons here. The different seasons bring in new customers who are looking for different things and that helps keep us on our toes and keep things fresh in the store.”

Full story with other profiles.

Efforts to attract cyclists shift into high gear in Boyne City

With one non-motorized trail in place along U.S. 31 and another ready to be built over the course of the next several years, there’s little doubt that Charlevoix County is set to cement itself a major cycling mecca. However with several recent steps the city commission and others have made recently, Boyne City is poised to be right at the center of it.... The basic Trail Town concept is simple: ensure that communities near a trail are better able to maximize the economic potential of trail-based tourism. Communities participate in a planning process to find ways they can improve their offerings for trail users ― anything from adding access to drinking water or restrooms to recruiting new businesses that cater to the recreational public. Full story from Petoskey News-Review.

Glen Catt mulling another major downtown Boyne City development

If all the pieces fall into place, next year Boyne City residents could see construction beginning on another multi-million dollar redevelopment project in their downtown. Last week, Glen Catt of Gaylord-based Catt Development unveiled his company's proposal to construct an estimated $7.5 million to $8.5 million project on the west side of the 200 block of South Lake Street. Catt said the properties currently are home to the Boyne Arts Collective and the vacant Lakefront Mall building and accompanying parking lot. He said the tentative plan calls for the existing structures to be torn down and a new three-story structure to be built in its place. Catt said the plan calls for the first floor of the project to be anchored by two businesses, a bank on one side and a 7 Monks Taproom location. He said the second floor of the building would include "affordable" or "worker" housing and right now plans for the third floor are still up in the air.  Full story from Petoskey News-Review.

Real estate office makes short move, big updates

Ribbon-cutting at Re/Max Resort Properties.

Boyne City locals and frequent tourists alike may find themselves asking, “Why did the RE/MAX cross the road?” After 22 years in business, RE/MAX Resort Properties, the Boyne City affiliate of real estate giant RE/MAX, has moved to 104 S. Lake St., opposite its original site. The migration was short, but big changes are afoot. “We have changed the concept here in the office,” says Gary Deters, one of the owners of RE/MAX Resort Properties. Deters and fellow owner Jeff Wellman aim to bring new innovations to buying real estate and, in turn, streamline the process for individuals seeking to purchase property in the region. Having been encumbered by small offices spaces in their original location, Wellman and Deters wanted to create a more comfortable environment for prospective buyers. In the process of moving, they have consolidated the offices of their staff and created three large conference rooms for the purpose of showcasing property listings. “Every conference room has a big-screen TV and an iPad,” Wellman said, “so the agents can leave their office when clients walk in the door and take them to a conference room.” When agents use an iPad to work on a contract or view properties with a client, the visuals can be transmitted to the television so that anyone in the room can view them. The new atmosphere that Wellman and Deters are trying to create in the office complements these features. They describe the approach as emulating a coffee bar, importing the idea from a RE/MAX location in Boston that has had success in its implementation. Full story from Petoskey News-Review.

New hotel planned for Walloon Lake waterfront

Aiming to continue with efforts to revitalize Walloon Lake village's business district, members of the Borisch family broke ground Wednesday for a new 32-room waterfront hotel. "The hotel, which we have tentatively named Hotel Walloon, is expected to be a high-service, top-of-the-line hotel, where our guests will start the relaxation process from the time they walk through the door, and that will continue as long as our staff can make it continue," said Matt Borisch, the hotel's operator-to-be and son of primary project investor Jon Borisch. Plans call for the hotel to open this winter along M-75. "One of the more exciting parts of this for my dad and me is to see the economy, that has started to grow in the village, continue to grow," Matt said. The Borisch-owned Walloon Village Marina and Barrel Back restaurant are located just south of the hotel site, where a small condominium building recently was demolished to make way for the new construction. Full story from Petoskey News-Review.