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Michigan Small Business Spotlight Weekly Edition | April 27, 2026
Every week we travel the state to find the independent businesses worth knowing. This week we have five of them, one from each corner of Michigan, and every single one has a story behind it that is worth reading on a Sunday morning. Let's get into it.
UPPER PENINSULA: TriMedia Environmental and Engineering | Marquette
In 1995, a small team of scientists and engineers set up shop in Marquette with a simple belief: the people of the Upper Peninsula deserved world class environmental and safety expertise right in their own backyard. Thirty years later, TriMedia has grown to more than 50 employees serving clients from Michigan all the way to Montana, and was recently featured in Crain's Detroit Business for its landmark 30th anniversary. In a full circle moment that says everything about the culture they have built, a former employee recently returned to take over as the company's new CEO. TriMedia is proof that when you do right by your community and your people, they come back to you.
NORTHERN LOWER PENINSULA: Fresh Baby | Petoskey
In 2002, Cheryl Tallman was a busy new mom living in New York City, searching for a simple and healthy way to feed her baby. That search turned into a mission, and that mission turned into Fresh Baby. Her very first product, a baby food making kit packed with easy recipes and nutrition tips for parents on the go, was recognized as a Best New Product finalist at the Natural Products Expo and landed on shelves at Whole Foods, Target, and Amazon. Cheryl eventually planted roots in Petoskey, where Fresh Baby has spent more than two decades fighting diet related chronic diseases through early childhood nutrition. This year the company was selected as one of Michigan's 50 Companies to Watch out of more than 1,000 statewide applicants. One mom, one idea, and twenty years of impact.
WEST MICHIGAN: Flamm Pickle and Packing Co. | Eau Claire
Joseph Flamm emigrated from Poland, traveled through Russia and Canada, and eventually made his way to a small farm near Eau Claire, Michigan, where in 1917 he began making pickles for family and friends. More than a century later, the company he started is still operating on that same land, producing 12 million pounds of pickle relish every single year. If you have ever enjoyed Thousand Island dressing or tartar sauce anywhere in America, there is a very good chance it was made with Flamm relish. Along the way, Joseph's daughter Harriett became one of the first women to graduate from Michigan State University with a degree in Food Technology and earned her pilot's license on the side. The company is now led by Dorothy Munao, who bought it from the retiring third generation owner in 2021 and has since doubled production. A true American dream, grown right here in Southwest Michigan.
TRAVERSE WINE COAST Rove Winery at the Gallagher Estate | Traverse City
Creighton Gallagher grew up on his family's cherry farm in Leelanau County, working the land alongside his father and nine siblings. He went off to study accounting, then walked away from his desk job to apprentice at a winery on Old Mission Peninsula, finding his way back to his roots one grape at a time. In 2010, he and his wife McKenzie purchased part of the family farm and converted an aging block of cherry trees into a vineyard. They opened their tasting room in 2016 with four young children at home and everything on the line. Just a year and a half later, McKenzie was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a double mastectomy while still running the business. She came back. The winery has now earned more than 50 awards in national and international competitions, sits atop the highest point on the Leelanau Peninsula at 1,165 feet, and carries five generations of Gallagher farming history in every bottle.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN: Marshall Holding Company | Detroit
Robert Marshall earned his chemical engineering degree from Michigan Tech in 1942 and moved to Detroit with an idea: the city needed a reliable, one stop source for aluminum building products, and nobody was filling that gap. He opened Aluminum Supply Company in 1948. The business took off. By 1956 the family had expanded into industrial fasteners with Marshall Sales. Eventually all twelve of Rex Marshall's children worked in the family business at one point or another. Today Marshall Holding Company remains family owned and Detroit based, quietly supplying the materials that hold buildings and businesses together across the region. Nearly 80 years in, they are still right where Robert started them.
That is five businesses, five regions, and five stories that remind us why independent Michigan businesses are worth celebrating every single week.
If you know a Michigan small business with a great story, send them our way. We would love to feature them.
Until next Sunday, Michigan Small Business Spotlight
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