Michael Baer, senior vice president and wealth management advisor for Merrill in Portage, was named to Forbes’ 2019 Top 250 Next-Gen Wealth Advisors list. Baer joined Merrill in 2000. His areas of specialty include retirement planning and analysis, cash management strategies and employee stock options. 2019 is the second straight year he has been named to the Forbes Next-Gen list. Baer has a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Western Michigan University.

ACCOUNTING

Mark Walztoni was promoted to managing director in tax services at Crowe LLP’s Grand Rapids office. Walztoni will be responsible for leading the national human resources services group that specializes in M&A talent and culture due diligence and integration, base salary and incentive compensation, and employment law regulatory compliance consulting.

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

St. Joseph-based JohnsonRauhoff celebrated its 50th anniversary. Don Johnson, Army veteran turned adman, founded the company in 1969 as a one-man studio and worked from his basement. JR originally went by the name Don Johnson Art and Design.

ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING

Integrated Architecture promoted Nate Umstead to architectural project manager.

ARTS

The Grand Rapids Public Museum announced it is extending its “TOYS!” exhibition an additional year. Opening Oct. 19 is the new exhibit “Design Zone” that will reveal the secrets of video game developers, music producers, roller coaster designers and other creative problem-solvers. “Bodies Revealed” returns to the museum Nov. 16, featuring real, whole and partial body specimens that have been preserved through an innovative process, allowing visitors to learn about their own bodies and teach how to take better care of one’s own health and make positive lifestyle choices.

The Muskegon Museum of Art’s exhibition, “Undying Traditions: Memento Mori” includes works by artists from across the United States that explore themes of death and earthly pleasure. The exhibition includes paintings, photography, and sculpture and runs through Jan. 5.

AWARDS

Dave Broekstra, SMG chief engineer for DeVos Place and Van Andel Arena and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was presented with a handmade quilt from the Quilts of Valor Foundation during an award ceremony at the recent American Quilter’s Society QuiltWeek held at DeVos Place.

Daniel Williams, president and CEO of West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology, is the recipient of the Better Business Bureau Serving Western Michigan’s 2019 BBB Trust Award.

MHVillage is the recipient of the Communicator Award for Distinction in Magazine Writing for 2019 by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts. MHVillage earned the award through the submission of The MHInsider magazine’s volume 2, issue 1 centered on The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show and an early look at 2019 product trends and industry insights.

The Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services announced Kevin Kammeraad of the Kent District Library was a 2019 winner of the Carol Hole Award. Carol Combs Hole provided exemplary leadership on behalf of libraries, bookmobile and outreach services throughout her 32-year career as a professional public librarian. She died in 2007.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Nestlé Waters North America announced its Stanwood bottling facility received Gold certification under the Alliance for Water Stewardship International Water Stewardship Standard. Achieving advanced-level certification recognizes the additional effort water stewardship outcomes that go beyond core requirements of the AWS Standard. NWNA remains the only company in North America with Gold-certified facilities.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Christina Mena joined Kalamazoo-based Greenleaf Trust as a client service representative.

GOVERNMENT

Kristin Turkelson, city of Grand Rapids assistant planning director, was appointed to serve as the city’s acting planning director. 

GRANTS

GEMS (Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior) Girls’ Clubs announced it received a $25,000 gift from The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation to upgrade and enhance its online leader training platform GEMS ReFresh into ReFresh 2.0, which is used to equip and support GEMS leaders with an online library of resources as they mentor girls in faith-based clubs all over the world.

HEALTH

Grand Rapids Ophthalmology announced the addition of Emily Tomaselli, D.O., to its team of eye care professionals. 

HUMAN SERVICES

Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids recently celebrated 10 years of serving the Lowell community via its Gilda’s Club Lowell program.

LEGAL

St. Joseph-based Conybeare Law personal injury attorneys Raymond Steadmon, Barry Conybeare and Matthew Conklin have opened a law office at 5955 W. Main St., Kalamazoo.

NONPROFITS

Greater Ottawa County United Way announced the additions of Erin Zylman, financial adviser for Edward Jones, and Patrick Waterman, city manager for the city of Hudsonville, to its board of directors. Each will serve three-year terms.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Boileau Communications in Holland hired Greg DeWeerd as communications specialist. DeWeerd will work directly with clients, helping to develop and implement strategic marketing and communications plans to achieve their company goals.

REAL ESTATE

Grand Rapids-based Commercial Alliance of Realtors West Michigan recently renewed its contract with Ann Arbor-based Catylist Commercial Real Estate Technology. The CARWM service connects commercial professionals with owners, tenants and investors looking to buy, sell and lease properties at carwm.com.

RETAIL

Meijer-owned Bridge Street Market grocery store expanded its assortment of locally made or sourced products by 33% and continues to bring a fresh mix of convenient food at low prices to customers on Grand Rapids’ West Side. The neighborhood grocery store now carries more than 5,000 local products.

SpartanNash announced VIQTORY has named it among the nation’s 2020 Military Friendly Employers, earning bronze distinction. VIQTORY’s mission is to provide veterans and their spouses with optimum choices for employment opportunities.

SERVICES

Portage-based the InterNational Electrical Testing Association (NETA) announced a discount for joining the NETA Alliance Program, which offers professionals working in the electrical power systems industry exclusive benefits, including a discount on PowerTest Conference registration. The NETA Alliance Program is designed for professionals who share the NETA mission, leaders who bring perspectives from all sectors of the electrical power industry and those who put safety and quality first. NETA is offering Alliance Partnerships at $100 through Dec. 31.

SPORTS

MyWay Mobile Storage of Grand Rapids donated portable storage units to help support various needs for first aid and water stations along the Michigan Titanium course held in Plainfield Township for the ninth consecutive year.

TECHNOLOGY

Blue Medora unveiled its new ServiceNow capabilities in its True Visibility Suite for VMware vRealize Operations at the recent VMworld U.S. in San Francisco. The ServiceNow Management Pack for VMware vRealize Operations links application and business owners to tailored views of overall system health and resource usage. These new views simplify the identification of orphaned assets and time to cost reduction within IT infrastructure.

SalesPad announced the addition of John Carrier as CFO and COO.

US Signal launched its managed Website and Application Security Solution. The new cloud-based offering builds on US Signal’s partnership with Cloudflare to deliver a customizable service that protects organizations against online threats that include DDoS, ransomware, malicious bots and application-layer attacks.

Web development company BizStream ranked No. 1,481 on Inc. magazine’s 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.