The 11-year-old Harmony Brewing Company in Grand Rapids is famous for its beer and its award-winning wood-fired pizza – but perhaps it should be best known for its strong culture. 

As owner Heather VanDyke-Titus described it, Harmony is “beer for good-hearted people. For us, leading from the heart and the way that we make decisions about our vendors, how we work with our employees, the kind of culture that we create both inside and help to contribute to outside of our brewery – those are all really important to us. People are looking for something that is authentic and that feels unique, and so you need to be able to authentically share your story. That cultivates a relationship, and that’s what people are seeking out.”

The business grew, and when Heather’s brother Barry was looking for additional resources to help with their business, he found the Michigan SBDC through a Google search. There they met Business Growth Consultant Brooks Kindel, who walked them through the Focus Four™ program. As a result, they decided to reallocate resources and renew their focus on distribution, and built a new production facility.

“Working with the Michigan SBDC was really helpful because we had been in the process of doing and growing. When you’re in that mode it’s hard to set aside time to think about where you want to go next, who you are and how you got there. The Michigan SBDC helped us to sit down and work through those questions, and that was really valuable. Thank you to Brooks and the Michigan SDBC for helping us to set aside the time to think about what we want to do and how we want to grow for the next 10 years,” said Heather.