7 Wonders of Southwest Michigan

The Kalamazoo Gazette was inspired by the recent announcement of the new 7 Wonders of the World released on 7/7/07 and created their list of the Seven Wonders of Southwest Michigan. It's a quirky piece that they must have needed to fill out the paper for the day as there wasn't enough real news. I found it interesting and I think I should create a Seven Wonders of Michigan list sometime. For now, I'll share their Top Seven for Southwest Michigan.

1. Lake Michigan/South Haven Beaches
2. Kalamazoo Promise - free college tuition as a graduate of Kalamazoo Public Schools
3. State Theatre
4. Sunset Auto Theater - Hartford
5. a) Kal-Haven Trail; b)Portage Creek Bicentennial Parkway
6. Gene The Pumpkin Man
7. Plainwell Ice Cream

That's the list for Southwest Michigan as the Kalamazoo Gazette sees it. Feel free to expand or expound on the list in the comments section.

We will be closed the week of July 23rd

We will be closed for 1 Business Week beginning 5pm on July 20 and we will reopen on July 30 at 9am. Any orders placed after 5pm on July 20 and during the week of July 23 will not be shipped until July 31. All orders placed before 5pm this Friday, July 20, 2007, will ship this week. Summer is usually a slower time for us and we will be taking a brief break before summer passes us by. Thanks for your continued support of Michigan businesses and the Michigan farmers who grow the fruits that we sell as jams and such.

Andrew Norton, Owner Gift Baskets From Michigan LLC

Changes in our Gift Basket shipping policy

I would like to highlight the changes to our shipping policy that are affective immediately. We have not changed our prices for shipping, just the timetable for getting out orders. You can still take advantage of our flat-rate shipping for as low as $8.95. Until this week, all orders that were placed by 1 p.m. EST were shipped out that same day. Our new policy is to ship orders within 24 hours of receiving them.

For Example: If you place your order on Monday before 5 p.m. it will ship Tuesday morning. If your order was placed after 5 p.m. we would see it in our system first thing Tuesday morning and your basket would ship on Wednesday morning.

Most gift basket orders arrive at their destinations within 3 Days (not counting Sundays) via USPS Priority Mail and baskets shipped via UPS generally arrive within 3-5 Business Days.

Most orders shipped within Michigan via Priority Mail and UPS will arrive at their destination in 1-2 days. Remember, when your order is shipped you will receive a confirmation email that includes the tracking information for your gift basket.

Feel free to read our Shipping Policy for all of the details and pricing information.

High costs of biodiesel ingredients slows production at Bangor plant

The much celebrated and anticipated biodiesel plant in Bangor is currently running at 1/6 of their maximum capacity. The cost of purchasing and transporting the soybeans necessary to create biodiesel are currently making it prohibitive to eke out a profit. The plant does not want to completely shut down as "If we shut the doors, why would a customer come back to us that had started buying biodiesel from us", asked CEO John Oakley.

Read the article at WWMT Channel 3.

Celebrate National Ice Cream Month this July

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month? Did you even know there was a National Ice Cream Month? I don't narrow down my devotion to ice cream for just one month. You can if you want, but I prefer to eat all flavors of ice cream all year long. Whether it's 80 or 30 out - it is always ice cream weather to me.

In honor of my love for ice cream I created another Squidoo page and devoted it to - Ice Cream.

On this page you will find - a Brief History of Ice Cream, possibly the easiest ice cream cake recipe you will ever see, cool video of an ice cream makers powered by a John Deere engine, how to make ice cream in a bag, and much more.

Grab an ice cream cone and check it out! If you don't already have ice cream in your freezer you will want some after reading this lens.

Hey, we have a Michigan business tax on the table

Finally. State lawmakers have a new tax on the table that replaces the SBT which expires December 31, 2007. Lawmakers had to have something put together by July 1 in order for it to take effect for the new fiscal year which begins October 1.

Right now it looks like there will be a tax of just under .8% on gross profits minus purchases of tangible property (anything other than real estate or money - furniture would be tangible property) and a tax on profits just under 5%.

I can live with this. There are a lot more details to work out, but at first glance it does not appear that businesses (like ours, for example) will be hit too hard.

As a business owner, Katherine LaMont, was quoted as saying, "The devil's going to be in the details."

It always is. :)

For more information read the article at the Detroit Free Press.