At the risk of sounding too prideful, if you’re holding this issue of 517 Business right now, you have a little piece of history-in-the-making.
For three decades, the Greater Lansing Entrepreneurial Awards was one of the highlights of this magazine and its predecessor — a yearly moment of pause to toast the incredible business talent of mid-Michigan.
Yet that chapter closed in October 2024 with the 30th year of the annual awards ceremony, as we decided to transform the event in the same way our business community was transforming our region.
We took a gap year. Call it a break to “find ourselves.” No, we didn’t go backpacking across Europe. Instead, we vowed to retool, rethink and return bigger, brighter and bolder.
Well, it’s 2026 — and the wait is officially over.
More than a new coat of paint and a patchwork repair project, the inaugural 517 Business Awards held March 18 at Eagle Eye Golf and Banquet Center was an overall overhaul and evolution to match the energy of the changing local business landscape.
We recalibrated our award categories to provide a more precise reflection of our changing region, reenvisioned the awards night festivities and upped the “wow” factor tenfold.
This month, we are pulling back the curtain on the 517 Business Awards Class of 2026. More than names on a list, they are the disruptors, the dreamers and the doers who stayed the course while we were busy behind the scenes.
- The Trailblazers: Meet the startups that didn’t exist a few years ago but are already changing the game.
- The Icons: Meet the legacy businesses that have pivoted and thrived in a new economy.
- The Rogues Gallery: Relive the great memories made during the evening by visiting our photo gallery at 517businessawards.com.
To our readers and our business community: Thank you for your patience and providing us with the reason to grow. Change is rarely easy, but it is always necessary. We spent 2025 dreaming about what this moment would feel like, and seeing this new vision come to life — and seeing the look on our winners’ faces — is sure to be one of the highlights of my year.
I hope you take a moment to give your congratulations and patronage to this year’s 517 Business Awards winners. They embody the enterprising spirit of Greater Lansing and are raising the bar for us all.
Here’s to the next 30 years.
Tiffany Dowling
Publisher
