has been providing security solutions to financial and property management customers for over 30 years TGG specializes in physical and electronic security systems integration retail delivery solutions and security consulting working with the financial and commercial sectors of the Mid-Atlantic region while also supporting customers throughout the U.S physical security and electronic security products to regional community and nationally known banks The company's branch transformation solutions help improve operational efficiencies Wittenbach services customers throughout the Midwest and East Coast The acquisition of The Gilbertson Group will further enhance the growth of Wittenbach by providing increased density in an important region for Wittenbach and its customers The combined company will be enabled to better serve their combined customer base execute cross-selling opportunities in the financial institution sector while expanding into government and commercial sectors across their footprint are actively working on executing Argosy's Value Acceleration Methodology (VAM™) acquisition toolkit to integrate the operations "We are thrilled for TGG to join our Wittenbach team We look forward to leveraging the combined strength of both companies to provide even better services and support to our many customers across the PA Argosy Private Equity and Chairman of Wittenbach Wittenbach has provided world-class cash handling we service customers throughout the Midwest and East Coast specializes in providing capital and operating and financial expertise to lower middle market companies across a broad range of industries Argosy partners with motivated management teams investing in companies with sustainable competitive advantages and attractive growth prospects Argosy Private Equity is a division of Argosy Capital Group ("Argosy Capital") together with Argosy Real Estate Partners Argosy Capital is an investment adviser with approximately $3.1 billion of assets under management All of the Argosy Capital funds focus on lower middle market investment strategies For further information, please visit: Argosy Private Equity: www.argosype.comWittenbach: www.wittenbach.com Argosy Private EquitySarah Busch[email protected] WittenbachJanet Kaplan[email protected] today announced it acquired a controlling interest in Mr Argosy Private Equity ("Argosy") today announced it has exited its investment in Rita's Franchise.. Banking & Financial Services Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers Do not sell or share my personal information: GRAND HAVEN — The owners of two cottages in Grand Haven Township can begin building a seawall to protect their precariously perched houses from the threat of further erosion Members of a nearby homeowner's association fought the seawall in court last week urging the judge to block it from being constructed The Dunes Homeowners' Association and Linda Duke the woman who holds the title to the beach land below the cottages said the seawall couldn't be built on the beach without their consent that the seawall would block their access to the beach Use of the beach is shared by residents of the Dunes subdivision and several beachfront cottages The judge's order gives the two homeowners permission to start work on the rock revetment immediately have already acquired permits from the Michigan Department of Environment The judge has also given the neighbors who sought to stop the project three weeks to amend their lawsuit to sue Wittenbach and DeLongchamp for damages The neighbors' attorney said last week her clients planned to sue for compensation for the loss in the value of their lakeside homes if they can no longer use the shared beach Residents testified the beach access was their main draw to buy a house in the Dunes subdivision Ottawa County Circuit Court Judge Jon Hulsing reasoned in his opinion that Wittenbach and DeLongchamp may build on property that's not theirs because they have an easement right to use the beach property to maintain stairs and decks to access the beach as long as it doesn't unreasonably interfere with others' use of the shared beach the beach is almost impossible to access from Wittenbach and DeLongchamp's properties atop the dune Their stairs have been lost to erosion and high water The judge agreed with the homeowners that shoring up the dune is necessary to be able to build new stairs down to the beach The judge wrote that he didn't believe the seawall would unreasonably interfere with other people's access to the beach The shared beach stretches along approximately 600 feet of shoreline The rock wall is expected to be about 100 feet long "Plaintiff's (most likely temporary) inconvenience of walking or playing around the revetment must be balanced against defendant's loss of their property (stairs and decks) located in the easement," wrote Judge Jon Hulsing of Ottawa County Circuit Court Hulsing also said the other users of the beach including the members of the homeowners' association would likely benefit from a seawall that stabilizes the dune and stems the erosion The wall is expected to help restore the beach more quickly when water levels recede the revetment will stabilize the beach," Hulsing wrote the revetment will promote a timely restoration of the beach and a foredune with vegetation that plaintiffs may have to walk around the revetment is a temporary inconvenience not an unreasonable interference of their property rights.” — Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens A startup has introduced a new research model to the Michigan apple industry one that will add to growers’ knowledge of their crop if they pay to support its efforts Manager Tye Wittenbach said LTI — short for “Let’s Try It” — conducts contracted research with manufacturers and receives subscription fees from grower-members Members have exclusive access to research results They also help steer LTI’s research trials in practical directions LTI members want more information on three main topics: thinning Most of LTI’s research results will only be shared with members to ensure they receive value from their investment some trials are conducted for private companies that own the data; for example a chemical company might want replicated data on a new product that hasn’t been released and those results wouldn’t be made public unless the client wants that spends most of his time in an 80-acre orchard near Kent City Wittenbach sets up the trials and performs most management tasks Three part-time employees do most of the data collection is “exactly what you want for research” in a modern commercial setting Nyblad said LTI acts as a management company for his 80-acre parcel performing all the necessary management tasks while also conducting research trials for example — require the removal or destruction of fruit but only a small percentage is lost to such research The arrangement frees him to take care of his other properties Wittenbach grew up on a family orchard in Belding and studied horticulture at Michigan State University His original goal was to be an extension educator but he fell more in love with the industry side of agricultural research When LTI’s investors pitched him the idea of forming a private research company for the tree fruit industry John Rasch and Umlor are crop consultants with Wilbur-Ellis They saw a need for more applied apple research in Michigan and decided Wittenbach would be the perfect person to carry it out “There aren’t many researchers that can run stats manage labor and do the actual work growers do,” Zemaitis said There’s no direct affiliation between LTI and Wilbur-Ellis though LTI does conduct research on some of the agricultural service company’s products how will LTI’s private research efforts fit with Michigan State University Extension’s ongoing public work navigating public and private information-sharing will be complicated but there’s always room for more tree fruit research “There will never be enough people to do enough of the research we need to do,” said MSU apple production specialist Anna Wallis “There are so many questions that need to be answered We need lots of people working on them from lots of different angles.” who covers the greater Grand Rapids region (which includes the Fruit Ridge) said LTI and MSU Extension have already set up a pruning trial together Its results will be available to the public values sharing and learning from each other,” Wallis said “While (Wittenbach’s) information isn’t going to get directly shared with all right away eventually the industry will benefit from the work he’s doing.” Wallis has seen public and private researchers complement each other’s work before When she was a Cornell Cooperative Extension specialist in New York state a private company that performs research trials for the state’s tree fruit industry Private research companies also have an advantage in that they can dedicate themselves to research alone while extension educators also must focus on education Wittenbach said LTI was partially inspired by Reality Research which has a reputation for performing accurate and credible research “There’s absolutely room for both private and public research,” said Scott Palmer a member of the family that owns Reality Research “The industry needs both to be sustainable.” The Palmers have been conducting research trials for companies for more than two decades is both a commercial and research operation How widely research results are shared depends on customer agreements Brad Palmer said Reality Research hosts grower tours and meetings but the company doesn’t charge growers for those activities and doesn’t have a paid membership model like LTI’s and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" 2025-05-01T16:48:37-07:00May 1st, 2025|0 Comments 2025-05-01T10:34:58-07:00April 28th, 2025|0 Comments Use the search box to find a topic of interest explore articles by topic or category in the main navigation links on every page or view articles by issue on our Archives page Stephanie Wittenbach is a reporter for The Maine Wire based in Bangor California and graduated from Emerson College She can be reached at wittenbach@themainewire.com Former President Donald Trump said Monday he’s ready to release all remaining files related to the assassination of President John F And I will release everything else,” former Trump said of the JFK files blamed the CIA for his uncle’s assassination in 1963 The Democratic presidential candidate made the controversial remarks during an interview with John Catsimatidis on his WABC 770 AM show Cats Roundtable in early May A controversial bill that would prevent Maine law enforcement from cooperating with other states if out-of-state minors have come to Maine seeking sex-change procedures or medical treatments drew closer to passage Friday “An Act to Safeguard Gender Affirming Healthcare,” believe the measure will protect minors who come to Maine from states that have banned child sex-change surgeries and hormone therapies like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones or other states that have prohibited minors from undergoing sex-change surgeries or receiving puberty blockers would be able to come to Maine… GRAND HAVEN — Susan Wittenbach and Jeff DeLongchamp found themselves in court this week fighting a legal battle to save their lakeshore houses from the advancing edge of the eroding dunes They say that to save their cottages from falling off the bluff they need to build a seawall on the dune and beach below — property that isn't theirs The cottages are on a private drive off Lakeshore Avenue in Grand Haven Township who is asking that a judge put a stop to the proposed project along with a number of residents members of the Dunes Homeowners' Association arguing that the seawall can't be built without the consent of Duke and the homeowners' association They say the proposed seawall — a rock revetment — will keep them from enjoying the beach Members of the homeowners association have the right to use the approximately 600-foot stretch of beach for recreational purposes Wittenbach and DeLongchamp also have a right to use the beach that their cottages sit directly above The legal question is whether they can build on it to save their homes The lawsuit was heard by Judge Jon Hulsing in Ottawa County Circuit Court this week Hulsing is expected to issue his decision next week Wittenbach and DeLongchamp say the seawall is necessary not only to save the cottages but to allow for future use and enjoyment of the beach for everyone erosion has made the beach inaccessible and unsafe told the judge a permanent injunction preventing her clients from building the seawall would be the equivalent of condemning their houses to destruction Duke and the homeowners' association say Wittenbach and DeLongchamp have no right to build on the land without permission They also argue the seawall will make the beach more dangerous exposing kids to the potentially hazardous rocks They called the executive director of Camp Blodgett a summer camp for children living in poverty and foster care as a witness to testify about the seawall's potential impact on the kids who go for daily beach walks while at camp They worry the seawall will cover the beach potentially blocking access for the camp's kids and for beachgoers The homeowners' association president said he visited other rock revetments elsewhere along Lake Michigan where the rocks had collected large debris from the lake and become unsightly A professional geologist who testified for Duke and the homeowners association said there are alternative methods of stemming the erosion and saving the houses Wittenbach and DeLongchamp's attorney said they don't have the time to hire a new contractor and acquire the permits from the state and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers that would be necessary for a new project The two worry their cottages' collapse could happen any day The permits for the rock revetment have already been issued Duke and the homeowners' association members plan to seek damages if the judge rules in favor of Wittenbach and DeLongchamp She said her clients would seek compensation based upon the change in value to their lakeside homes if the beach becomes unusable to them very precious to many members of the subdivision," Bregman said Bregman lives in the Dunes subdivision and is a member of the Dunes Homeowners Association Wittenbach said she'll consider what to do next after the judge rules Ohio (WKRC) - A 7-year-old Middletown boy’s brief joyride was captured on in-car cameras Thursday morning after he drove off in his parents’ SUV “I was definitely scared half to death,” said Brian Wittenbach after waking up to learn his son Wittenbach said he and his wife keep their keys hanging high on a wall but that Daniel somehow managed to get hold of them “My wife and I are not bad parents,” said Wittenbach you can see Daniel driving the wrong way down a grassy shoulder on Roosevelt Boulevard around 8:30 a.m Cars swerve to avoid him as he drives into oncoming traffic “It’s definitely heart-wrenching to actually watch,” said Wittenbach a man comes running towards him and tries smashing open the window to stop the car wrapped it around his arm and was sitting there banging it trying to get it open,” said witness Maria Wright “He didn't understand that people were trying to help and trying to stop the vehicle,” said Wittenbach Another man tries to block the car with his body but it had too much momentum and hit a Jeep head-on You can hear Daniel saying “Ow” as his head lurches toward the steering wheel hit his head on the steering wheel,” said Wright But when asked if head hit the steering wheel apparently it was in the quest of a sweet treat 'I just wanted a slushie from Speedway,’” said Wittenbach Daniel is not the first one in his family to try something like this His father says that when he was five years old .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Dean Holzwarth | grsports@mlive.comCory Morse | The Grand Rapids PressDebbie Wittenbach is halfway through a series of six chemotherapy treatments for her cancer.GRAND RAPIDS -- Forest Hills Central’s Stephen Wittenbach was anticipating his senior year He had hopes of garnering enough attention on the basketball court to lead to a future at the college level almost a month before basketball practice began but I know the kind of lady she is and how she goes about her every day life,” Wittenbach said “I know in the end she is going to be OK.” currently is halfway through a series of six chemotherapy treatments for her cancer said doctors “are pleased with the results early on.” and is at times tired from the effects of chemo but remains active in her children’s athletic endeavors plays on the junior varsity basketball team and an on-the-go person,” Steve Wittenbach said of his wife and going to the games has been a fun diversion for her but I think both of them are handling it very well.” Stephen Wittenbach said it has been difficult to concentrate on basketball due to his mother’s daily battle with the disease The family did not want to disclose publicly the type of cancer Debbie has But Stephen said he has been driven by her courage and positive outlook it really has been a great source of motivation,” Stephen Wittenbach said “Because every time I would be in practice I would just think about what she was going through and how she was battling “It really just gave me a whole new level to bring my by game up to and she has provided me with an incredible amount of motivation Every time I look up there in the stands and see her -- it kind of gives me an extra push to go a little harder than I think I can.” who is being recruited by several local colleges he leads the Rangers in scoring at 22 points per game He scored a career-high 35 points in a loss against Northview Forest Hills Central next plays in the  Cornerstone Holiday tournament Tuesday The Rangers face Caledonia in the Gold Division opener at 6 p.m The Gold championship is Thursday at 7:30 p.m Forest Hills Central will host a “purple” game against Kenowa Hills The game will help raise money and awareness for cancer research Stephen Wittenbach has received an outpouring of support from his teammates especially friend and fellow senior co-captain Jake Boles Boles recently presented Debbie Wittenbach with a DVD that included short clips of support and encouragement from friends “I wanted to do something to help out his mom and let her know everyone was there thinking about her and everything,” Boles said “Coach (Ken) George helped me come up with the idea and set up everything My mom and I talked to people and got them to help make the video.” Boles and Stephen Wittenbach have played baseball and basketball together since fifth grade Boles said the entire team has rallied around the Wittenbach family so we are making sure we do whatever we can to help out and you can always hear her cheering in the crowd and everything The Wittenbach family was touched by Boles’ sentiment “It had all these clips from different people just telling my mom that they were there for her and how much they cared for her,” Stephen Wittenbach said “That video meant so much to me and my family and she’s always the one to give them a hug or tell them ‘good game’ even if they played terrible The guys on the team said they wanted to dedicate this season to her Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices Kids may say the darndest things, but thankfully most of them don’t take your car for a joyride However, seven year old Daniel Wittenbach had a hankering for an early morning slushie so he used a chair to grab the keys to his parents’ Kia Sportage while they were sleeping which shows Wittenbach get behind the wheel and attempt to drive to a nearby Speedway This went about as well as you’d expect as Wittenbach could barely reach the pedals and had no idea what he was doing as he thought the crossover was “driving by itself.” Also Read: 10 Year-Old Boy Reportedly Takes $206k Maserati For A Joyride And Then Crashes After leaving his neighborhood, WLWT reports Wittenbach headed down Roosevelt Boulevard other drivers could barely believe what they were seeing and quickly flooded 911 with calls about a kid driving a Kia A number of bystanders jumped into action, with some reportedly trying to break the windows to gain access to the vehicle in order to bring it to a stop. However, their efforts were in vain as Daniel’s slushie adventure wouldn’t end until after crashing into a Jeep Liberty but authorities were less than amused and Butler County Children’s Services is said to be investigating the incident told the station “My wife and I are not bad parents and I’m sure people are going to label us like that.” He added this could happen to anyone and it’s hard not to sympathize with them Portland High School is proud to announce the achievement of two of its talented students who showcased their skills as selected representatives of Portland High School’s theater program at the 2024 Sutton Foster Awards held this past Saturday a highly competitive event involving over 120 nominated students from across the state provided a platform for young performers to display their talents and dedication to the arts which involved preparation over multiple weekends challenged students to learn new music and dance numbers to perform alongside their peers with each element acting as an audition for a chance to advance to the National High School Musical Theater Awards held in New York City The culminating moment of the event came with the announcement of the eight finalists selected from the pool of exceptionally talented performers Among the finalists was PHS Senior Lyndsey Camp whose outstanding performances secured her place as one of the top female performing artists in the state Each finalist then performed a song of their choice for the judges in front of the audience and from those performances the Michigan representatives for Nationals were selected This year’s representatives come from Loy Norrix High School in Kalamazoo and H.H "We are immensely proud of both Cooper and Lyndsey for their achievements and hard work," said Chandra Polasek "And to have one of our own named as a finalist is phenomenal It was such a joy to see Lyndsey perform in the spotlight on that stage I am so excited to see her be recognized for her artistry and cannot wait to see her shine out in the world.”  The Portland High School community extends its heartfelt congratulations to Cooper Wittenbach and Lyndsey Camp for their success at the 2024 Sutton Foster Awards Their achievements are a testament to the strength of Portland High School's performing arts program and the unwavering dedication of its students This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Three generations of Wittenbachs — Elizabeth which includes seven new varieties from Washington Elizabeth is particularly intrigued by newly released cultivars and looks forward to seeing how well the options fare in the orchard Elizabeth Wittenbach has a lot on her mind Fresh from college and weighing different agricultural career options she opted to take a position on the home team and join family-owned Wittenbach Orchards Her decision to be a fifth-generation farmer and fourth-generation fruit grower on her family’s 125-year-old farm didn’t come easily insisted she go to college and pursue options away from home because agriculture is not the easiest business to be in,” he says “I think it has to be something you truly desire and I don’t think you know that until you leave the farm and see how the rest of the world operates that meant heading off to Michigan State University While she pursued a degree in agri-business management and a minor in horticulture she continued to look at options outside the family business She spent part of her sophomore year as Michigan Apple Queen where she got a good introduction to ag tourism; she interned in her junior year at Wilbur-Ellis which is an international marketer and distributor of chemicals and other agricultural products; and she also spent a semester in Washington taking classes and working four days a week with a lobbying firm for members of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives Wittenbach began perusing the job market and going on interviews so I spent a lot of time in the fall talking with my dad the more we both felt the time was right for me to come back home and work full-time here.” It made sense for her father who had an especially busy growing season coming up in 2016 for her grandmother who was anxious to give up her office role in the business As soon as she finished her last class at Michigan State in early May Wittenbach jumped right into the family business so I have enjoyed learning from Grandma this summer and starting to take over payroll accounts and the office side of things,” she says “I actually like to come in on my own in the morning before we head outside so I can have at least a half hour to make sure I’m up to date on everything in the office I really like the balance of the outdoors and the office.” Linda Wittenbach gladly passed on the accounting duties to her granddaughter over the summer but she continues to provide advice every now and then Her face lights up when she describes one of her favorite jobs of this past summer: pruning trees for hours on end with her grandfather “I like knowing that I’m making cuts that are going to matter to the tree long term,” she describes I get to work with my darn grandpa every day Asked about the most challenging aspect of working at the orchard especially when she is driving harvesting equipment and conversing with workers during fast-paced picking “One of the groups in my crew has two young guys who really don’t speak English but I am having such a blast with them because they’re always challenging me with language and keep saying in Spanish ‘you can but now that the harvest is ending and they’ll be leaving She’s also a bit apprehensive when she thinks that she might one day take over the entire operation but she is trying not to think about that quite yet but fortunately I’m not making a lot of the decisions at this point and I have really great teachers in my dad so that makes things easier for sure,” she remarks Wittenbach is tapping other resources to help her prepare for a farm career That includes the industry contacts she has made through her father and grandfather and while participating in organizational events such as the International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) New York State Study Tour in July and a SweeTango growers’ meeting during a college spring break in 2014 She knows very few other people her age who are growers other than a couple of “neighbor boys” and one other young grower she met over the summer so I haven’t met many yet,” Wittenbach says She also hasn’t found social media especially useful to connect with other growers her age or to find information “I know there are a lot of young people who obviously use it more than I do it just hasn’t been a good tool,” she says she is testing the social-media waters as a platform for providing consumer education from the orchard She just began using Instagram to post a few photos she hopes will bridge what she calls a “disconnect between what people think they are eating and how it’s produced.” Wittenbach subscribes to various electronic newsletters and blog posts and receives print publications “I try to scroll through the online stuff in the evening and read those articles that pertain to what we’re doing,” she says The resources she finds most useful are those that introduce and describe new varieties as well as new technologies to improve fruit quality and overall orchard efficiency She noted that the orchard just signed up for 10,000 trees to produce Smitten an apple from New Zealand that blends Gala and also has test plots of several additional releases from Washington I like the chance to try new things,” she says “I feel like we’re getting so much better at growing quality fruit and good-tasting fruit.” she is intrigued by new tree architectures “The way we’re planting is so different from how it was when I was little you can see differences in how my dad is planting trees and using a trellis system She pointed to 2D systems that were discussed at the IFTA meeting “That’s even smaller than what we’re doing There is just so much learning opportunity and I like that.” including a brother who is in his third year of college and is taking ag business classes and a younger sister who is in high school “My brother and I are pretty sure that the long term will be he and I together running the business “We’re just kind of taking it slow around here.” Although her father pushed his daughter out to see the world “It’s always good to have young blood come into the business that doesn’t mean all new ideas are good ones “The fourth generation has to listen to the fifth generation but we haven’t been here four generations because we don’t know what we’re doing.” Ed Wittenbach is also delighted with his granddaughter’s decision to join the family business “I think it’s great to have the fifth generation on this farm because I think the family farm is the backbone of America and will continue to be 2025-03-28T14:56:45-07:00April 2nd, 2025|0 Comments Research in apple orchards shows significant microbial die-off occurs in 10 to 18 hours confirming that cooling water can be applied the day before harvest 2025-03-28T14:36:39-07:00April 1st, 2025|0 Comments Australian eco-vineyardist will keynote Washington wine research seminar Hope College basketball player Stephen Wittenbach will be sidelined for approximately four weeks because of a foot injury The sophomore guard from Ada was injured last week early in a practice session He had been running to make the starting lineup The Flying Dutchmen tip off the season Nov 16 when they play the College of Faith (Ark.) in Illinois.