In 2025, private equity deals in the United States totaled a whopping $1.2 trillion in value, according to the financial data platform PitchBook. It was the second biggest year on record for private equity, trailing behind only the post-pandemic boom of 2021.

The rise in private equity activity nationwide, combined with Traverse City’s growth as a business hub and entrepreneurial ecosystem, means one thing: Private equity firms are eyeing the northern Michigan market like never before – and acquiring businesses here in virtually every industry sector.

Is this new type of attention good news or bad news for Traverse City? And how could it impact the status quo of a business scene that has long been characterized by mom-and-pop shops, family businesses, and local ownership?

For its July issue, The Traverse City Business News (The Ticker's sister publication) posed those questions and others to a pair of subject matter experts: Lowell Gruman, managing partner at the Traverse City-based venture capital firm Boomerang Catapult; and Andrew Nussbaum, managing director of Traverse City’s Golden Circle Investment Banking. 

It's one of several features in the action-packed July edition, which also includes stories on the ins and outs of family business successions, an exploration of a childcare "microcenter" model and a conversation with new Munson Medical Center president Joe du Lac, along with many other stories and local columns. 

Click here to subscribe to the TCBN or to find out where you can get a copy on newsstands.