The MBA Journal

Since 1996, the Midwest Business Alliance Journal has been documenting the people, businesses, entrepreneurs and community leaders helping shape the Midwest.

Founded by Charles Fair, the publication was created with a vision that went beyond simply reporting business news. It was about creating a platform where business owners could be recognized, entrepreneurs could tell their stories, and communities could see the people behind the businesses and organizations driving progress.

From its roots in Muskegon, Michigan, the Midwest Business Alliance Journal has developed a distinctive place within the region’s business and community landscape. For nearly three decades, the Journal has focused its attention on the people and organizations making things happen—whether inside the boardroom, in a small business storefront, through entrepreneurship, or within the community.

At the center of that history is Charles Fair, who has served as the Journal’s founder, publisher and editor. His commitment to independent business journalism has guided the publication through a media landscape that has changed dramatically since the Journal’s beginnings in 1996.

The technology has changed. The way people receive news has changed. The business world itself has changed.

But the need to tell meaningful stories about business and leadership has remained.

The Midwest Business Alliance Journal has always understood that a business story is ultimately a people story. Behind every company is someone who took a risk. Behind every new venture is an idea that required courage to pursue. Behind every successful organization are individuals whose leadership helped make it possible.

Those are the stories the Journal seeks to bring forward.

Over the years, the publication has provided a platform for entrepreneurs, business professionals, community advocates, organizations and leaders to share their accomplishments, perspectives and experiences. Its coverage has extended beyond traditional business headlines to explore the people and ideas influencing communities throughout Michigan and the broader Midwest.

That approach has helped give the Midwest Business Alliance Journal an identity that is about more than business.

It is about connection.

It is about connecting businesses with readers, entrepreneurs with opportunities, leaders with communities and ideas with the people who can turn them into action.

As the Midwest enters a new era of entrepreneurship and economic development, that mission remains as relevant as ever.

Today’s entrepreneurs are building businesses in industries that didn’t exist when the Journal was founded. Established companies are adapting to an increasingly digital marketplace. Young professionals are becoming the next generation of business leaders. Communities are looking for new ways to create opportunity and strengthen their economic futures.

The Midwest Business Alliance Journal has the opportunity to chronicle that evolution.

Nearly thirty years after its founding, the publication continues to carry forward the vision that Charles Fair established in 1996: give business and community a voice, recognize the people doing the work, and tell the stories that might otherwise go unnoticed.

The format may continue to evolve. The audience may continue to grow. The platforms may change.

But the purpose remains.

The Midwest Business Alliance Journal is a story about business, but it is also a story about people, perseverance, leadership and opportunity—and for nearly three decades, it has been telling that story.