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Flint Township company builds smoking huts, hopes to help area bars and restaurants as smoking ban takes effect May 1  

Call them "outdoor smoking huts."

Mid-Michigan Canvas & Awning, a company with seven employees headquartered near I-75 south of Corunna Road, has designed and constructed the huts for the Great Lakes Technology Centre in Flint and an area nursing home. It has built several for General Motors Co., including at Flint Engine South.

"We just want everyone to know there's still a way to keep your customers happy," said Richelle Roach, who co-owns Mid-Michigan Canvas with her mother, Tammy Thorpe.

Beginning May 1, state law prohibits smoking in public places such as restaurants, bars and hotels or other places that serve food or beverages. Three Detroit casinos, cigar bars, tobacco specialty shops, home offices and motor vehicles are exempt.

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