Michael Atkins is the president and owner of the Laurentian Media Group, a diversified media company which includes a digital trade group (IT World Canada Inc.), a consumer publishing magazine group (CCMC Sports Group), a weekly newspaper company (Laurentian Publishing Ltd.), a business publishing company (Northern Ontario Business Limited), a digital design Creative Operations software business (ConceptShare Inc.) and a digital music business (Adventus International Limited).

Atkins is the past chair of the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology, past chair of the Laurentian University Board of Governors,  past Chair of the Canadian Business Press, past President of the Association of Area Business Publications (US), former director of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Ontario Community Newspaper Association.  He is a 2004 recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow Award from the Rotary Club of Sudbury, and received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Laurentian University in June 2005.

He joined the board of the Northern Policy Institute in the fall of 2016.