Article Archive |
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2009 |
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June |
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June 29 |
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20 Monroe sale to close
The downtown project dubbed “Bobville” should take a big step toward reality this week as the development firm is expected to close on the purchase of a city-owned parking lot today.
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CAA likely to spend capital reserve quickly
After they adopted the annual operating budgets for the Convention and Arena Authority, DeVos Place and Van Andel Arena last week, CAA members turned their attention to the $23.8 million fund balance at the beginning of this fiscal year.
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Captive insurance needs grow
Some mid-size companies in Michigan might be able to save money on insurance through the creation of their own captive insurance companies.
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City budget smallest in more than a decade
Grand Rapids city commissioners adopted the smallest budget for general operations in more than a decade last week. The $115 million spending plan is the lowest since at least the mid-1990s.
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County looks for preservation dollars
(Editor’s note: This is the final installment in a series of stories regarding the Purchase of Development Rights program in Kent County.)
While the equalized values of commercial and residential properties in the county have fallen recently, the value of the county’s agricultural land has risen in recent years.
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David Blair combines duties of doctor and administration
Dr. David Blair knew in college that he wanted to combine his love of science with working with people.Dr. David Blair occupies the chief executive's chair at Advantage Health, a practice of more than 100 physicians. He also has a firm grasp on the stethoscope, holding on to his primary care practice two days a week.
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Environmental funds shrink, but duties grow
LANSING — Abandoned industrial sites that spew toxic chemicals, poorly regulated dams that threaten people and wildlife, and the unregulated filling of wetlands are part of the cost of waning state revenues.
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Government leaders on a suicide mission using archaic budget models
Continued bumps in the state unemployment rate are leaving the public sector with tattered budgets even as the new fiscal year begins this week. The Michigan treasurer and fiscal agencies have lowered revenue projections for the remainder of 2009 and for fiscal year 2010. Additional cuts in state revenue “sharing” have slammed cities and counties equally.
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Hope Network urges support for programs
Representatives from Hope Network recently joined nearly 350 public mental health and addictions administrators, psychiatrists, patients and community leaders from 40 states who went to Washington, D.C., to add their voices to the growing health care reform debate.
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Insurance firms beat meltdown
According to the Insurance Institute of Michigan, the state’s insurers have weathered the global financial storm. Unlike AIG, state firms have remained solvent, even as they face unusually tough markets in both the commercial and personal insurance sectors.
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Kent County sells downtown property
Kent County commissioners agreed last week to sell the county’s Materials Recycling Facility at 322 Bartlett St. SW, just east of Market Avenue.
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'Message-driven' film event set
The first Grand Rapids Film Festival, featuring "message-driven and universally entertaining" films, according to its promoters, will take place Aug. 26-28 at Celebration Cinema North.
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MHA taps West Michigan leaders
Hospital leaders from West Michigan were installed on the Michigan Health & Hospitals Association board of trustees during its late June annual meeting on Mackinac Island.
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Michigan's top 20
The top 20 commercial insurers that write workers’ compensation policies in Michigan collect an estimated annual premium of more than $735 million and combine for roughly 75 percent of that market.
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Prices for construction materials edge up in May
Prices for construction materials edge up in May
After eight months of decline, prices of construction materials increased 0.5 percent in May 2009, according to the June 16 producer price index report by the U.S. Labor Department. However, prices are still down by 5.3 percent on a year-over-year basis.
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Rice recalls experiences As a crucial global player
RiceFormer U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addressed 1,500 largely supportive audience members at the Economic Club of Grand Rapids last week during its 22nd Annual Dinner and Awards ceremony. Her speech focused on foreign affairs, looking at the interrelationship of global events and leaders through the lens of her experience as secretary of state under President George W. Bush and as national security advisor.
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River House not sure of next legal maneuver
Robert Grooters is the owner of River House condominiums in downtown Grand Rapids.
The lack of attention to a simple contractual detail may become costly for the developer of River House condominiums, a detail the judge said a law clerk could have handled.
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Saint Mary's doctors join in new group
Physicians associated with Saint Mary’s Health Care are planning a new organization intended to more closely link independent doctors and Advantage Health’s roster of primary care doctors.
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Small hospitals seek safe financial harbor to survive
The national recession has exacerbated financial troubles, particularly for stand-alone community hospitals, and consolidation in Michigan is far from over, Spectrum Health President & CEO Rick Breon said last week.
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Up on the roof
The situation on high has changed since the day in 1926 when George Portfleet started selling and installing lightning rods for church steeples and silos in the Standale area west of Grand Rapids.
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