Change Ups: Holland Hospital recognized as among America’s 50 Best

Change Ups: Holland Hospital recognized as among America’s 50 Best

Holland Hospital serves communities in Ottawa and Allegan counties with its 189-bed main campus and off-site locations.

For the third consecutive year, Holland Hospital was recognized as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades. Award recipients must have achieved Healthgrades’ Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for at least six consecutive years, placing them in the top 1 percent in the nation. Holland Hospital has received Healthgrades’ Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for eight consecutive years for overall clinical excellence and quality performance.

ACCOUNTING

Plante Moran was named to FORTUNE Magazine’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For for the 19th consecutive year, ranking 51 and appearing in the March 13 issue of the magazine.

AUTOMOTIVE

The Betten Baker Automotive Group announced construction of a state-of-the-art Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store, as well as a pre-owned super center, creating a three-store Betten Baker automotive campus. The state-of-the-art Betten Baker Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram facility will be located west of the current Betten-Baker Chevrolet Buick store just off 68th Street and I-96 in Coopersville. The two dealerships bring the group up to a total of 12 stores in West Michigan

AWARDS

Feyen Zylstra fourth-year electrical apprentice Matthew Swem won a bronze medal in the Commercial/Industrial Electrical category at the Associated Builders and Contractors National Craft Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Swem competed against 20 other apprentices from across the United States in a two-day written and hands-on competition.

Ottawa County 20th Circuit Court’s Adult Drug Treatment Court was selected as a mentor court by the United States Department of Justice and the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. Only nine of 3,000 courts in the U.S. were chosen for the award.

Ryan Minkus, county engineer for the Road Commission of Kalamazoo County, was recognized by the County Road Association of Michigan as the 2016 CRA Urban Engineer of the Year.

X-Rite Inc., and its subsidiary Pantone LLC, are the winners of this year’s world-renowned iF DESIGN AWARD for their Total Appearance Capture scanner, part of a comprehensive solution that brings a new level of accuracy and realism to the capture, communication and digital presentation of physical materials in the virtual world.

The Wyoming Department of Public Safety recognized Carmen Morales as Officer of the Year, Lance Bowman as Firefighter of the Year and Milt Zaagman as Civilian of the Year. Detective DJ VerHage and firefighter Brad Dornbos received the Chief’s Award of Professional Excellence.

BUSINESS SERVICES

Kalamazoo-based Automation Design + Entertainment announced a merger with systems integration firm Premovation.

PIRTEK, a fluid transfer solutions company, continues to expand its presence in Michigan with a new location in Grand Rapids. Franchise owner Oliver Romano also is a shareholder in four other successful PIRTEK Michigan locations, all in metro Detroit. The Grand Rapids location is a Tier 2 franchise, part of a mobile-only program rolled out by PIRTEK in 2016. 

EDUCATION

Davenport University announced it is working with a developer to build two additional apartment-style residential buildings at the Panther Ridge complex on the corner of 60th St. and Kraft Ave. SE, increasing the University’s residential student capacity by 130. The project is expected to be completed fall 2017 and will expand the complex to three buildings housing 194 students. Panther Ridge is connected to the W.A. Lettinga Campus via a paved walkway along Kraft Ave., which will now be extended down 60th Street to a second entrance.

Dr. Sandra L. Visser was named dean for the arts and humanities at Hope College in Holland. She is an experienced administrator and longtime member of the faculty at Valparaiso University.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

The Centennial Group & the Principal Financial Group announced nine members of the firm recently qualified for Principal Financial Group’s prestigious Club Level Distinctions, Honor Council & Premier Club: Honor Council recipients: Ryan Donovan; Ryan Moser; Michael Anderson; and Timothy Durso. The Premier Club recipients: Conrad Beeler; Steven Handeland; John Woodward; Jacob Jewell; and Robert L. Hughes.

GRANTS

Kent County Commissioners accepted a $33,000 Mental Health Court Planning Grant from the State Court Administrative Office to evaluate the need for a mental health court within Kent County and how these services would best be delivered. The 17th Circuit Court staff, in collaboration with Network180, local district court, County Prosecutor, Sheriff’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, mental health services providers and County Administration will participate in the project planning committee.

HEALTH

The Kent County Board of Commissioners approved the expansion of a partnership with My Community Dental Centers that will include the addition of a new center at 14111 White Creek Ave. in Cedar Springs. The six chair dental center is slated for opening in early summer.

Spectrum Health Blodgett received the Economic Alliance for Michigan’s Hospital Patient Safety Improvement Award.

LEGAL

Sharan Levine, attorney and partner of Kalamazoo-based Levine & Levine law firm, was chosen as one of 30 lawyers in the Leaders in the Law Class of 2017 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

LOGISTICS

Holland-based Holland was named 2016 LTL Carrier of the Year by Vehicle Service Group for the fourth consecutive year.

NONPROFITS

Kalamazoo-based Levine & Levine attorney and managing partner Randall Levine was appointed to the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo Building for Generations Campaign Cabinet.

REAL ESTATE

The Andrea Crossman Group added real estate agents Mary Smith and Mike Zambetis. Smith will focus on the Grand Rapids and Lakeshore markets and Zambetis on the Lakeshore market.

Colliers International announced the addition of Bill Loker, who will provide a variety of services, including single asset valuation, portfolio valuation and appraisal review.

RELIGION

The Rev. Dr. Christian Brocato is St. Mark’s Episcopal Church new rector. Brocato comes to Grand Rapids from Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was rector for a number of years.

Heartside Ministry welcomed Tendai Masiriri as its executive director.

RETAIL

Klingman’s Furniture & Design announced it opened a converted 50,000-square-foot showroom on West Shore Drive in Holland and renamed it Klingmans Furniture & Design Center, following a joint venture agreement with Hegg’s Furniture last year.

TECHNOLOGY

Worksighted in Holland attained a gold cloud productivity competency from Microsoft. The competency demonstrates a best-in-class ability and commitment to meet Microsoft Corp. customers’ evolving needs in today’s mobile-first, cloud-first world and distinguish itself within Microsoft’s partner ecosystem.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

For the first time ever, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport served over 200,000 passengers in February, recording the busiest February in the Airport’s history and tallying enplanements that shot over 10 percent for the month.

SPORTS

Grand Rapids Griffins hockey on Newsradio WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM and Bob Kaser were honored by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters during its 2016 Broadcast Excellence Awards. Kaser’s call of the Grand Rapids Griffins’ hockey playoff win over the Lake Erie Monsters in Game 4 of the Central Division Finals on May 10  was named “Best” in the Play-By-Play Sports category for Commercial Radio Market 2.