December 10, 2018
What lessons can Michigan learn from Amazon HQ2 search?
As we all now know, Amazon picked New York City and the northern Virginia inner-ring suburbs of Washington D.C. for its HQ2. Both are characterized by high concentrations of those with four-year degrees or more and extensive transit systems. The bottom line for Amazon? No talent, no transit, no Amazon. There are three key lessons […]
Incorporate estate planning into New Year’s resolutions
As we enter the holiday season, many are focused on year-end giving. Whether it’s gifting to friends and family members or charitable organizations, it’s easy to get in the spirit of planning, purchasing and delivering. Then, before we know it, it’s time to make our New Year’s resolutions. Often, we think of exercising more, eating […]
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Change Ups: Wolverine launches interactive display at airport
Rockford-based Wolverine Worldwide installed a 47-foot interactive display at Gerald R. Ford International Airport that offers digital touchscreens that conveys information for travelers such as weather conditions and local event calendars. The display is located in Concourse B across from the Herman Miller Lounge. The interactive experience will be updated seasonally to provide visitors current […]
Find patterns in your business’s financial statements
I had a client back in the 1970s who had an extremely high IQ. Had it not been for a variable rate SBA loan initiated at 8 percent then rising to 28 percent, we would have been rich. But the interest did go up, so here I am. The man told me of an incident […]
Public Record
BANKRUPTCY 18-02533 – HANSEN, Bernard L., 500 E. Fulton, Greg J. Ekdahl (Ch. 7) 18-02539 – STRAIN, Louise M., 4721 Walma, Ralph M. Reisinger (Ch. 7) 18-02546 – MCCOMB, Shannon D., 3519 Birchwood SW, Rebecca L. Johnson-Ellis (Ch. 13) 18-02549 – ORTIZ, Rosemary, 5474 Shiretown SE, Caledonia, John D. Dodson (Ch. 7) 18-02551 – MERCHANT, […]
City parking survey raises some questions
The city of Grand Rapids released a survey to gather public feedback on proposed parking rate changes — and several individuals already have voiced disapproval. The changes come in response to a Parking and Mobility Study completed in 2015 to evaluate parking demand and rates. It also established a work program for managing parking demand […]
County eyes $1.4 million for river restoration
(As seen on WZZM TV 13) Kent County may contribute $1.4 million over three years to restoring the rapids in downtown Grand Rapids. The Kent County Board of Commissioners will vote Dec. 20 on whether to transfer dollars from the Lodging Excise Tax Fund reserves to Grand Rapids Whitewater, the nonprofit heading the project. With […]
Photon farms do not qualify for land preservation tax credit
Farming and land preservation tax breaks for solar energy don’t mix, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Michigan farmers who lease land for solar farming are no longer eligible for tax credits under the state’s Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program. The state started the program in 1975 to preserve farmland. Farmers must […]
Smartphone gambling regulations under review by state
A trio of bills that would legalize and regulate online gambling from a smartphone or computer is awaiting a vote in the Senate before year’s end. If the Senate approves, the state’s three commercial casinos and 24 tribal casinos could set up online platforms through which players could gamble. That includes sports betting, poker, blackjack […]
Consumers spotlights renewable energy
Consumers Energy President and CEO Patti Poppe made an appearance at the Grand Rapids Econ Club last week to showcase the company’s recent work in the renewable energy sector and also to show off the capabilities of renewable energy through Circuit West. Consumers Energy and Rockford Construction announced Circuit West in 2017, according to a […]
Survey shows income growth
The Employers’ Association released its 2018-19 Wage & Salary Survey, which found overall pay rates in the region have increased between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent since 2017. TEA is a not-for-profit association providing human resources-related services, including research, benchmarking, training, consulting and employment, to about 500 West Michigan members. David Smith, CEO of TEA, […]
Modern Woodmen embraces compassion
Modern Woodmen is a multibillion-dollar financial services organization named after lumberjacks. Founder Joseph Cullen Root was inspired by the compassion of the loggers based in his native Lyons, Iowa, who took care of the widows left behind by their fallen fellow laborers. Root, a businessman in several industries, saw woodmen as the perfect symbol to […]
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Inside Track: Johnson is right at home
After her first career and raising a couple kids, Holly Johnson was bitten by the philanthropy bug and found her true professional passion. Johnson, now president of the Frey Foundation, began her professional philanthropy career 12 years ago. As a stay-at-home mother, she had been volunteering at the Tri-Cities Family YMCA in Grand Haven, leading […]
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Grand Rapids-based retailer sells ‘low-impact’ eco-fashions
Two-plus decades ago, when the sustainability movement was cutting its teeth in Grand Rapids, a traveling educator read a book about the cotton industry that stopped her in her tracks. Marta Swain said the book, “The Ecology of Commerce” by Paul Hawken, exposed cotton as a “heavily treated” fiber pumped with “hormone-disrupting” toxins that pollute […]
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Consulting firm launches employee experience tool
A new consulting firm is debuting a software tool it says will help managers shift their thinking to win the war for talent. Grand Rapids-based Become Unmistakable, a leadership development and business consulting firm at 100 Grandville Ave. SW, is rolling out uMap, the first of a planned series of software-based management tools that will […]
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Brewery goes back to nature
When Troy and Chad Zitzelsberger, along with their brother-in-law Bryce Roebke, got the green light back in April to build a brewery outside of Rockford, they weren’t entirely sure what it would look like. Now, the trio now has a clear vision of what their new outdoor haven will be with a projected opening this […]
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Taking back South Division
Fran Dalton remembers when the South Division corridor in Grand Rapids was like a mini-downtown — full of life and economic activity. Division Avenue once was designated part of U.S. 131, which brought traffic that created a vibrant corridor of shops, restaurants, hotels and housing. Traffic was rerouted in the 1950s, however, soon leading to […]
