February 18, 2013
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Street Talk: Sound off on energy and the environment
In his State of the State address, Gov. Rick Snyder said he wants public forums held around the state to gather input to guide public policymakers and the public as they plan for Michigan’s energy future. The next forum will be Monday, Feb. 25, at GVSU’s Loosemore Auditorium, 401 W. Fulton St., from 1-5 p.m. […]
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Metro Council is netting transportation dollars
Grand Valley Metro Council Transportation Director Abed Itani said the agency has been able to get a good share of transportation funding over the last two-plus fiscal years. Itani said the council received $77 million in federal and state funds in FY11 for 139 projects in the metro planning area GVMC serves. In FY12, he […]
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County lists legislative concerns
Preserving its revenue base, especially its funding from the state, is the top legislative priority for Kent County. The county’s Legislative Committee released its annual list of top priorities, which totaled 13 this year, all of them related to revenue preservation in some direct or indirect manner. Topping the list was to make sure Lansing […]
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DDA to refund convention center bond
The Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority agreed last week to refund a 10-year-old bond that helped build DeVos Place, the city’s convention center. In 2003, the DDA committed $10 million to the building’s construction. The board paid cash for half of its pledge and bonded for the other half. “It looks like it will save […]
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More Michigan medical school graduates, but not enough residency spots
LANSING — Despite three new medical colleges opening within a three-year span, Michigan likely won’t see an increase in doctors, but rather an increase in the exodus of graduates to other states, experts say. Oakland University, which opened its medical program in 2011, admitted 50 students in its inaugural class and 75 more in 2012. […]
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Pay-to-drive tax may be far down the road
LANSING — As vehicles become more efficient and gas tax rates remain the same for decades, those taxes no longer provide enough money to pay for the building and upkeep of roads and bridges, the Snyder administration says. New technology that tracks how much a vehicle drives may provide an answer — but only way […]
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Public Record
Feb. 15 — MORTGAGES Selected mortgages filed with Kent County Register of Deeds VANOEFFELEN, John E. et al, Arbor Mortgage Corp., Algoma Twp., 28-9-11, $284,000 VISSER, James A. et al, Fifth Third Mortgage, Oliver Woods Plat, Lot 7, $245,000 DRIER, Nathan et al, First Financial Services, Condo-Ridgewood View, $215,000 BROADMOOR PARTNERSHIP, Founders Bank & […]
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Being ignored by auto industry is a blessing in disguise
HexArmor is a very healthy Grand Rapids manufacturing company that isn’t quite 10 years old. Its headcount has grown from nine in 2005 to 94 today, and its SuperFabric gloves, sleeves and other forms of apparel that protect workers from serious cuts and punctures enabled it to penetrate a range of industrial and commercial markets […]
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Keeping it quiet on the road earns praise from dealer group
The Grand Rapids New Car Dealers Association has honored Cascade Engineering with its 2013 Celebration of Innovation: Automotive Supplier of the Year award, presented Jan. 30 at the Michigan International Auto Show at DeVos Place. The car dealers selected Cascade Engineering for its development of lighter automotive parts to keep down overall vehicle weight, therefore […]
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Pushy, obnoxious, assertive, professional: Which are you?
Sales reps get a bad rap for trying to sell too hard. You’ve heard the term “pushy salesman” or “aggressive salesperson” or even “obnoxious salesman.” How do those phrases make you feel? And salespeople will go to great lengths not to be perceived as pushy, or aggressive, or obnoxious, so they (maybe you) go to […]
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Change Ups: Chamber names diversity award recipient
Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce has named Faye Richardson-Green recipient of its 2013 Diversity Visionary Award. Richardson-Green is a long-time diversity and inclusion leader and director of learning and development at Steelcase Inc. She has been instrumental in influencing the strategic direction of schools, health care systems, leadership institutions, foundations and nonprofit human services […]
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A different way for the Kent County Land Bank
I’ve been reading with interest the discussion in the Business Journal regarding the Kent County Land Bank’s purchase of tax delinquent homes for renovation. It would be hard to deny that turning dilapidated properties into attractive homes is in everyone’s best interests. But in all the talk of the benefits and value created by the […]
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LG Chem returns $842K to DOE
Despite delays and $842,189 worth of embarrassment involving the U.S. Department of Energy, LG Chem Michigan Inc. says it is still determined to produce advanced batteries for electric vehicles at its new $304 million plant in Holland. According to a DOE memorandum dated Feb. 8, last October the DOE’s Office of Inspector General received a […]
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New charter school will receive brownfield tax reimbursements
Now that Charter Development LLC has finished its transformation of the former Oakdale Elementary School into a charter school, the firm submitted its brownfield reimbursement invoice recently to the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. The agreement Charter Development made last year with the authority had a maximum reimbursement of $1.5 million for the eligible public […]
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Muskegon Angels takes flight to help startups
A new group of angel investors, headed by two prominent business leaders in Muskegon, has organized as the Muskegon Angels to offer financial support to new business startups and small businesses in the lakeshore region. The Muskegon Angels was introduced at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center on Muskegon Lake, which […]
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Local economy flat, but European recovery offers hope
We’re dead flat. That’s the latest word on the West Michigan economy, according to data collected in the last two weeks of January. As we reported last month, December was flat, but January was even flatter. New Orders, our index of business improvement, came in at 0, down from +4. Following the slowdown trend, the […]
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Specialized ‘business courts’ arrive in Michigan
Find me one executive or business owner who likes litigation. Unfortunately, your search might be as painstaking as a lawsuit. Lawsuits take a long time. They cost a lot. And who knows how they will turn out? To keep up with the Joneses, Gov. Rick Snyder recently signed legislation requiring "business courts" to be established […]
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Auto suppliers are busy, but very cautious
(As seen on WZZM TV 13) Automobile sales and industry analytics aren’t the sole economic indicators of how auto suppliers are doing. Builders also have an insightful thing or two to say about that segment of the local manufacturing realm. Take Wolverine Building Group, for instance. Over the past year or so, the local general […]
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Survey indicates office furniture industry is flat but steady
The Michael A. Dunlap & Associates quarterly survey in January of business activity in the office furniture industry indicates it is still on “a very steady, albeit flat, trend line,” said Michael Dunlap, owner and principal of the business consulting services company. The resulting overall index score is 54.30, down slightly from the October index […]
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Muskegon firm does business ‘the old-fashioned way’
Forming Technologies in Muskegon’s Port City Industrial Park is an auto industry supplier that is “trying to do business the old-fashioned way,” according to one of its three owners. “We don’t have much bank debt. We don’t live like kings. We drive regular cars like everybody else, and we don’t take much money out of […]
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Inside Track: Courage, determination define new Komen executive director
Breast cancer has touched Jennifer Jurgens’ life more than once. The first time was when her mother died of the disease in 1984 when Jurgens was 12 years old and her mother was 36. She crossed paths with the malady again in 2009 when she too was diagnosed with it. She feels fortunate: The cancer […]
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Small Coopersville company gets the nod from Honda
SelfLube, a small company in Coopersville that manufactures components for metal stamping dies and molds, was recently informed by Honda that it is now an approved vendor for the Japanese company and its tooling suppliers. “They are a world-class company, so anytime a small company becomes a supplier to a very large, well-respected, quality-oriented company, […]
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Recreational river concept zips along
Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe it was fate. It certainly wasn’t an everyday occurrence when Jarl Brey met Jim Ligget at a 5×5 Night event about 18 months ago. After Brey learned that his concept of building a zipline across the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids didn’t win the event’s $5,000 seed money, […]
