June 27, 2016
IT hiring slips even as tech spreads
The West Michigan tech industry isn’t hiring as fast as it once was, according to Paragon Recruiting. Holland-based Paragon, which scouts talent for technology candidates, recently released the semi-annual Technology Employment Forecast it has put out for summer/fall and winter/spring every year since 2003. Paragon polls senior IT managers in West Michigan, said Beth DeWilde, […]
Building industry braces for changes
When the new U.S. Department of Labor overtime rule goes into effect on Dec. 1, construction prices could start to rise. That’s what Norm Brady believes. The Associated Builders and Contractors Western Michigan Chapter president and CEO said it is natural to believe construction prices might climb as companies will have to pay some of […]
Ethnic diversity nonprofit celebrates 20 years
For 20 years, Gail Harrison has been fighting for ethnic diversity along the West Michigan lakeshore. Harrison, executive director and founder of the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance, created the nonprofit in 1996 after learning an African-American family had left the community because they did not feel welcome. Twenty years later, she’s still working to make […]
Herman Miller takes a bite from Apple’s playbook
This fall, Herman Miller Inc. of Zeeland will complete its move into its new New York City flagship location at 251 Park Avenue South in Gramercy by opening its first permanent North American retail store aimed at individual consumers. The ground-floor retail store marks another move by the company to increase consumer-direct sales opportunities, a […]
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Change Ups: Carey earns Fegel Award
Hospice of Michigan volunteer Lois Carey is this year’s recipient of the Maggie Fegel Award from the Kent County Council On Aging, for her more than 15 years of service. The award recognizes a person who has gone above and beyond to help seniors in the community. Fegel leads a group of women called the […]
Public Record
MORTGAGES Selected mortgages filed with Kent County Register of Deeds MEISNER, Randall et al, Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group, Stonebridge, Lot 22, $350,000 DAKIN, Wilmer Wellington et al, First Direct Lending, Caledonia Twp., 32-5-10, $233,516 VANDERWILP, Michael J. et al, Grand River Bank, Caledonia Twp., 12-5-10, $336,000 BLEDSOE, N. Henry et al, Chemical Bank, Condo-Trail […]
Price upswing continues for third straight month
Construction input prices expanded by 0.7 percent in May and have now expanded for three consecutive months, according to an analysis of the recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index. The rise follows eight consecutive months during which construction input prices fell. Prices remain 3.4 percent below their year-ago level. Nonresidential construction input […]
LinkedIn is as great – or as pathetic – as you make it
I have more than 26,000 LinkedIn connections and almost 30,000 followers. How many do you have? I may have more visibility and notoriety, but we are equal in exposure and linking possibilities on the LinkedIn platform. And almost all of my LinkedIn connections are the result of people wanting to connect with me because of […]
Street Talk: Talking tech
What to make of Grand Rapids’ infrastructure, technology and entrepreneurship? The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce tackled that question recently during its Issue Summit. About 50 people attended the June 17 event to hear keynote speaker Otto Doll, chief information officer for the city of Minneapolis, discuss his experiences developing IT operations in his […]
Letter: Parks deserve a ‘yes’ vote
Editor: Ottawa County voters soon will receive their absentee ballots for the Aug. 2 election. They’ll be asked to vote on renewing the existing county parks millage, and to restore it from the current 0.31-mill to the original 0.33-mill. The dedicated millage provides about 90 percent of what it takes to operate the park system. […]
Some giving strategies can be a tax gift to yourself
I have had the privilege and honor of serving on nonprofit boards and working with clients that supported many tax-exempt and charitable organizations. Donations or gifts are the lifeblood of those organizations. For many donors, it is simply better to give than receive. Giving USA recently issued its annual report on giving to nonprofit and […]
Sky’s the limit for aviation grads, new airport board
As the 2016 graduation season comes to a close, most of us will have celebrated this important transitional moment with at least one friend or family member. On June 2, 94 talented students received their diplomas from West Michigan Aviation Academy. I am very excited to watch what’s in store for these graduates as they […]
Discussion of diversity in business is only the first step
If “a little black child from Muskegon Heights or Grand Rapids can look at me and see an opportunity to do something they didn’t know was possible, that is something for which I am eternally grateful,” said 22-year-old George Walker in an interview with the Business Journal published this week. The city of Muskegon and […]
VR takes space planning to the next level
Thanks to quickly evolving virtual reality technology, or VR, furniture manufacturers now can let clients move through a future office space outfitted in their products. Swedish company Configura, with its North American headquarters in Grand Rapids, debuted its CET Designer Virtual Viewer Extension product recently at the NeoCon annual contract furniture trade show held in […]
But where can I put my picture of Fido?
Choice has become a buzzword in the office furniture industry. Talk to any office furniture manufacturer and you will hear that it’s important to give employees a variety of work spaces within the office environment. As floor plans are designed to increase choice, dedicated workstations are shrinking or even disappearing, leaving some workers wondering, “Where […]
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Dementia training packs emotional punch
As the number of elderly patients with dementia increased in recent years, Lynn Bolt saw a need to address their care. A nurse educator at Holland Home, Bolt was looking for a way to help her staff better understand and the struggle of dementia patients. So she took a trip to the dollar store. “We […]
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Inside Track: Windsurfer changes tack to get on board with building
If not for a $100 check from his grandmother, Chris Veneklasen could still be on Nantucket Island teaching windsurfing. As fate would have it, however, his grandmother believed $100 would get Veneklasen back to Michigan for his grandparents’ anniversary party in the fall of 1995. Had he not ventured back to West Michigan from the […]
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Young sommelier blazes trails
There was something special about a Châteauneuf-du-Pape that made an 18-year-old George Walker fall in love with wine. Now, the 22-year-old is a Level 1 sommelier with aspirations of representing African-Americans in the beverage industry. Walker encountered the French wine while volunteering at an event at the Grand Rapids Public Museum as a student of […]
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Entrepreneurs’ phone repair business expansion rings true
As Jordan Notenbaum and Garry VonMyhr were getting Genius Phone Repair off the ground, there would sometimes be four customers in Notenbaum’s living room watching a Detroit Tigers game as they waited for their phones to be fixed. “We did well out of his house,” VonMyhr said. “Customers would wait, but it was a single-guy […]
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Where do you draw the line?
(See map below and as seen on WZZM TV 13) Downtown Grand Rapids has official boundaries defined by various government entities, but perceptions continue to change as the city evolves. When the Business Journal published a story at grbj.com announcing the partnership of Rockford Construction and Meijer Inc. for a grocery store development on Bridge […]
