May 13, 2019
Street Talk: Let’s talk streets
’Tis the season for detours and weaving in and out of orange cones. But while Grand Rapids motorists are grappling with new ways to add five or 10 minutes to their commute, the new construction actually is the latest installment of a long-term plan. Grand Rapids is starting its sixth season of ramped-up road construction […]
Public Record
BANKRUPTCY 19-01008 – JOHNSON, Amanda S., 6411 W. River NE, Belmont, Greg J. Ekdahl (Ch. 7) 19-01022 – MCLEOD, Catherine E., 450 Marsh Ridge NW, Michael Herring (Ch. 7) 19-01023 – MOORE, Christina M., 821 32nd SW, Wyoming, Travis T. Russell (Ch. 13) 19-01025 – TAYLOR TOOLING GROUP LLC, 4303 Three Mile NW, James M. […]
Stop the bleeding: The biggest unacknowledged cost in sales
The following scenario plays over and over again in every one of your sales territories every day. And it costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. I was working with one of my client’s salespeople; the client was an HVAC commercial contractor. The salesperson had an appointment with a prospect who had called and […]
Collective collaboration key to robust office furniture economy
The global furniture industry, like many others, has endured its share of ebbs and flows throughout the years. A recent analysis by Zion Market Research predicts slow and steady growth upward of 5% between 2018 and 2024. However, one thing remains certain: A strong global furniture industry is good for all members of the industry, […]
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Change Ups: WMU Cooley Law School taps McGrath as president, dean
James McGrath, professor of law and associate dean for academic support and bar services at Texas A&M University School of Law, was selected as WMU Cooley Law School’s next president and dean. McGrath becomes the third president and sixth dean since the law school’s founding in 1972. He replaces Don LeDuc, who retired after 16 […]
Court ruling puts Medicaid work requirements in peril
A U.S. district judge’s ruling that work requirements for Medicaid recipients should not have been approved in Kentucky and Arkansas could lead to a similar ruling in Michigan, according to critics of the requirements lawmakers approved last year. Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., recently ruled work requirements to receive Medicaid in Kentucky and Arkansas […]
River work, downtown core top DDA budget
The Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority is moving forward on significant capital improvement projects, including the reconstruction of Calder Plaza, according to its proposed budget for fiscal year 2020. The DDA recommended its budget for fiscal year 2020 to the Grand Rapids City Commission during its regular monthly meeting May 8. As with previous fiscal […]
Phoenix Society among leaders of new global organization
A locally based nonprofit joined others like it across the globe to establish a new international organization focused on promoting “face equality.” The Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors is one of nine founding members of Face Equality International, based in Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel near the coast of France. […]
Study: Pharmacists were underpaid for drugs
A new study shows middleman Medicaid management companies potentially overcharged Michigan taxpayers by at least $64 million over two years. Pharmacy benefit managers — which act as middlemen between pharmacies and insurance companies, determining drug coverage and reimbursing pharmacies for filling prescriptions — may have underpaid pharmacists for generic drugs and kept the excess $64 […]
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Kent County to close recycling drop-off center
Kent County will close its 12-year-old recycling drop-off center in Kentwood on June 30, citing operating costs and problems at the site, as well as a glutted domestic commodities market. Dar Baas, director of the Kent County Department of Public Works, announced the county’s decision April 29 in a notice on the DPW-run site reimaginetrash.com. […]
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Inside Track: Circuitous path helps to pay it forward
Andrew Rounds is still alive. Less than a year ago, his life was in doubt after the CEO and owner of Askme Entertainment Group LLC was diagnosed with one of the deadliest diseases in the world. What started out as a pain in his side and a concern that he may have ruptured his appendix, […]
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LEAD program empowers young people of color
The city of Grand Rapids is fortifying young people for the workforce. Over 335 young people, 87% of which are people of color, in Grand Rapids have graduated from the Leadership and Employment, Achievement and Direction program, and it has provided them jobs in various industries, such as finance, legal, education, construction and media professions, […]
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‘Dream’ store opens doors
Self-described “huge comic books fan and toy collector” Jeff Moore launched the venture of his dreams in Rockford. Moore opened a comics, toys and games shop dubbed Buy Moore at 6575 Belding Road, Suite E, in Rockford on May 4 — also known as “Star Wars Day” to science-fantasy fans who greet each other with […]
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Food entrepreneurs are ready to leave the nest
A couple’s 4-year-old food business is expanding into a permanent facility that will eventually allow it to produce 20,000 pounds of plant-based meat alternative products per day. The Business Journal featured Nutcase Vegan Meats, founded in 2015 by husband-and-wife co-owners Andrew Maternowski and Monica Randles, in 2017. At the time, they were renting incubator kitchen […]
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Restaurant taps into reimagined Hudsonville
When “multipreneur” Garry VonMyhr took a look around Hudsonville a few years ago and noticed a dearth of good restaurants, he thought opening his own would fill the gap and bond him to the booming town. VonMyhr, 30, has co-founded multiple businesses in the Grand Rapids area, including Genius Phone Repair, Mobile Defenders and Tech […]
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Granger project soars to $2B
(As seen on WZZM TV 13) Granger Group’s leaders were standing in the middle of a cornfield in Wyoming in 2004 on what would eventually be the site of Metro Health Village. Now in 2019, the sprawling campus, with a LEED certified Metro Health – University of Michigan Health Hospital at its center, soon will […]
