May 27, 2013
When you walk in empty headed, you walk out empty handed
How much of your presentation is “standard”? Whether you sell a product or service, whether it’s simple or sophisticated, what percentage of your presentation is the way you usually present it? Void of personalization? Void of customization? Void of interaction? And all about you. What kind of presentation do you think your prospect wants? They […]
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Change Ups: Dermatologists spotlight melanoma
Staff members of The Skin Revitalizing Center and of The Dermatology Offices of Drs. Jack A. Dekkinga and Gina C. Ang donned special T-shirts for Melanoma Awareness Day in tribute to Jillian Hayes, a Hudsonville resident who died from melanoma in December at age 23. Practitioners say melanoma is the most common form of cancer […]
Public Record
May 24 — MORTGAGES Selected mortgages filed with Kent County Register of Deeds NEIL, Richard J. et al, Hantz Bank, Kentwood, 28-6-11, $237,000 MOORE, James L. et al, Founders Bank & Trust, Railside West No. 3, Lot 100, $301,600 LOVELL, F. Raymer III et al, Founders Bank & Trust, Vinkemulder's Sub., Lot 86, $667,800 COOPER, […]
Street Talk: Money still talks in CEO performance reviews
A new study conducted by the Center for Leadership Development and Research at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance and The Miles Group reveals boardrooms are giving poor grades to CEOs for their mentoring skills and board engagement — but still prioritize financial performance above all else. More than […]
Videos: TEDxGrandRapids brings ideas worth spreading
Innovation may have been the overused word of the day, but there’s no doubt the TEDxGrandRapids speakers who visited Grand Rapids to share their stories are leaders in their respective fields. TEDxGrandRapids did a stellar job of inspiring the hundreds of city residents who gathered downtown at the Civic Theatre to listen to the 14 […]
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Inside Track: Upholding more than a century of teamwork
Frank Stanek seems like a low-key, humble guy, and a dedicated family man who likely would make a good neighbor. He is an achiever, too, having worked his way up the Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. ladder to become the eighth corporate president in the company’s rich, 122-year history. Stanek began at O-A-K in 1996 as a superintendent, […]
Capturing the wind means keeping control of the sails
We often receive an unexpected boost from motivational quotes. Many originate within the world of sports but life is about more than playing games: It is about dreaming what could be. It is about reaching beyond our wildest expectations to grasp a slice of reality from a pie not yet created. It is about setting […]
Key Uptown BID vote is underway
Voting begins this week to determine whether property owners on the southeast side of Grand Rapids want to establish the Uptown Business Improvement District, pay a special property assessment and enact the district’s marketing and development plan. The district includes 249 parcels and 187 property owners, 93 of whom have already signed a petition supporting […]
Industrial market turns positive
The overall vacancy rate for the county’s leaseable industrial real estate space fell to 13.9 percent at the beginning of this year. About a year ago, the rate was 14.7 percent. CB Richard Ellis of Grand Rapids recently reported that more than 551,000 square feet of leaseable space was absorbed during the last six months […]
Despite slide, state exporters outpace national numbers
According to the latest numbers on global trade flows released by the World Trade Organization, in the first three months of 2013 the value of world merchandise exports fell 4.1 percent to $4 trillion from the same period in 2012. WTO’s export statistics from January-March show that the United States ranked as the second largest […]
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State Street is open for business
A grassroots development idea turned into a two-day showcase on State Street on a recent weekend, and the result from the Build a Better Block campaign is that the street is now open for business. Technically known as a “trial intervention,” the showcase filled a three-block-long section of an area on downtown’s eastern boundary with […]
Learn and follow the ‘laws of entrepreneurship’
Entrepreneurs often think that if they have a creative new product or service idea, they will make millions. Sometimes, the entrepreneur gets lucky and the product or service is a success. But, all too often, the “laws of entrepreneurship” influence the outcome. Successful entrepreneurs understand these laws and will never try to prove them wrong. […]
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Video: 10 IT security mistakes consistently made by businesses
How can you keep your company from being hacked? The Grand Rapids Business Journal recently discussed IT security with Scott Montgomery, IT security practice manager at Open Systems Technologies, or OST, a Grand Rapids-based IT consulting firm. Montgomery, who’s had more than 30 years of experience in the field, said West Michigan companies are being […]
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Pavement inspection keeps improving
(As seen on WZZM TV 13) The peculiar-looking pavement condition data collection van working the streets in the member communities of the Grand Valley Metro Council isn’t new, but it keeps improving with advances in software and optical equipment. It’s also the only one in the state owned by a government organization. “If we didn’t […]
Video: Wedgwood begins public phase of $10M campaign
Slavery exists in West Michigan. It’s an uncomfortable truth that might be hard for some residents to imagine, since no one can remember ever having witnessed chain gangs of oppressed human beings marched down Grand Rapids streets. But the fact that human trafficking has roots within this community is a very real and expensive fact […]
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Hard cider canning begins in Spring Lake
One of the Midwest’s largest and fastest-growing craft cider producers, Vander Mill Cider & Winery in Spring Lake, has just completed a $600,000 expansion project that included renovation and the addition of fermentation equipment and a canning line that will be able to produce 1,800 16-ounce cans of hard cider per hour. “During the past […]
Veterans deserve financial support and job opportunities
Though Monday’s parades are over, those who mourn the lives lost in military service know better than any the necessity of paying daily tribute to those who serve or have served this country. A continuing Memorial Day tribute is borne by the living veterans who represent in spirit those fallen soldiers with complete understanding of […]
