Advocates in West Michigan have spent nearly two years pitching Property Assessed Clean Energy financing to Kent County officials as one more tool in the Grand Rapids region’s economic development toolbox.

Facing what they say is a dearth of qualified technical talent, manufacturers have been forced to get creative in developing their own internal training programs. But despite those efforts to fill the gap, companies still rely heavily on community colleges to train the next wave of workers. 

As West Michigan businesses have identified a need for increased professional development and management training in the workplace, many of them have strengthened their ties to local colleges and universities.

With the arrival of a new generation of workers comes a new set of personal and cultural values that employers must adapt to as they try to attract and retain the top talent. 

For years, the MBA has been the advanced degree of choice for many executives in West Michigan and beyond, particularly as they look to climb the corporate ladder.  But the times and the needs of students have been changing in recent years. 

A statewide analysis of the insurance industry’s $37.1 billion economic impact provides a basis to lure more players to Michigan, as well as highlights the need for training new talent to replace an aging workforce.

Elevated by a couple of major investments, venture capital investing in Michigan life sciences companies in 2015 equaled the dollar value from the prior year with a high number of deals.

A large medical center proposed in Grand Haven follows a steady, decade-long transformation of the health care marketplace in communities along the lakeshore in western Ottawa County.

When developer Sam Cummings set out to redevelop a building at 25 Ionia St. SW in Grand Rapids nearly two decades ago, he needed to leverage the site’s historic designation to make the project economically feasible.

A new roadmap aims to reboot efforts to build Michigan’s life sciences industry and compete with similar clusters around the U.S. and the world.

The state legislature’s inaction on extending equal civil rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people has led a growing number of prominent West Michigan business leaders to call for change.

Many credit unions recorded 2015 loan growth in the double digits, said Kenley Penner, a partner and the head of Plante Moran PLLC’s credit union practice. Penner attributes the results and lending growth to a “relatively strong” housing market that’s driving mortgage originations, coupled with strong sales volumes for both new and used vehicles.

eAgile Inc., a maker of radio frequency identification (RFID) products and software, hopes to raise up to $3 million to expand its overseas business serving the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and food industries.

A contractual dispute over a $1.125 million equipment purchase has resulted in legal action between Mill Steel Co. and Illinois-based steel processor The Material Works Ltd. 

As the automotive supply chain prepares for a rapid increase in new model launches, manufacturers must also contend with several other trends in the industry ranging from production scheduling to the ripple effects of last year’s mega deals. 

In a bid to grow the talent pool for Michigan’s nascent craft brewing industry, Byron Center-based Pilot Malt House LLC has announced a $500 scholarship for students in the sustainable brewing program at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.