Haworth Inc. has acquired a strategic interest in Hudson, Mass.-based AIS, a manufacturer of office furniture and seating.

The latest data from purchasing managers provides further indication that the economy across West Michigan is slowing, although key indexes showed improvement over the previous month in both Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

Politicians and business leaders from West Michigan and the Netherlands gathered Thursday night at the Grand Rapids Art Museum to forge new economic ties economic between the two regions.

GRAND RAPIDS – 616 Development firm is adding to its brick-and-mortar portfolio in downtown and planning to renovate a long-vacant building.

LANSING — Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan would transition to a not-for-profit mutual insurance company and begin paying state and local taxes under a proposal rolled out this morning by Gov. Rick Snyder.

GRAND RAPIDS — A busy summer of merger-and-acquisition activity among local architectural firms continues to reshape the competitive landscape for building design. On Monday, two Grand Rapids-based firms, Progressive AE and Design Plus, announced they would merge, marking the third transaction involving West Michigan architecture firms since July.

GRAND RAPIDS — Regardless of what happens to the Affordable Care Act after the November presidential election, Tom Pellathy knows the health care system must reform how providers are paid and how care is delivered.

ROCKFORD — Wolverine World Wide Inc.’s Bates Footwear division got word today that it had secured a $6 million U.S. Army contract.

GRAND RAPIDS — Start Garden, the Grand Rapids-based fund that aims to help spur start-up activity, has some new digs. 

The U.S. military could soon be safer on the battlefield thanks to new technology being developed in West Michigan.

Lam & Associates owner Blaine Lam has been named the interim president and CEO of the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Western Michigan University has started adding faculty to its School of Medicine, which is scheduled to welcome its first class in the fall 2014.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. gave formal approval to a regional economic development partnership between communities and groups in the Grand Rapids area and Muskegon.

Janesville Acoustics of Southfield, one of the world’s largest producers of acoustical and thermal fiber insulation and a leading producer of fiber products, plans to invest as much as $10 million to open a 250,000-square-foot facility in Battle Creek for the manufacture of felt parts for cars and trucks.

A new program from Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women helped two entrepreneurs access much needed funding.