When doctors in Wisconsin wanted to put Bonnie Demos on a morphine pump for pain, she decided instead to move to Michigan and grow her own medicine.

GRAND RAPIDS — Nearly every guest who spends the night at a hotel room in downtown Grand Rapids sleeps on the same mattress. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority has hired a consultant to lead the process of weighing concepts for developing a full-service hotel to serve the downtown convention center. 

Hotel development in West Michigan remains on a torrid pace for 2019. Developers have plans to add more than 800 new rooms this year, with developments popping up in downtown Grand Rapids and in suburban areas surrounding the city. At the same time, although annual hotel occupancy dipped slightly for 2018, hotel revenue actually increased, a reflection of record room bookings.

GRAND RAPIDS –– New data on hotel rates across the Midwest offered some sobering analysis on the cost of a room in downtown Grand Rapids.

A thriving business climate and renewed interest in communities across West Michigan have sparked increased demand for event space throughout the region.

LANSING — Funding for arts and culture in Michigan received a $1 million bump for 2018. 

Cities with professional sports teams have an edge when trying to attract prospective visitors, but Grand Rapids continues to compete successfully without this added advantage.

While for-profit businesses get the bulk of the credit for West Michigan’s economic success, the role that local nonprofits play in the community’s health, wealth and wellbeing often goes under-reported and unrecognized. 

More than 12,000 amateur athletes and their traveling companions from around the Great Lakes will descend on greater Grand Rapids next summer when the region hosts the State Games of America.