Displaying items tagged: Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce

Despite advanced degrees, ambition and experience, women of color in West Michigan continue to face unique challenges when it comes to getting hired and promoted, particularly for executive leadership roles, according to a new study.

The world around us — as we knew it in Michigan before March 10 — is going to look much different for the next 12 to 18 months.

MiBiz growth report for April 26, 2020.

The foundation for the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce wants to raise another $2 million for an emergency relief fund for small businesses affected by closures from the COVID-19 pandemic.

When looking to get Michigan back to business, the state must answer a variety of questions to assess the risk, according to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Seven regional governors, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, announced today they will partner on reopening sectors of the economy while making decisions “based on facts, science, and recommendations from experts in health care, business, labor and education.”

Michigan business organizations were publicly supportive of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-home order, although they surely want more clarity on how to proceed.

A series of recommendations from a state joint task force on reducing Michigan’s ballooning jail population can also address workforce development challenges, says a leading West Michigan business group.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget proposal would restore funding for a training program for skilled trades that the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce has championed for years.

The talent needs of employers are a constantly moving target that requires companies to foster and maintain close ties with educators to keep up with the demands of the 21st century economy. 

GRAND RAPIDS — For much of her career, Jacey Ehmann was the only woman in the room. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce has hired a retail retention and attraction specialist to help attract regional and national retailers to the city.

More than a decade ago, Grand Rapids business leaders lobbied hard to block the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, known locally as the Gun Lake Tribe, from opening a casino near Wayland. 

Groups like 23 is Enough and MichGO drove the narrative that any casino development south of Grand Rapids would “siphon off” jobs and investment from the city’s then-rebuilding downtown, limiting growth in entertainment options and economic opportunity alike. They cited a study commissioned by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce in the early 2000s that estimated $880 million of “economic hemorrhaging” in the surrounding counties if Gun Lake Casino were ever allowed to move forward. 

Looking around downtown Grand Rapids today, it’s hard to find evidence that their worst fears were in any way realized. 

Corey Hart returned to Grand Rapids last September to find that support for entrepreneurship and startup companies had grown well beyond what it was when he left for California a decade earlier.

Talent, housing and infrastructure topped the 2020 priority list for members of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce continues to seek out ways to address the persistent talent issues that local companies are facing. Rick Baker, president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Chamber, said the organization is advocating for ways to attract talent at the local and state levels, including by expanding programming in 2020. 

The Grand Rapids Chamber is thrilled to announce the 132nd Annual Meeting on Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at DeVos Place. At the Chamber’s largest event of the year, over 800 attendees will celebrate what was accomplished in the community to “Create Great” in 2019, as well as the work the Chamber executed to support a thriving and prosperous West Michigan for all.

GRAND RAPIDS — Multiple organizations have partnered to assess how Grand Rapids can attract and retain retail across all parts of the city.

Backed by a key small business advocate in Lansing, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have proposed a legislative package to boost state support for companies operating in the space between small startups and larger corporations.

State Sen. Stephanie Chang says granting state driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants is as much of an issue of economics and public health as it is about immigration.

A coalition of business groups today urged state lawmakers to finally come up with a way to fix Michigan’s crumbling roads and bridges.

GRAND RAPIDS — Citing high occupancy in the city’s parking facilities and a long waitlist for monthly parking passes, Grand Rapids is considering plans to build two new parking decks to expand options for downtown workers.

State lawmakers are pushing once again to expand civil rights protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as key legal cases on the issue sit before the U.S. Supreme Court.

GRAND RAPIDS — When advisers begin to prepare a business for a transition and sale, they also need to prepare the entrepreneur for what’s next.

Graci Harkema wants to break the craft beer industry’s bearded white male stereotype. In January, she became diversity and inclusion director at Founders Brewing Co., where she’s working to give employees opportunities to “be their authentic selves and achieve their goals.” Her hire followed a pair of controversies at Founders.

The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and three other Michigan business groups backed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposal to increase the number of state residents with a college degree and create a scholarship fund to help students go to school after high school.

The state chapter of a small business advocacy group is among the supporters of a bipartisan bill package introduced this month to reform the way law enforcement seizes property from people suspected of crimes.

Michigan business groups say a transition of executive power from a Republican to a Democrat brings policy uncertainty, but they expect a continued focus from Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer on at least two topics: road funding and talent.

Bills to scale back new state laws mandating paid sick leave and increasing the minimum wage are top of mind for local and statewide business groups in this year’s legislative lame duck session.

Proponents of statewide and local ballot initiatives went four-for-four on election night, establishing a new process for drawing legislative districts, increasing access to voting and dedicating funding for early childhood development in Kent County.