Displaying items by tag: The Right Place Inc

When it comes to manufacturing, a low-cost product does not have to be synonymous with a low-quality product. That was a main takeaway from a recent webinar hosted by the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center-West, MiBiz  and The Right Place. The webinar on Design for Manufacturing and Assembly — often referred to as DFMA — brought together West Michigan manufacturing executives to discuss the importance of intentional product design in manufacturing. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Laser cutting service Laser Access LLC is under new ownership and plans to expand its facility in Walker. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Spectrum Health Ventures LLC’s latest investment follows a new corporate strategy from its parent health system to buy locally more often.

A significant and expanding group of people in Michigan are working but still not bringing home a paycheck big enough to cover their basic expenses. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Grand Action, the business group that pushed some of the largest downtown developments over the last 25 years, plans to resume operations with new leadership.

Situated about 35 miles north of Grand Rapids, Newaygo County is a mostly rural area of Michigan that boasts an abundance of natural resources, but struggles with infrastructure. 

GRAND RAPIDS — A business accelerator in East Lansing wants to extend into Grand Rapids this fall to tap into the local entrepreneurial ecosystem and support more high-tech startups.

West Michigan-based suppliers of aerospace giant Boeing Co. continue to weigh their ability to bear higher costs during the company’s temporary suspension of production. 

Muskegon County officials are hoping the possible purchase of 377 acres of private land will increase the quality of life and help with talent attraction.

GRAND RAPIDS — Regional economic development firm The Right Place Inc. will focus on new areas of economic opportunity over the next three years.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Right Place Inc.’s new venture capital fund plans to target investments toward an area of the economy where capital historically has flowed the least: startups and businesses owned by racial and ethnic minorities.

GRAND RAPIDS — Aiming to create greater ethnic and racial diversity in business ownership across the region, The Right Place Inc. teamed with Bank of America and the Consumers Energy Foundation to form a capital investment fund.

SHELBY — Family-owned fruit processor Peterson Farms Inc. is expanding its operations in Oceana County, north of Muskegon. 

Locally owned and operated businesses are a unique asset to West Michigan’s economy, but that dynamic is changing as more owners opt to sell to private equity firms that have increasingly targeted the region for deals. 

If the long-promised economic downturn is on the horizon, manufacturers will be the first to feel it in 2020. That’s according to economists and industry experts who say the U.S. economy has become virtually split as it’s powered by confident consumers but weakened by a cautious business sector that is reducing investments and bracing for a contraction.

A combination of factors came together in 2019 to take a bite out of Michigan’s economy. The six-week General Motors strike, white-collar job cuts at GM and Ford early in 2019, a slowing manufacturing sector, and relatively flat auto sales collectively held back the state’s growth this year.

GREENVILLE — Manufacturer Aquest Machining & Assembly plans to invest an estimated $1.3 million into an expansion of its current location in Greenville.

On top of ongoing trade disputes and the disruptive GM strike, two statistical gauges of the U.S. manufacturing industry hit new lows, leaving economists and manufacturers preparing for a meaningful economic shift from a decade of growth. 

With former CEO Jim Edmonson back at the helm and a new board of directors, Muskegon Area First has positioned itself for fiscal and programmatic growth to support Muskegon County’s economic development into the next decade.

ADA — Software development firm Michigan Software Labs LLC expects to nearly double its headcount as part of an expansion at the company’s Ada location. 

GRAND RAPIDS — A $90 million expansion at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport will aid in economic development in West Michigan, the airport authority board said Wednesday.

When The Right Place, Inc. and a small group of local companies formed the Manufacturers Council in 1989, they united under a banner of collaboration and mutual trust. Now, 30 years later, The Right Place | The Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center – West’s Manufacturers Council serves as a vast repository of industry knowledge and a cornerstone of the manufacturing sector in the region. Yet, despite its growth over the years, the council still retains its mission of encouraging collaboration and sharing best practices between manufacturers in West Michigan. 

WHITE CLOUD — Refractory product manufacturer HarbisonWalker International Inc. is investing $9 million to expand its plant in Newaygo County. 

“Please see attached.” That’s the email employees at Grand Rapids-based Kindel Furniture Co. Inc. received from a company vice president in late April. Within a few minutes, two people had tried to open the included attachment and replied back to the apparent sender that they were having trouble.

WYOMING — A 92-acre shovel-ready industrial property sits empty about five miles south of downtown Grand Rapids, even amid a shortage of available manufacturing spaces across West Michigan.

Officials studying commuter transit options between Grand Rapids and Holland are hoping to make West Michigan more competitive when it comes to talent attraction.

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. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Michigan’s second-largest city crossed the 200,000-person population milestone for the first time last summer, as communities along the western side of the state posted strong growth.

Vulnerability Discovery & Analysis Labs LLC, a Grand Rapids-based cybersecurity firm, is opening a new headquarters at 5234 Plainfield Ave. NE.

WALKER — Industrial technology and electrical services firm Feyen Zylstra LLC plans to invest $5.3 million in a new facility in Walker.