Par75

fwiw, Dan Bylsma has two brothers who still live and work in the area: Jon is a litigation attorney and partner at Varnum, and Greg is CFO at Herman Miller

Another article, this one from the Wall Street Journal, which actually does mention the Griffins a few times: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124389841307774343.html

The UP Community may not put much stock in these rankings and you're not wrong in saying the methodology is sometimes suspect, but that doesn't mean Joe Public disregards them. Regardless of how the lists are compiled, it is certainly better to make the ones that are considered good/positive and it's best to remain off the rankings that are bad/negative.

Our "Local First" campaign got a mention in a Business Week article about buying locally. http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/conte...0226_752622.htm

Looks like a fantastic week to hit the beach, huh? Windchills are expected to be -20 to -30 on Tuesday morning. Brrr

Yes, I am. I think combined, my wife and I now only spend 10 minutes browsing the paper each evening. I may actually read only 2-3 articles in their entirety. The rest of it, I just skim. The majority of it seems to be wire reports or day(s)-old opinion pieces from the NY Times, Washington Post, or Wall St. Journal. It's old news by the time it appears in the Press. IMO, the paper version of the Press is no longer worth the money, especially when it's available online (I prefer to read a hard copy versus web version, but only if I spend a fair amount of time actually reading the articles).

Two one-way car rentals might be cheaper than parking for a week in Detroit.

Took a round trip Air Canada flight from GRR to the Maritimes area of Canada this week. As expected, the BEH aircraft being used is very tiny (18-seater). On the way to Toronto on Wednesday, 8 of the 18 seats were filled. On return flight this morning, only 5 were on the plane (not including pilots). The flight attendant is the co-pilot and he/she only makes an appearance at the start of the flight and at the end. Because the plane is so small, I was expecting a much bumpier ride. Overall not a bad experience and considering my other options included 2 or more connections, the Air Canada flight with only 1 connection was perfect. (I did notice a few Steelcase people on the flight to Toronto. With a production facility in Ontario, having direct service to Toronto is probably nice for them)

Since Allegiant will only fly to two Florida cities from GRR, they're hardly going to be a threat to NWA or any other legacy carrier in our market. Maybe NWA will try to compete on fares for flights going to/from Orlando and Tampa, but that's it. Allegiant certainly isn't going to impact the cost of flights from GRR to New York, Boston, Washington, LA, etc.

Have you driven by the parking lots surrounding the airport recently? Those flat lots are huge and consistently 75% - 90% full. Add to that the much needed expansion of a rental car area (to also be housed in this new garage) and I think you'll be surprised that this garage is probably needed. Sure there is some leakage to other area airports (budget travelers who have extra time), but I think it's safe to say that "most" fliers in the area still use GRR. I think you're seriously underestimating how many business travelers we have in Grand Rapids / West Michigan who usually won't take the time to drive to one of the other area airports. For them (me included) it's more about convenience than cost.

It sounds like this decision will be announced on Friday in Dayton, unfortunately not in Grand Rapids this weekend. Doing this in Ohio makes as much sense as doing it here since both states have a high number of electoral votes and both have polls showing these states are still a toss-up. (Obama up slightly in Mich, McCain up slightly in Ohio)

I'll be utilizing Air Canada service out of GRR later this year when I have to go to both Toronto and St. John, New Brunswick for work. Unfortunately the planes (18-seat Beechcrafts) being used to and from here are about the size of a crop duster. I think they hand you a parachute pack when you board the plane. And speaking of the new parking ramp, on a flight home yesterday, I heard several visitors commenting on the construction as we were taxing to the gate. The conversation centered around why such a large ramp was needed for such a small airport.

In a Journal Report on Economic Development, today's Wall Street Journal listed Kalamazoo as one of 7 places that took a different approach to economic development and had some success. The city is featured in a 1/2 page article and much of the credit for the success, they claim, is due to the Kalamazoo Promise.

A guy I know was injured when a large tree limb fell on him at his house in the Grand Haven area. He's in serious condition at North Ottawa Community Hospital. Story

Speaking of extremely high-end cars in this area (and continuing to veer off topic), I saw a Maybach on the streets of Rockford a few weeks ago. I had never seen one of these cars in the area before. A 2008 62 edition will cost you only $400,000.