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GRDadof3

By GRDadof3
in Grand Rapids Coffee House

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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iCap Realty of Woodlands, TX stakes claim in Western Michigan

They seem to pretty bullish on West Michigan. :shades:

Also, X-Rite moves three production lines to West Michigan to take advantage of lower labor costs Huh?

They were moved from Zurich, where labor costs are double what they are here. Guess it goes both ways in a global economy.

But in disappointing news, Grand Rapids home sales were off 12% from Feb. 06

They probably will be low until we start gaining net jobs from our previous employment high in 2003.

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superNOVA Whistle-Stop

superNOVA

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Wow, the iCap one is really bullish, and in my opinion correct. I figured that with the amount of development that we have it would just be a matter of time before those in the know could really figure out that this current spurt was not just that. The construction downtown right now signals the beginning of a long series of projects and growth - about time if you ask me. In ten years, downtown GR will be a totally different animal than it is even today.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Holland's S2 Yachts to build bigger boats

HOLLAND -- More big changes are afoot at S2 Yachts.

On top of last year's $14 million plant expansion, the boat maker is putting an additional $4 million into equipment to build bigger yachts in the Tulip City.

"The first Tiara Sovran 5800 is being constructed right now and will be completed, and ready to sail in late May,"

The company also has plans to add four boat models to its Tiara line during the next year, he said.

Holland Mayor Al McGeehan said S2 Yachts represents what is best in this global economy.

"The yachts are made here in Holland providing employment to 725 people and sold around the world," McGeehan said.

414710900_98b69bc1a4.jpg

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francishsu Hamlet

francishsu

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Just thought I'd add reference to the

Grubb & Ellis 2007 West Michigan Real Estate Forecast Presentation

Some interesting information in there regarding rental rates, vacancies, etc. And an overview of some of the recently completed and upcoming projects. There's also a more official forecast document available on their website, but I thought the presentation slides were more interesting.

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rivegauche Whistle-Stop

rivegauche

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Holland's S2 Yachts to build bigger boats

HOLLAND -- More big changes are afoot at S2 Yachts.

On top of last year's $14 million plant expansion, the boat maker is putting an additional $4 million into equipment to build bigger yachts in the Tulip City.

"The first Tiara Sovran 5800 is being constructed right now and will be completed, and ready to sail in late May,"

The company also has plans to add four boat models to its Tiara line during the next year, he said.

Holland Mayor Al McGeehan said S2 Yachts represents what is best in this global economy.

"The yachts are made here in Holland providing employment to 725 people and sold around the world," McGeehan said.

414710900_98b69bc1a4.jpg

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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The Grand Rapids - Wyoming Metro Area continued to plod along this past January, adding about 1500 Non-Farm Payroll employment from Jan. 06 to Jan. 07 (from 384,300 to 385,800). (Because of seasonal employment, January is always the lowest month)

419108205_66931c65b6_o.gif

While Michigan's Non-Farm Payroll seems to be in a perpetual freefall, mostly fueled by losses in the Detroit Metro Area. Michigan's total Non-Farm Payroll went from 4,368,000 in Jan. 06 to 4,301,500 in Jan. 07 (I think it's largest 1 year drop since 2001).

419110217_fc6e84156f_o.jpg

(that graph just makes me ill, because I have a lot of family in Lansing and the East side of the state).

We have got to do something to differentiate Grand Rapids from the rest of the State for our own survival I'm afraid, or we're going to get sucked down with the ship.

What can we personally do though, is the question, to help diversify our economy? And to make West Michigan an attractive relocation destination? We are much less expensive than the New England states, from which there is a huge out-migration of people. How can we tap into that exodus?

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MJLO City

MJLO

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If you ask me, alot is already being done. I know that there is a debate about how much health care will help, but it's already become the largest sector in West Michigan, and people will always need health care. To me that represents one of many sustainable services. Also the VAI is huge, to me it's bigger than some people give it credit for. They are developing drugs there, who's to say that we in the near future couldn't have a Pharmecutical company if not headquartered here, having a major presence here because of all the biomedical R&D we have going on in GR. I think GR took it's biggest hit a couple of years ago. Furniture seems to be stabalizing, what's left of it anyway, and the auto parts manufacturers have either taken the biggest hits, or have minimized their presences here enough that they won't have that large of an impact on us.

The future is in services. Banking, Insurance, Realestate ect..... It will be interesting to see, if more of these companies do well in West Michigan. If Mercantile, and Macatawa continue to grow and thrive, they could end up having a major positive impact on GR, especially in terms of diversity.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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If you ask me, alot is already being done. I know that there is a debate about how much health care will help, but it's already become the largest sector in West Michigan, and people will always need health care. To me that represents one of many sustainable services. Also the VAI is huge, to me it's bigger than some people give it credit for. They are developing drugs there, who's to say that we in the near future couldn't have a Pharmecutical company if not headquartered here, having a major presence here because of all the biomedical R&D we have going on in GR. I think GR took it's biggest hit a couple of years ago. Furniture seems to be stabalizing, what's left of it anyway, and the auto parts manufacturers have either taken the biggest hits, or have minimized their presences here enough that they won't have that large of an impact on us.

The future is in services. Banking, Insurance, Realestate ect..... It will be interesting to see, if more of these companies do well in West Michigan. If Mercantile, and Macatawa continue to grow and thrive, they could end up having a major positive impact on GR, especially in terms of diversity.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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The title of this article is "January brings new wave of job cuts", but then they go on to explain January always means job cuts because of holiday seasonal workers leaving the workforce.

Most of that decline is seasonal, after the holiday rush.

For the year, though, West Michigan added slightly to its payroll headcount, a measure that excludes agriculture and the self-employed. That's a fairly good sign, said Jim Rhein, an analyst with the state Department of Labor & Economic Growth.

"Compared to some areas, it's somewhat favorable, because it's a slight bit of employment growth, and both payroll and total employment are up," Rhein said. "That's fairly unusual in the state at this point."

Holland and Grand Rapids regions posted two of the strongest employment growth rates in the state, he said.

Same thing I said on March 12th. ^^^^ :D

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Bissell sweeps to the top

It's great that despite the fact that they no longer do manufacturing of sweepers here in the area, their old plant has 325 workers doing a myriad of R&D tests, including chemical tests, product testing and creating dust mites to build their product brand and expertise.

Bissell says they have no plans to go public, and they have no intentions of moving their HQ out of Grand Rapids.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Lightweight water filter has global reach

A new plastic filter produced by Cascade Engineering and distributed by International Aid to third world countries is growing in demand. The old concrete water filters weighed 300 lbs, whereas the new plastic versions weigh about 7 pounds. The savings on shipping costs alone has to be ENORMOUS. This goes right back to MLUI's contention that global water quality and management is a huge industry that should be expanded into:

http://mlui.org/farms/fullarticle.asp?fileid=17090

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Steelcase numbers best in five years - full article

GRAND RAPIDS -- For the first time in five years, Steelcase Inc. today posted yearly sales topping $3 billion while profits surged 110 percent over the previous year.

It was another sign of a robust office furniture industry after Herman Miller Inc. reported surging quarterly profits last week.

In this morning's announcement, Steelcase said this was the fourth-best year in its history for sales. The company's best year was 2001, when it had sales of more than $4 billion.

Although I don't see Steelcase adding people anytime soon, they outsourced a lot of their production to local companies that I'm sure are seeing increased orders.

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Yankee Fan Hamlet

Yankee Fan

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GRDad, I wanted to correct your statement, so here you go (mine is nicer, anyways :rolleyes: ):

Steelcase is adding a significant amount of technology and engineering headcount in 2007 and has been adding significant headcount for about 6 months now. These are high paying, salaried positions. The kind we talk about wanting in GR.

Good stuff and not at all rare at this point in West Michigan.

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