Crain's Grand Rapids

GVSU plan integrates downtown

Student housing options in Grand Rapids also would double |

Grand Valley State University o cials hope to match major public and private sector developments in Grand Rapids with multiple large-scale campus projects aimed at bringing thousands more students downtown.

GVSU’s Robert C. Pew campus signi es

an anchor tenant in Grand Rapids’ downtown core. As such, it plays an instrumental role in the city’s growth and overall activity, local o cials say.

As major projects advance around it, namely a 12,000-capacity amphitheater across the Grand River, university o -

Startups facing tighter restrictions

Bank failures breed market caution

By Mark Sanchez

Silicon Valley Bank’s epic collapse further tightens the environment for venture capital-backed companies planning to raise additional and larger capital rounds in the near future,

local investors say.

e Santa Clara, California-based bank’s failure leaves a gaping hole in the ability of companies seeking later-stage investments to secure debt nancing that often accompanies venture capital rounds beyond the seed

BY KATE CARLSON

cials have downtown growth plans of their own. at includes doubling the number of student housing units downtown in the coming years, developing a

$140 million tech hub at an existing facility, and converting a parking lot to green space to generate more public interaction.

GVSU o cials aim to increase the number of students enrolled in classes downtown from about 5,700 in 2021 to 8,100 by 2025.

and early stages. at potentially may make fundraising for growth capital an even more di cult proposition for companies.

REAL ESTATE Developers

nd next big opportunity at golf courses

PAGE 3

Today we are thrilled to introduce you to Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.

We are excited to bring Crain’s brand of journalistic excellence and business solutions to the West Michigan market.

As many of you are aware, last year Crain Communications bought the Grand Rapids Busi-

ness Journal and, a few months later, MiBiz.

At the time of those acquisitions, we pledged our commitment to giving our readers and our business partners the most comprehensive news and information about the Grand Rapids region.

Holland to decide future of waterfront

Proposal hinges on land sale, swap for industrial site

By Kate Carlson

A May ballot initiative in which city voters will determine a potential land swap will make or break decades-long efforts to redevelop industrial waterfront property near downtown Holland.

Housing developers find next big opportunity at golf courses

Golf’s decline and need for housing create new market

By Rachel Watson

Developers across West Michigan are seizing a prime opportunity to turn the region’s abundance of golf courses into badly needed housing.

Long considered a golf mecca, Michigan is third in the nation behind California and Florida for the number of golf courses, with 738 public courses as of the end of 2022, according to the National Golf Foundation. According to Pure Michigan, the state’s travel bureau, about 115 of those golf courses are on the west side of the state.

But due to a decline in interest in the sport, driven by generational shifts in leisure pursuits, the number of Michigan golf courses has fallen significantly since the state hit a peak of nearly 1,000 courses in 2000.

Golf’s regression may represent an opportunity for developers, as Kent County in particular looks to close a housing gap of nearly

35,000 units by 2027.

Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said in a recent media briefing with Housing Next — a group working to close the housing gap — that the city will need the cooperation of the many Kent County suburbs that have golf courses available to redevelop, because the city has no land bank authority and very little available property left to develop.

“It’s (about) how do we get more creative,” she said.

Following are some of the biggest golf course property conversions underway in West Michigan:

Alpine Township

Developer Mike Houseman, president of Wolverine North America, and three silent partners in fall 2019 acquired the property that formerly housed Alpine Avenue Golf Center, at 841 and 1007 Alpine Church Road

NW, and several surrounding parcels in Alpine Township.

The driving range and miniature golf venue closed in 2015. Houseman said he planned to start redeveloping the property into housing right after acquiring it but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the initial acquisition, the partners also bought an adjacent orchard, a house to the north and the township’s former 1950s-era fire station at Alpine Avenue and Alpine Church Road to enlarge the development.

The current plan is for 119 units of age-restricted senior apartments that will be owned and operated by Clover Group, 73 single-family units that will be built and sold by JTB Homes, 26 condos and 28 townhomes. There will also be 10 commercial parcels along Alpine Avenue.

Houseman estimates the construction budget will be about $79.2 million, including site infrastructure costs.

At least 60 percent of voters will need to approve the ballot question in the May 2 special election to authorize the city of Holland to sell nearly 20 acres of property across two sites: 255 Kollen Park Drive and 64 Pine Ave., the site of the retired James DeYoung Power Plant.

The city kicked off a strategic effort called “Waterfront Holland” about five years ago to craft a redevelopment plan for city-owned property that houses the retired coal plant. The feedback and planning process revealed that the most feasible path forward to attract a developer was to strike a deal with industrial companies along the lakeshore to relocate and combine industry uses using a land swap.

Holland-based Geenen DeKock Properties Group LLC was the only company to submit a development proposal in the city’s nationwide request to develop its downtown waterfront property. A land swap of Verplank Dock Co.’s property at 233 W. Eighth St. and the power plant property is essential to GDK’s plans.

GDK wants to construct a multi-building, mixed-use development on the current Verplank property and the adjacent cityowned land at 255 Kollen Park Drive.

Architect going ‘back to my roots’ on Leonard St.

Pure Architects will occupy second floor of The Shade Shop location

By Kate Carlson

A Grand Rapids architect plans to relocate his firm to a corridor near his childhood home on the city’s northwest side that he sees as the next bustling district in the city.

Zachary Verhulst, who founded Pure Architects in August 2020, is under contract to purchase the three-story building at 422 Leonard St. NW for about $1.1 million, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business has learned. Verhulst expects to close on the property, which is home to

the longtime family-owned window covering retailer The Shade Shop Inc., soon. He also plans to invest nearly $1 million in renovations to capture the feel of a “Los Angeles- or New York-style of a design shop,” he said.

“I grew up on the northwest side, right off the Leonard Street corridor, so for me this is a move back to my roots,” Verhulst said. “For us, it’s also a strategic move. I think Leonard Street is the next Bridge Street.”

The 422 Leonard property just west of U.S.-131 is surrounded by a

variety of recent housing, commercial and retail investments. It’s also 1 mile north of Bridge Street, which also experienced a development boom in recent years.

Verhulst plans to move his 15-person staff from a downtown, third-floor space at 180 Monroe Ave. above Mojo’s Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant after renovations at the Leonard Street property are completed, tentatively by the end of this year.

Pure Architects founder Zachary Verhulst plans to buy and relocate his firm to the threestory building at 422 Leonard St. NW on the west side of Grand Rapids.

Site work began in January on the multifamily component of Savannah at Waterford Village at the former Lincoln Country Club in Walker. | STONELEIGH COMPANIES

Relocation plan clears path for amphitheater

Moves are part of a larger vision for 30acre riverfront site

By Kate Carlson

City officials have approved a $2.2 million contract with the architect designing a new public services facility, which will help to facilitate the development of a downtown amphitheater.

The Grand Rapids City Commission last month approved the design contract with Bergmann Associates Inc., which is creating a site plan for the city to relocate various city services from 201 Market Ave. to 1500 Scribner Ave. NW on the city’s north side.

The relocation opens up 201 Market for the development of a planned 12,000-capacity amphitheater.

The relocation also has been

the primary barrier for the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/ Arena Authority (CAA) to exercise a $24.3 million option agreement with the city of Grand Rapids to purchase the 201 Market property. The option agreement deadline for the CAA to purchase the property from the city has been extended multiple times. CAA officials have said they hope to meet the current June 30 deadline for the property sale.

The Market Avenue property currently houses a range of city services, including the public works, parks and recreation, forestry, and fleet and facilities management offices.

The $2.2 million design contract with Bergmann Associates will be funded by the city’s capital improvement fund.

The design firm is tasked with creating a site plan for relocating the city services to Scribner Avenue, which currently houses Kent

Health insurers keeping preventive care coverage

By Mark Sanchez

Priority Health and several other health plans in Michigan intend to maintain full coverage for preventive care for now.

That’s despite a ruling by a federal judge in Texas last week that struck down provisions in the federal Affordable Care Act that required health insurers to cover preventive care at no out-ofpocket costs to consumers.

“Preventive services save lives, lower costs and help members live happier, healthier lives,” Priority Health CEO Praveen Thadani said in a statement. “We are committed to supporting our members at every stage of their health and wellness journey, and that includes helping our members stay healthy through coverage of preventive services, not only treating them when they are sick.”

As the case is appealed, Grand Rapids-based Priority Health joined other health plans in announcing that it will continue 100 percent coverage for care such as physical exams, immunizations and vaccines, prescriptions that are considered preventive, wellchild, and prenatal visits.

Priority Health, with 1.3 million members, also will continue full coverage for preventive tests for cholesterol and screenings for

colon cancer, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Priority Health covered 100 percent of the costs for preventive care prior to the ACA and “will continue to offer these services, regardless of the recent ruling,” Thadani said.

Priority Health is among 17 health plans that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said have committed to retaining zero costs to members for preventive care, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and HMO subsidiary Blue Care Network, Health Alliance Plan, Alliance Health and Life Insurance Company, Physicians Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company Inc.

“It is important for our members to know that their care and coverage does not change because of the court’s decision,” Dr. James Grant, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, said in a statement. “Access to nocost screenings, counseling services and preventive medications is critical to early detection, breaking down barriers to care and improving overall health. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan supports maintaining these preventive services in place without cost sharing until all appeals to the court’s decision are finalized.”

Whitmer had ordered the

County Road Commission offices and facilities. Accommodating city services will require renovations to the existing 38,000-square-foot office building on Scribner. An additional 74,000 square feet also will be added to the existing 72,000-square-foot garage for indoor vehicle storage. A new 74,000-square-foot fleet maintenance and facility space as well as a new 41,000-square-foot refuse facility would also be added at Scribner, per the city’s plan.

The Road Commission plans to relocate to 1900 Four Mile Road

NW at the WalkerView Industrial Park in Walker.

The design process could take seven months for Bergmann to complete, but bid packages are expected to go out before that to plan ahead for longer lead times for construction materials, Grand Rapids City Engineer Tim Burkman said.

“All of this is in preparation for the anticipated amphitheater and surrounding redevelopment opportunities in and around the 201 site,” Burkman said.

Grand Action 2.0 is leading the amphitheater development, which

is part of a broader, mixed-use vision for more than 30 acres along the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids.

The city previously worked with Bergmann Associates on an earlier planning phase to move city services from 201 Market. The city approved the early planning contract on June 16, 2020, for $66,000, with total authorized project expenditures not to exceed $78,100. Additional services were authorized on Jan. 17 this year in the amount of $132,500 to provide initial site investigation and pre-design services.

Layoffs precede focus on automation

HS

Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services to work with health insurers on actions to maintain full coverage for preventive care.

The 17 health plans that committed to maintaining preventive care with zero cost to consumers are:

w Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of Michigan Inc.

w Blue Care Network

w Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

w Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co.

w Health Alliance Plan

w Humana Insurance Co.

w Humana Medical Plan of Michigan

w McLaren Health Plan Community

w Meridian Health Plan of Michigan Inc.

w Molina Healthcare of Michigan

w Nippon Life Insurance Company of America

w Oscar Insurance Co.

w Physicians Health Plan

w Priority Health

w UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company Inc. and United Healthcare Community Plan Inc.

w US Health and Life Insurance Co.

w Wellfleet Insurance Co.

By Kayleigh Van Wyk

A Grand Rapids-area manufacturer has laid off nearly a quarter of its workforce as the company shifts its focus from tool and die operations to solely automation solutions.

Executives at Walker-based HS Inc. recently announced the strategic transition that will boost the company’s existing automation technology solutions and move automation production to its current tool and die facility.

HS Inc. President Dale Hermiller said the company laid off 58 employees as part of the transition. The company now employs 161 people, and Hermiller said he anticipates minimal additional layoffs as the transition continues.

“It is our goal to retain as much of our workforce as possible,” Hermiller said.

HS Inc.’s transition involves moving automation production to its current tool and die facility at 215 Lake Michigan Drive NW. The company’s automation work, which involves developing automation solutions for other companies, currently takes place at its facility at 159 First Court NW. The

company also is developing a strategy for another existing facility at 2640 Mullins Court NW.

The move will allow the company to pursue larger, more complex automation opportunities by increasing floor space, improving workflow and enhancing in-house machining capabilities. The company has started a strategy to wind down existing tool and die projects.

“It is an incredibly difficult decision to transition away from the part of the business on which the company was founded. However, we are committed to growing and investing in our automation solutions that help companies improve quality and productivity,” Hermiller said in a news release.

Hermiller added that there is “never a good time to make this type of drastic change, but the current state of the tooling industry provides us a window where we can complete our remaining jobs in a way that minimizes risk to our customers.”

Founded in 1969, HS Inc. began as an injection mold design and production manufacturer. The company expanded its capabilities to include automated assembly solutions in 2000, and currently offers solutions such as automated and manual assembly, material handling, plastic processing, and robot and vision integration.

The full transition away from tool and die is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Mary Free Bed seeks $30M for new pediatric facility

that’s been quietly conducted jointly with Corewell Health, Riddle said. Leaders were “very surprised” and “super excited” to receive the support from the Secchia family’s foundation, he said.

Mixed-use housing project pitched for Plainfield Township

Developers eye apartments, retail for Post Road site

By Kate Carlson

Developers have introduced plans for a mixed-use housing project in northwest Plainfield Township that local officials say is a “different way of thinking, … unique” and aligned with broader goals around growing housing density.

The township’s planning commission this week will consider a proposal from Brandon Visser and Dan Uccello to repurpose property just west of U.S. 131 at Post Drive NE with apartments, restaurant and retail space. Uccello co-owns local restaurant group Flo’s Collection, while Visser helps operate Steve Visser Builder LLC, a family-owned residential and commercial builder and developer.

opments along Plainfield Avenue.

While the Post Drive project is located miles away from Plainfield Avenue, Van Wyngarden said it aligns with the planning initiative.

“The Reimagine Plainfield plan has transformed ways we think about development in other areas of the township,” Van Wyngarden said. “I don’t know yet if exactly what’s being proposed (on Post Drive) will go through, but it is a different way of thinking and is unique and it’s more in line with what we’re trying to do. We’ve got to treat our land like it’s worth something. We can’t keep zoning and permitting uses that gobble up land at such a high rate with all the needed housing in our community that we keep pushing further out.”

Doing business as 1772 Post LLC, Uccello purchased the property for $325,000 in September 2016, according to property records.

By Mark Sanchez

Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital hopes to secure additional public funding to finance half the cost for a new $60 million pediatric facility in Grand Rapids.

After securing $13 million in public money last year through a $10 million earmark in the state budget for the present fiscal year, and $3 million in federal funding, Mary Free Bed has been talking to lawmakers who represent the region about additional support, CEO Kent Riddle said.

Mary Free Bed wants to raise $30 million total from public sources and $30 million through private philanthropy to finance the project, which is a joint venture with Corewell Health’s Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.

Early response to the request for additional public support for the project from state and federal lawmakers and the governor’s office has been “100 percent supportive, verbally at least,” Riddle said.

The three-story facility, planned for a site on Wealthy Street across from Mary Free Bed’s campus, would become the first rehab hospital in Michigan dedicated to treating pediatric patients.

To date, Mary Free Bed has raised $20 million, which includes $13 million in public money, plus $7 million in pledges to a capital campaign that includes $5 million from the Pete and Joan Secchia Foundation.

The Secchia family contribution kicked off the capital campaign

Joan Secchia also assembled and has led a “kitchen cabinet” consisting of a “who’s who of Grand Rapids” to help with the capital campaign, Riddle said.

“She’s been a wonderful, leading proponent and a champion for the new hospital,” he said.

The other $2 million committed so far in the capital campaign came from individual private donors and a few foundations, Riddle said. Capital campaign organizers have several requests outstanding and are “talking to anyone who has any interest in children, especially children with disabilities,” he said.

Between public funding and philanthropy, Riddle is “cautious, but conservatively optimistic” that Mary Freed Bed will have 85 percent to 90 percent of the $60 million committed by the end of 2023 to begin construction next spring.

About 40 foundations and potential private donors have all “expressed interest in becoming part of the project,” Riddle said.

“We have not found someone or one entity who is not interested,” he said. “We have a number of asks out now after lots of discussions with major donors and foundations, and we’re expecting more good news to continue to come in to reach that number.

“We’re pretty bullish about it right now.”

Mary Free Bed recently retained Detroit-based architectural, engineering and planning firm SmithGroup to design the pediatric facility.

“We’re looking forward to bringing the best of our integrated practice to creating an iconic breakthrough building for Mary Free Bed,” said Ann Kenyon, a vice president and health studio leader at SmithGroup who will be the project’s principal in charge.

“The new pediatric rehabilitation hospital will be a welcoming destination and gathering place that promotes healing and well-being for patients, their families and the greater community.”

Grand Rapids-based Enviah PC is representing Mary Free Bed in working with SmithGroup on the design. Enviah previously led the design work for a 60-bed, $40.7 million rehab hospital that opened in late 2021 in Saginaw. Mary Free Bed developed the facility with Covenant Health.

Mary Free Bed in mid-2022 publicly unveiled plans for the new facility that would double pediatric inpatient capacity to 24 beds, coupled with extensive outpatient space, and serve children born with malformations and defects, as well as children recovering from diseases, chronic pain or traumatic injuries.

“Nearly all of the children in Michigan, both in the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula, come to Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids for rehabilitation care, so we’re building a facility so we can accommodate all of them,” Riddle said. “Currently, we’re busy and cannot accommodate all of those kids. There is no place else for them to go in the state.”

Mary Free Bed presently treats 6,500 to 7,000 pediatric patients annually, mostly through outpatient care. The new hospital will enable Mary Free Bed to increase pediatric capacity by about 2,000 to 2,500 patients.

Early plans for the project on roughly 3 acres at 1303 Post Drive call for a two-story, mixed-use building and a separate three-story residential building. The mixeduse building would have 3,600 square feet of retail and 3,600 square feet of restaurant space on the ground floor, and six multifamily units on the second floor, according to documents filed with the township. The residential building would be situated behind the mixed-use building and contain 12 two-bedroom apartments.

A single-family home currently occupying the commercially zoned property would be demolished under the proposal.

Plainfield Township Superintendent Cameron Van Wyngarden said the proposal reflects the type of projects that township officials want to encourage. That includes goals and zoning ordinance changes — including mixed-use projects and green infrastructure — under the 2021 Reimagine Plainfield initiative that encourages new investments and redevel-

The planning commission denied a previous planned unit development rezoning request for the property in November 2022.

Wally Bulkowski of Fusion Properties LLC previously proposed a commercial building and separate 18-unit multifamily building garages at the Post Drive property.

Uccello hopes to formally request a rezoning change at the planning commission.

Visser said the new plan differs from last year’s proposal by including more greenspace and better separation between commercial and residential parking. He added that the proposal includes both commercial and residential components to both meet housing demand as well as reflect nearby commercial properties.

“Because of the size and location, this site is really geared more toward something that is more compact,” Visser said. “We’re all about trying to do something that is a little more unique and newage in our design.”

The site plan leaves room to develop other amenities through landscaping.

Foundations, private donors also are contributing

Insurance brokerage right-sizes its offices in Grand Rapids

By Rachel Watson

A global insurance consultancy is following in the footsteps of many other businesses post-pandemic and “right-sizing” its office footprint to reflect the new hybrid reality of work.

Aon PLC moved out of downtown Grand Rapids to an office about half the size in East Grand Rapids’ Gaslight Village recently. The company also moved its other Michigan office from the entire 30th floor of the Southfield Town Center in Southfield to about twothirds of the 27th floor.

Kathy Weaver, managing director and Michigan market leader for Aon, said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportunity for Aon to “reimagine” both of its Michigan offices. The teams in both locations looked at about a half-dozen sites before settling on their new suites.

“It was based on feedback from the colleagues and what was available in Class A real estate at the time,” she said.

The new 4,572-square-foot West Michigan office is at 2237 Wealthy St. SE, Suite 200, in East Grand Rapids. It can house about three-quarters of the West Michigan workforce, or 33 of 45 employees at a given time.

The new 7,859-square-foot Southfield office is at 3000 Town Center, Suite 2750. It has room for up to 75 people, Weaver said.

Aon has about 110 employees across Michigan. It has about 50,000 employees in 120 countries.

Both locations have dropped assigned workstations and private upper-management offices in favor of open seating and client meeting and team collaboration spaces. Weaver said this better reflects the new reality of flexible/ hybrid work, and it works well for a client-centered firm.

“We have two things that we do: We serve clients or we serve our colleagues who are serving cli-

ents,” she said. “The pandemic for us (meant there was) a period when we were prohibited from going out and seeing clients. But even through not having offices, it was about getting out, seeing clients, meeting them where they wanted to be met, and a lot of times it was in their office, or without (our own) space we would just pick an alternate site.”

Weaver said that as Aon began devising a new real estate strategy, the office designs were informed by input from teams.

“(We asked), how do we ensure that their well-being is being served so that we are getting the best out of our colleagues, so we can serve our clients with flexibility and adaptability?” she said.

The new offices have their own designs influenced by “local elements,” like a client conference room in the East Grand Rapids branch being named after the city of Grand Rapids’ iconic “Blue Bridge,” Weaver said. The East Grand Rapids office also is outfitted with furniture from Haworth Inc. and Steelcase Inc. in a nod to Grand Rapids’ roots as Furniture City.

Both offices feature client-facing conference rooms and identical technology that can be accessed in every room, as well as unassigned seating and meeting rooms dedicated for internal use. Each office also has wellness rooms and gender-inclusive private bathrooms in addition to men’s and women’s restrooms.

Kevin O’Donnell, a senior account executive in Aon’s risk practice in Southfield, has worked in the insurance industry for nearly 30 years. He joined Aon in March 2019, just a year prior to the start of the pandemic.

When Aon’s Southfield lease came up for renewal in the early part of the pandemic, O’Donnell said he thought it made sense not to renew as most employees were still working remotely and the office was underutilized.

A build-out of the new space took longer to complete than expected due to supply chain issues, but he said it’s been a good change to work in person since it opened.

“I’ve been in every day and continue planning on doing that,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said his outlook and mental health have been surprisingly positively impacted by not having an assigned desk, because he meets more people across other departments whom he wouldn’t ordinarily have met, and he’s able to “change up the scenery” from one day to the next.

He said while he feels office attendance shouldn’t be mandatory, having a physical office is a tool that helps build stronger teams by establishing trust and rapport and providing mentoring opportuni-

ties between colleagues of different generations.

“I ‘grew up’ in an office environment 30 years ago, where I learned kind of a hands-on experience, where I was in the office learning from my peers and learning from more senior people who were taking an interest in me,” O’Donnell said. “I think that if you tried to do that remotely, it can happen, but it’s going to happen more slowly.”

Weaver said Aon’s Michigan offices have added about 10 employees over the past year to accommodate client growth in its service areas of risk, health, wealth and human capital solutions.

“We did a fantastic job last year; we actually had double-digit growth and outpaced growth at many of the other offices across the U.S.,” she said.

She did not disclose revenue figures for the Michigan market but said the London-based company saw 6 percent organic growth globally, ending 2022 at $12.5 billion in total revenue.

Weaver said there are no set in-office days for employees. Rather, attendance is flexible on an individual level. But now that both office locations are open, she said Aon is looking forward to plugging back into the community once more by giving all employees volunteer opportunities on “community impact days” this June.

“The offices in Grand Rapids and Southfield, historically, they’ve been in the community for decades,” she said. “… We’re excited to be back in (our) space … to continue to contribute back to the community.”

Perrigo to pitch FDA on over-the-counter birth control pill

Product would be first of its kind in U.S.

By Mark Sanchez

Perrigo Co. plc is now scheduled to make a pitch in May to federal regulators who will decide whether to approve an over-thecounter daily birth control pill for the U.S. market.

The company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rescheduled a joint meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Obstetrics, Reproductive, and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee for May 9 and 10 to review an appli-

cation seeking approval for the Opill daily oral contraceptive.

Last fall, the FDA delayed consideration of Perrigo’s over-thecounter Opill application to review additional information requested from the company.

If the FDA approves, Opill would become the first daily birth control pill available in the U.S. without a prescription. Perrigo would produce Opill as part of its Women’s Health division that the company seeks to build as a strategic growth pillar.

In announcing the re-sched-

uled FDA review, Perrigo said it “believes access to affordable birth control is an important next step” for the Women’s Health division and that it “will work diligently with the FDA to gain its approval.”

“Women’s needs are nuanced, and it’s about time their health options reflect that,” Frederique Welgryn, global vice president for Perrigo Women’s Health division, said in a statement. “At Perrigo, we’re not only committed to prioritizing women’s health – we’re committed to being active champions for it. We’re reimagining a new world where people are empowered to determine their own

sexual health journey and access the solutions they want.”

Perrigo’s Women’s Health division in 2022 generated sales of $32 million, an increase of 155 percent that was driven primarily by the addition of brands from affiliate HRA Pharma, a European maker of over-the-counter selfcare products. Perrigo bought HRA nearly a year ago for $1.9 billion.

HRA Pharma last July filed an application with the FDA to switch the Opill daily birth control pill to OTC status in the U.S. In an investor presentation in February, the company estimated the U.S. market for daily oral con-

traceptives at $3.7 billion. President and CEO Murray Kessler said last summer that he believes Opill “has the potential to be huge for the company,” especially after the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion. He cited consumer studies that indicate 30 percent of consumers “still say it is very difficult to get access to birth control pills, and we will be providing access at an affordable price with an everyday birth control pill, and giving everything else that’s happening in the world, especially the U.S. right now, I think the timing is right for it.”

Aon PLC’s new Southfield office is at 3000 Town Center, Suite 2750, in the Southfield Town Center. | AON PLC

The Grand Rapids office incorporates plenty of natural light and is outfitted with furniture from Haworth and Steelcase in a nod to Grand Rapids’ roots as Furniture City. | AON PLC

Kathy Weaver is managing director and Michigan market leader for Aon. | CHRIS JONES IMAGING

City OKs zoning change for affordable senior housing

apartments. Forty-eight of them will be one-bedroom units, and seven will be two-bedrooms. They’ll range from 664 to 1,000 square feet apiece.

By Rachel Watson

The city of Grand Rapids approved a nonprofit developer’s rezoning request for a retooled affordable housing project at the site of a former funeral home in the West Grand neighborhood.

The Grand Rapids City Commission recently approved Genesis Non-Profit Housing Corp.’s request for a major amendment to a previous planned redevelopment district (PRD). The move allows the nonprofit to move ahead with construction of Leonard Apartments, a $16.2 million, 55-unit senior housing project at 851 Leonard St. NW and 850 and 860 Courtney St. NW.

Genesis first proposed the project in September 2020.

The city commission adopted an ordinance in October 2020 to rezone the property from low-density residential and traditional business area to PRD to facilitate the construction of a three-story, 38-unit affordable housing development.

The original plan was to preserve the former Van’t Hof Chapel

funeral home structure, built in 1931, by turning the upstairs into apartment space and adding 37 newly constructed units around it.

Developer John Wynbeek, executive director of Genesis, said the nonprofit twice applied to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority in 2021 for low-income housing tax credits to fund the project.

MSHDA rejected both applications on the grounds that the cost

of preserving the funeral home was too high and the proposed number of units was too few to make the project feasible.

“It ended up costing more to preserve part of the building and then make something that looks historically consistent … so we revised the plan,” Wynbeek said.

Last summer, Genesis devised this new site plan, which calls for demolishing all the buildings on the property and constructing a four-story building with 55 senior

The front of the building will feature a communal roof deck above the third story facing Leonard, and the fourth floor will recede from the street to accommodate setback requirements. All of the units will be accessible to visitors, and eight of the units will accommodate wheelchair users.

The project includes an 1,100-square-foot community room, a smaller meeting room, a property management office, and 36 parking spaces along Courtney Street.

Genesis is working to coordinate the same supportive services that are provided at some of its other properties, including a partnership with Grand Valley State University nursing students and assistance from Senior Neighbors.

Genesis secured 13 Section 8 vouchers from the city of Grand Rapids and nine from the city of Wyoming to help keep the project affordable to people making 30 percent to 60 percent of area median income, Wynbeek said. That’s about $19,000 to $38,000 per year for one-person households.

The nonprofit also planned to

resubmit an application for LIHTC tax credits to MSHDA for additional financing, Wynbeek said. Pending receipt of the MSHDA tax credits, Wynbeek said construction would start in 2024 and conclude within 14 months, with leasing beginning in 2025.

Genesis earlier this year added Manistee-based Little River Holdings LLC, the non-gaming economic development organization of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, as a partner in the development, Wynbeek said.

Eugene Magnuson, CEO of Little River Holdings, said in a text message that the tribally owned firm entered into a master development agreement with Genesis and will serve as a co-developer on the Leonard Apartments project.

Under the terms of the partnership, nine of the senior housing units will be reserved for tribal members. Members of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians live in more than 200 households in Kent and Ottawa counties, Magnuson said.

“That’s a partnership that we’re excited about,” Wynbeek said. “Historically, Native American citizens resided on the West Side of Grand Rapids long before other settlements came, so I think that’s a really good fit for this project.”

Plans for Genesis Non-Profit Housing Corp.’s $16.2 million project to convert a former funeral home to senior housing. DESTIGTER ARCHITECTURE LLC

The 55-unit project also has a tribal component

CRAIN’S LIST TOP AREA BANKS

Ranked by 2022 commercial loan portfolio

Bank 310 Leonard St. NW Grand Rapids 49504

(616) 406-3000 f 726-1500

Bank 10753 Macatawa Drive Holland 49424

(616) 820-1444 f 396-7369

Michigan Community Bank

School Ave.

49426

(800) 664-1778 f 669-7496

East Beltline Ave. NE Grand Rapids 49525

(616) 363-1207 f 363-1584

River Bank 4471 Wilson Ave. SW Grandville 49418

(616) 929-1600 f 929-1610

Bank 501 Louis St. NW, Suite 612

Rapids 49503

(800) 547-8531 f 754-2118

(616) 940-9400

Cascade Road SE

Rapids 49546

(616) 454-8447 f 454-2465

firstcb.com

Bank 250 Pearl St. NW Grand Rapids 49503

p (616) 214-3748

horizonbank.com

National Bank 5200 Cascade Road SE Grand Rapids 49506

p (616) 228-6000

oldnational.com

United Bank of Michigan 900 East Paris Ave. SE Grand Rapids 49546

p (616) 559-7000 f 559-4631

unitedbank4u.com

Crain’s Grand Rapids Business list of top area banks, ranked by 2022 commercial loan portfolio, is the most comprehensive available. The list is based on responses to Crain's Grand Rapids Business surveys. Crain’s Grand Rapids Business defines "West Michigan" as Allegan, Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon counties. Crain's Grand Rapids Business surveyed 38 banks; 11 returned surveys and 11 are listed. To be considered for future lists, email danielle.nelson@crain.com DND = Did not disclose

Bank health ‘strong’ even as credit tightens

Startups needing capital face challenges

By Mark Sanchez

Michigan’s banking sector remains in good shape, despite the high-profile collapse last month of Silicon Valley Bank in California and New York’s Signature Bank that gave rise to concern about the state of the industry.

Overall, “the banking industry here in Michigan is strong,” Patricia Herdon, chief policy officer for the Michigan Bankers Association, told state lawmakers during a recent presentation to the House Financial Services Committee.

Herdon noted that the state’s top banking regulator, Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services Director Anita Fox, offered the same assessment in recent testimony to legislative committees on the state budget.

“It is not just our opinion, but that of our regulator as well,” Herdon said.

While the two big bank failures caused disruption in their respective markets, bankers generally had already been tightening access to credit because of a U.S. economy that’s been slowing over the last year because of rising interest rates.

Economists at the American Bankers Association reported in April that they expect business and consumer credit conditions to weaken over the upcoming months as the U.S. economy continues to slow and potentially moves into a recession in the latter half of the year.

For one, PNC Bank expects the Federal Open Market Committee to increase the key federal funds rate another 0.25 points in May and predicts a mild recession in the second half of 2023.

“The economy will start to turn around in mid-2024 as the Fed cuts interest rates early next year in response to the recession. The unemployment rate will increase throughout the rest of this year, peaking at above 5 percent in mid-2024, before starting to decline with an improving economy,” PNC economists wrote in an April 7 briefing to clients.

Brooks Kindel, a financial and management consultant with the Michigan Small Business Development Center, expects that commercial lenders may continue to tighten access to credit, although not specifically because of the large bank failures.

Instead, banks are giving greater scrutiny to credit requests because high inflation and rising interest rates have put more pressure on companies, Kindel said.

Despite that closer scrutiny, businesses with a strong balance sheet and that are performing well should have the ability to access the credit they need, said Kindel, who consults with small businesses in western Michigan.

“Whether it’s now or any other time, there’s plenty of money out

Steven Doorn Brooks Kindel

there looking for a good investment opportunity,” Kindel said.

“If you have a good model and you’re starting off on the right foot, or you have a business that has been up and running for a while and is well-managed, you’re always going to be able to get the capital you need for expansion and growth.”

Startup companies likely are the exception to that, Kindel added. Startups that lack collateral or that are formed by an entrepreneur without a track record have traditionally struggled to access funding, he said, adding that the economic uncertainty may make that process even harder.

“It’s going to be a challenge for startups that require any kind of significant capital,” Kindel said. “If you were starting something where you needed to buy equipment or machinery or something else, that’s going to be more challenging.”

Despite the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Kindel said he remains unconcerned about the U.S. banking system.

“You shouldn’t worry about the vitality of the banking system,” Kindel said. “Things have a way of working themselves out. It’s certainly no reason to panic. We’re not going to go through another 1929 again, but I think it also shows that some of the regulations that have been unwound in the last few years since the 2008 crisis maybe had a more important role to play when it comes to the banks’ capitalization, stress tests and so forth.

“There are cycles where times are better or worse than whatever normal is, but there’s really nothing that I can see, or in feedback from our clients, that is an apocalyptic perspective on things.”

That lack of worry was echoed by Steven Doorn, director of portfolio management at trust bank Legacy Trust in Grand Rapids, who’s worked in the financial services industry for 30 years.

“I don’t think there’s anything broadly worrisome,” Doorn said. “From a banking and financial stability perspective, I don’t think this is a widespread systemic problem. That’s not to say there aren’t banks that are being caught offsides.”

The greater due diligence and loan requirements some banks are now imposing, such as requiring more collateral, reflect the economic environment, Doorn said.

CRAIN’S LIST TOP AREA CREDIT UNIONS

Ranked by total assets, as of 12/31/2022

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

$11.91B557,049NCUA, CUES, MCUL, chamber of commerce, Economic Club of Grand Rapids, Local First, Right Place, MBA, BBB, CUNA, MDC

Savings accounts, checking accounts, mortgages, insurance, investments services, commercial lending, home equity loans, auto loans, credit cards, health savings accounts

April

$7.28B338,733NCUA, MCUL, CUNA, CUES, chamber of commerce, CCUFC, SHRM

Checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates, mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, vehicle loans, youth accounts, business accounts and IRAs Consumers

49007

991-2221

419-5805

323-2129

49512

(616) 261-5657 f 698-0955 communitywestcu.org

Bloom Credit Union 1414 Burton St. SW Wyoming 49509 p (616) 452-2161 f 252-2545 bloomcu.org

f 887-9080

GR Consumers Credit Union 3975 Clay Ave. SW Wyoming 49548 p (616) 538-2810 f 538-2448 grccu.com

Kenowa Federal Credit Union 1905 28th St. SW Wyoming 49519 p (616) 534-3307 f 534-9811 kenowacu.com

$2.03B132,391CUNA, CUES, NCUA, FHLB, MCUL, The Right Place, Southwest Michigan First, Lakeshore Advantage, Forest Hills Business Association and more

$1.48B187,715NCUA, Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

$437.12M32,938NCUA, MCUL, CUNA, NASCUS, BBB, CUES, GRACC, GRAR

Simple, interest or business checking accounts and access to more than 30,000 fee-free ATMs; eBanking – 24/7 account access through online, mobile, text or voice access; business banking services, loans and more

Checking, savings, consumer loans, mortgages, mobile banking app, online banking, CDs, IRAs, Visa credit cards, 365 Live: our 24/7 call center with live reps at all times

4% edge checking, savings, CDs, money markets, mortgages, auto loans, business lending, investment products, retirement planning, financial consulting

$270.58M20,611NCUA, CUES, CUNA, NAFCU, MCUL, ACUMA, area chambers of commerce and BBB

$191.62M15,277NCUA, MCUL, CUNA, NASCUS, BBB, CUES, various chambers of commerce and Creston Business and Neighborhood Associations

$137.68M12,883MCUL, ECUC

Mobile and online services, interest-earning checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, CDs, wealth management services and more

Free checking, online banking with alerts, versatile app (w/mobile deposit, ATM finder, bill pay, money mgt.), 30,000 ATMs, free credit score analysis, all types of loans, business loans, Visas, financial planning

Loans, real estate lending, direct deposit, debit cards, credit cards

$93.59M7,934NCUA, MCUL, CUNA, CUES, Sparta Chamber of Commerce, Fremont Chamber of Commerce

Savings accounts, checking accounts, mortgages, home equity loans, auto, RV, boat, motorcycle and personal loans, credit cards, debit cards, IRAs, online banking, ATMs

John

Rupert Greg Scott

Timothy Kindred Rex Welbon 1941 2 12

Kathy Meekhof Jerry Payne 1959 1 9

$49.22M3,192CUNA, NCUA, MCUL, CUESSavings, checking, CDs, IRAs, ATMs, online banking, consumer loans, home equity loans, mortgages, Mastercard credit cards

$30.28M2,510NCUA, MCUL, CUNA, Grandville Chamber of Commerce Home Equity Mortgages, loans, Visa, checking/savings, bill pay, mobile banking

LIST STORE: Download this list now at crainsgrandrapids.com in Excel or PDF format. | The Book of Lists and other lists are also available.

Chamber program builds ties for minority businesses

their supply chain. In 2022, Hopson’s company also gained “tremendous” exposure as the woman-owned business of the year in the Grand Rapids Chamber’s annual Epic Awards.

By Andy Balaskovitz

When Laura Hopson moved her industrial supply business from Lansing to Grand Rapids in 2020, she had an “intentional strategy” to connect with the local chamber of commerce and leverage networking opportunities with like-minded business owners.

Hopson, who was born and raised in the Grand Rapids area and worked nearly three decades in the office furniture industry before acquiring EM Services LLC in 2018, says the strategy is paying off.

She has made new business connections through the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Economic Inclusion, which launched in September 2022 to help lift up under-represented, minority-owned businesses in West Michigan.

As a minority business owner, Hopson also emphasizes that such connections are a “two-way street,” noting that business owners have to put themselves out there to capitalize on programs like the Center for Economic Inclusion.

“The chamber, in my eyes, has done a really phenomenal job of being a community organization for all businesses. I can’t say that was always the case — I don’t know if it was the existing leadership, but something happened,” said Hopson, whose Grand Rapids-based company employs six people and serves customers with a variety of industrial supplies. “They’ve made a conscious effort to develop relationships with everyone.”

Participating in the Center for Economic Inclusion has connected Hopson with various commodities and information technology suppliers as well as customers looking to diversify

Hopson said participating in the Center for Economic Inclusion has brought advantages with “customers, suppliers, operations, education, leadership, awareness. It is a two-way street, for everyone who’s ready and listening. If you want to receive, you also have to give, participate and give your time, talent and ideas.”

Grand Rapids Chamber executives launched the Center for Economic Inclusion last year with an overarching goal to bring more prosperity and opportunity to minority-owned businesses. Chamber officials noted at the time that minority-owned businesses simply are not scaling in West Michigan. Less than 1 percent of Grand Rapids businesses bringing in at least $250,000 a year are owned by a person of color, while 98 percent of business revenue in Grand Rapids comes from white-owned businesses, according to chamber statistics.

Omar Cuevas, vice president of investor and corporate relations at the Grand Rapids Chamber, added that Grand Rapids ranks among some of the worst U.S. cities for supporting African American and Hispanic business owners, even though the community has roughly 20 organizations that provide entrepreneurial and other business support.

The center provides technical assistance, physical workspace at the chamber’s downtown office, leadership development and skills training, and networking opportunities with other businesses.

In the six months since launching, nearly 100 businesses have taken part in the Center for Economic Inclusion in some form, Cuevas said. He added that the chamber hopes to track key performance indicators among the companies around job creation, revenue growth and access to capital.

First six months prove connections are essential

The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s downtown Grand Rapids office. | GRAND RAPIDS CHAMBER

Grand Rapids tapping workers for tech

City looking to attract talent to transform into tech hub

By Rachel Watson

West Michigan leaders and startup founders know that turning the region into the Midwest’s leading tech cluster might start with a marketing plan, but it can’t end there.

In September, The Right Place, West Michigan’s largest economic development agency, announced a 10-year plan to make greater Grand Rapids the Midwest’s leading tech cluster by increasing the skilled talent pool, attracting new residents and bolstering the business ecosystem.

The goal is to attract 2,000 workers from outside the region, reskill 6,000 people here and educate 12,000 to meet the demand for talent.

A task force — comprised of industry and academic leaders and convened by The Right Place — wants the tech sector to make up 10 percent of the region’s total labor force by 2032, which also means adding 20,000 tech jobs to the existing sector that currently employs about 33,500 people.

It starts with promotion

Hello West Michigan, a Grand Rapids-based talent attraction and support organization, launched an ad campaign last year, inviting displaced tech workers from the East and West coasts to consider West Michigan for their next home and career destination.

Executive Director Rachel Gray said the campaign targeted “potential boomerangs — people who went to Michigan colleges and who are in IT fields or tech fields” — and employees of specific companies. Hello West Michigan has directed LinkedIn ads at laid-off workers from companies such as Peloton, Twitter, Amazon and Meta, the latter of which laid off 11,000 workers last fall and announced another 10,000 cuts in March.

The campaign promoted the organization’s ReThink West Michigan events, annual mixers for former residents home for Thanksgiving to network and learn about current career opportunities.

Gray said it’s hard to say how much of the event attendance was driven by the ad campaign. But she envisions the campaign expanding to other social platforms as part of the organization’s outbound marketing strategy.

But she is aware of the challenges. When marketing the region’s cultural amenities and low cost of living, Hello West Michigan bumps up against an issue that is especially acute amid West Michigan’s population boom: the housing shortage.

“Those are deep and complex issues that won’t get solved overnight,” she said, adding that the issue is being addressed.

It takes a village

Word of mouth from residents and user-friendly hiring processes from employers would also attract recruits.

Terra Osman, founder of Farmish, a mobile app that connects hobby farmers and gardeners to local customers, said outsiders need to hear about success stories from Grand Rapids.

“When other people look at what’s already worked, they look at the West Coast. They look at maybe New York,” Osman said.

And Gray suggested that businesses examine how they can support hires relocating from another region and make it easier on them.

From storytelling to systems change

Startup founders already based in West Michigan echo the vision of The Right Place’s plan to build an “ecosystem” because, they say,

there’s more to developing a tech hub than recruiting workers.

Osman, who runs Farmish as a sole proprietor in partnership with a software development contractor, said support services and funding are key. She would like to see formalized matchmaking opportunities for founders.

“I see a lot of much earlier-stage companies who need almost a CTO role,” Osman said. “There are a lot of people like myself — I built the first version of the app and launched it on my own.”

She said Grand Rapids doesn’t need to recruit advisers from the West Coast to get startups to the next scalable point.

“That type of talent exists in West Michigan. Connecting those different groups of people right where we are is going to be really impactful to the whole community.”

Ashlea Souffrou, who recruited her workers from West Michigan, said the area already has a solid tech talent pool, but it needs more wraparound services for founders.

She receives guidance from The Right Place’s Tech Council to run Kentwood-based SxanPro, which has patented scanning technology that helps hospitals manage their inventory.

The council helps her understand what she needs from Brightly, her Grand Rapids-based software development contractor. It also advised her to hire a product owner and solution specialist — job titles she hadn’t heard of previously.

“Having that ecosystem is great,” Souffrou said. “When you’re a founder of a company, you often feel like you’re on an island by yourself. It’s not that you necessarily are, but you’re trying to be all the things. You’re the product developer. You’re the marketing person. You’re the sales arm. You’re the CFO. That’s regardless of the company that you’re in or regardless of the industry.”

Having an “ecosystem” of supportive companies — like accounting or consulting firms —

can help founders create and follow a roadmap for success that would help them scale and grow more quickly.

Then, “we can be really laser-focused on the products that we’re trying to build,” Souffrou said.

Matt Baxter, founder and CEO of one-way video interviewing platform Wedge, said becoming a tech hub starts with attracting anchor companies that draw talent, capital investment and complementary companies.

“The more ‘FOMO’ that exists, the more ‘We want to be a part of this culture,’ the more it grows,” Baxter said. “All of a sudden, checkbooks open up, talent starts moving in, and people start changing career paths to enter that space.”

Still, that takes time. Time for young entrepreneurs to age, fail, learn and pay their experiences forward to the next generation.

“Those are all things that factor into making this place grow,” he said.

An aerial image of downtown Grand Rapids. | TIBERIUS IMAGES

Inventory tech and $3M power SxanPro health care startup

By Rachel Watson

Three years ago, Ashlea Souffrou saw an opportunity to develop a barcode scanning app that manages hospital surplus inventory, and she seized it. The result was SxanPro, a company that’s been profitable from day one.

Souffrou graduated from Western Michigan University in 2006 and started her career at Stryker Corp., a Kalamazoo-based medical device manufacturer. After a stint in new product sales, she worked in the division that remanufactures surplus single-use devices to sell to health systems at a lower cost and divert waste from landfills.

In 2014, Souffrou founded her reuse company Retegrity Solutions to resterilize and resell expired medical devices for operating rooms, catheterization labs and radiology departments.

But Souffrou ran into a problem without an easy solution when Retegrity began helping hospitals offload extra supplies resulting from physician departures, product conversions or hospital closures.

“We would have to manually go in and write down all of the different products to help them sell them because ...you have to have expiration dates, lot numbers.

We’d have to make sure they hadn’t been recalled, that they were in date. I had just had my second son, and so I was like, ‘I’ve got to speed this process up. I can’t be away from home for weeks,’” Souffrou said.

When she couldn’t find a shortcut to the solution, she created her own: an app that would scan the unique device identifiers on medical supplies.

A UDI is a Food and Drug Administration-required barcode, similar to the universal product code (UPC) printed on retail store items. Among other places, UDIs

are included on patients’ electronic medical records so patients can be notified if there is a product recall.

In 2019, Souffrou developed the idea for Just the Unique Device Identifier or JUDI and worked with an app developer to build a prototype. Her hospital clients started testing it and found it worked beautifully.

Supply chain leaders started thinking of more applications for her technology. So, Souffrou sold Retegrity and launched Kentwood-based SxanPro with the initial JUDI product just before the

pandemic in 2020. She now holds two patents — one for scanning technology and one for pop-up recall alerts.

“(The pandemic) was a crazy time to launch anything in health care,” she said. “The benefit was we actually were able to come alongside some hospitals that … had all of this overstock. They had all this PPE, and they didn’t have a good way to manage it.” SxanPro technology helped them manage stock at offsite warehouses.

Now, the JUDI app is mostly used in interventional radiology cath labs, operating rooms and anatomic pathology labs. Users can inventory products in all the procedure areas of a 600-to-800bed hospital within two days using the app, where the process might have taken weeks before JUDI existed, Souffrou said.

Still, Souffrou believes SxanPro’s biggest value proposition is analyzing the data it collects.

“We start saying, ‘OK, well, if you know that products have expired or are going to be short-dated, you’re probably not using them. Let’s compare that to your purchasing history or your usage history. Maybe (then), we can start removing those products,’ which ultimately reduces the cost of patient care for hospitals (and) saves them money,” Souffrou said.

Grand Rapids-based Brightly handles software development for SxanPro, which employs 10 — from data analysts to supply chain experts to account managers to product owners. And the company recently closed on $3 million in private equity capital raised from Golden Vision Capital Americas to support future growth.

“The majority of hospitals are really struggling with their margins,” said Lauren Palazzolo, vice president of GVC Americas. “So, there’s a greater need to manage and control costs. It’s solving a meaningful problem that hospitals have really struggled to get their arms around.”

SxanPro has customers around the country, including Corewell Health. And Palazzolo wants to see its tech adopted in more states.

“When you’re a small team, you have to figure out the best way to do a sale, and that is to find someone in the executive office who really understands the value of the product and is able to help you sell to multiple sites within their health system,” Palazzolo said.

Souffrou said SxanPro inked a partnership with nationwide medical supply distributor Medline and landed contracts with two of the largest health systems in the country but declined to share their names for competitive reasons.

A user scans QR codes on supply bins using SxanPro’s newest hospital inventory management product, the LINK app. Ashlea Souffrou launched SxanPro in 2020 to help hospitals reduce waste and save money. SXANPRO

Developers assess task of closing housing gap

By Rachel Watson

As West Michigan tackles an ambitious plan to make itself the leading tech hub in the Midwest, developers question whether they can build enough housing in the booming region to accommodate a potential influx of workers.

The population of greater Grand Rapids grew by 9.2 percent from 2010 to 2020 and is expected to grow by another 18,000 residents (2.7 percent more than in 2020) by 2027, according to an updated housing assessment released in February.

That population growth is good news for the region’s economy — especially when population growth in Michigan is nearly flat and many state counties lost residents.

Yet, some question whether builders can keep up with demand.

The task force behind the new tech strategy aims to grow West Michigan’s technology workforce by 20,000 workers over the next decade. They want 10 percent of that total to be new residents.

It’s hard to say how many of those tech sector employees would physically move here with remote work still popular. But groups like talent marketing organization Hello West Michigan are promoting the region’s quality of life and cost of living to former residents and laid-off tech workers from the East and West coasts.

Randy Thelen, president and CEO of The Right Place, spearheaded the plan. Thelen said many factors, not just the population boom, contribute to the housing crisis.

The wrong solution, he said, is being less ambitious about job growth. Rather, regions with declining and stable populations rarely draw new housing investments.

“Fundamentally, the way to solve the housing problem is to build more housing,” he said, adding that groups like Housing Next are convening stakeholders across the spectrum to work on the issue.

The drive to build

Ryan Talbot, owner of Birmingham-based Talbot Development, said regional growth spurred him to invest in a 72-unit apartment project in Grand Rapids that’s breaking ground this spring.

“It’s a great market. The people seem friendly. The restaurants are great. You can walk a lot of places. I’m totally not surprised there’s net migration coming in, and I love the plans that are in the future for the city,” he said.

“I think bringing in a lot of tech talent makes a ton of sense, and I’m very optimistic for the future of Grand Rapids.”

At the same time, Talbot is skeptical that developers can increase the housing stock quickly enough with all of the headwinds in play.

“The arc of delivering a project can be two to three years very easily. And you’re talking about 10,000 units in the pipeline right now with a need of about 30,000 — so, tripling the pipeline? It’s a really Herculean task to try to build that many units that quickly,” he said.

He said West Michigan needs more than interested developers.

“You need the (general contractor) infrastructure. You need the bandwidth at the city to process that many permit applications. There are lots of constraints along the way that you might hit when you try to triple (production).”

Economic imbalance

One obstacle to luring more builders and a supportive infrastructure is interest rates.

“Over time, a market supply ultimately finds an equilibrium with demand,” Talbot said. “But I don’t think we’re going to see that equilibrium for quite a while.”

Jeff Olsen, a partner in Grand Rapids-based Olsen Loeks Development, agreed there’s an economic imbalance keeping the

community from closing the housing gap. Olsen Loeks is building a $62-million, 16-story tower downtown with nearly 200 apartments and condos.

He said another issue is with the continued shortage of construction workers.

“While the supply chain seems to be coming back in line, and we have some feedback that inflation is starting to come into check, the one problem that isn’t showing signs of improvement is access to skilled labor,” he said.

“That becomes the key problem for developers to solve. Once we get past supply chain and interest-rate hurdles, we still need to have access to a skilled labor force that can deliver the product.”

The residential tower, called Studio Park, was planned well before the pandemic hit and the housing gap worsened, Olsen said. His firm is also investigating multiple other urban and suburban sites where it could build more multifamily housing.

Not working in a vacuum

Local government officials are making a concerted push to lessen the housing problems. For example, Grand Rapids supported 762 new housing units in 2022, up

from 137 in 2021. But more will be needed as costs continue to rise.

“The housing shortage is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent history, and it’s going to take intentional effort from the development community, local government, city (and) state officials to help create the balanced economic platform to allow meaningful progress to be made in this area,” Olsen said.

Grand Rapids-based Victory Development is building the 120unit Victory on Leonard apartment complex in Grand Rapids and is planning projects for 280 Ann St. NW and Celebration Village, said Brian Hamrick. He and his partners plan to add 1,000 units in the Grand Rapids area within the next few years. With what’s in their pipeline, they’re about halfway there.

They are inspired by various assessments, such as RentCafe’s periodic look at the hottest rental markets in the country. Its most recent report put Grand Rapids in fourth place and helped build interest from out-of-market investors who can help finance projects. Combined with traditional lending sources and government incentives, this makes projects more doable, Olsen said.

However, there’s still the ques-

Housing Next’s September 2022 assessment of Kent County housing:

813

The approximate number of housing units available for purchase. That’s only a one-month supply.

2.1 percent

The vacancy rate in the county that has 764 vacant rentals.

4 percent to 6 percent

The vacancy rate considered healthy in a balanced market.

10,237

Number of units in progress at last count. That includes about 32 multifamily rental communities, eight senior living properties and 44 for-sale housing projects currently in the Kent County development pipeline.

35,000

The number of new units experts project the county will need by 2027. The number of units in the works is considerably shy of this amount. To meet that need, developers must more than triple production over the next few years.

tion of how to physically get the projects built.

“With Victory Development Group, we just run our numbers under the current situation and see if we can get it to work,” Hamrick said. “(But) it gets tricky because of that labor shortage and supply shortage and material costs.”

Two of Hamrick’s Victory Development partners co-own Honor Construction, which has “a deep bench” of reliable vendors and subcontractors to get projects across the finish line, he said.

Talbot, the Birmingham developer working on Hillcrest Apartments across town, said his approach is to find a local general contractor with good relationships with subcontractors “and the ability to get people to show up.” He’s currently working with Pinnacle Construction on the Hillcrest project.

Some say challenges of delivering project hamper ability to meet growing demand

Victory Development Group partner Brian Hamrick is one of the partners behind the planned 250-unit Celebration Apartments project on Grand Rapids’ northeast edge. LOTT3METZ ARCHITECTURE

Birmingham developer Ryan Talbot said he builds smaller and more efficient units to make them cost-effective and relatively affordable. He said the cost to build will be one of the biggest hurdles to overcome if Grand Rapids is to triple production by 2027. | PINNACLE CONSTRUCTION

Bill would bump penalties for exploiting child labor

Scholten’s measure would raise cap and install minimum fine

By Abby Poirier

A bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten would beef up penalties levied on companies that use illegal child labor practices.

Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, at a recent press conference explained the Justice for Exploited Children Act, which took shape following an explosive article by the New York Times that alleged Hearthside Foods was employing underage migrant children in unsafe working conditions at facilities in West Michigan.

Since the story broke, Scholten has helped implement an inter-agency task force approved by the Biden Administration in February. The task force, organized by Scholten, brings together the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services to address migrant child exploitation in the workforce and enforce child labor laws.

The Justice for Exploited Children Act is a bipartisan emergency response legislation that will raise the civil monetary penalties for companies that violate child labor laws. The bill also would establish, for the first time in history, a minimum monetary penalty for guilty parties.

Right now, the penalty is capped at a maximum fine of $15,138 and has no minimum.

Scholten said the lack of a minimum is “an amount that neither provides a deterrence to a violation, nor conveys the value for the lives and safety of the children.”

“These fines, when they’re enforced, are mere pennies for most of the companies and corporations that break these laws,” she said. “This is why we have to raise this cap. The bill would ensure that violators of child labor standards bear the cost of their exploitation, while also incentivizing companies to ensure the quality of their workforce and their supply chains.”

Scholten’s bill introduces a maximum fine of $132,270 and a minimum of $5,000.

“These numbers are designed as a deterrent and to further ensure that no child is exploited in this way going forward,” she said.

Scholten is introducing this legislation alongside U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina.

“Unfortunately, the current civil penalties are the same that have been on the books since this legislation was introduced since the Fair Labor Standards

Act began protecting exploited children,” Scholten said. “We are mere months away from the 85th anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a law that’s set out to eliminate the scourge of child labor and we’ve learned instead that child labor is in fact, on the rise.”

“Children should be in school safe in their schools, not factories with dangerous working conditions.”

Scholten also reiterated the importance of keeping the focus on exploitive employers and the need to push for workforce and immigration reform as well as “the larg-

er workforce shortage issue.”

“This is a multi-system failure and it needs a multi-system response,” she said. “This is why I’m also simultaneously using this as a moment to call for comprehensive immigration reform. Not only is this a humanitarian issue, but it is a workforce issue.

“One of the main reasons why we see these issues continuing to perpetuate themselves is because employers and staffing agencies are in desperate need of workers. There are willing, eligible, safe grown-up workers around the world ready and willing to come to the United States. We just have to

provide the legal vetting and the pathways to make it happen. And I’m already working in a bipartisan manner to ensure that we can address that issue as well.”

Hearthside Foods was one of several manufacturers and organizations nationwide exposed by the New York Times in February for employing underage migrant children in unsafe conditions. The company, which responded to the allegations in a guest column published exclu-

sively in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, said the claims “came as a shock and major disappointment.” The column, which outlined Hearthside’s employ-

ment policies, added that the company had suspended one of its staffing agencies that had not adhered to its requirements, but did not name the agency.

U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten

“The bill would ensure that violators of child labor standards bear the cost of their exploitation.”

U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten

Intertek Testing Services NA, Inc. in Kentwood, MI seeks a EMC

Project Engineer responsible for determining applicability of national codes and standards clauses for the Equipment Under Test (EUT). This position requires 25% domestic travel. Teleworking is acceptable within a reasonable commuting distance of the Kentwood, MI worksite location. Send resume to Lou Ginac at louis.ginac@intertek.com or apply online at https://www.intertek.com/careers/. Please reference job title and position location.

Leitz Tooling Systems LP seeks a Technical Sales Representative in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Requires a bachelor’s in engineering plus 2 years of experience as a Technical Sales Representative (experience must include 2 yrs experience utilizing Microsoft Office software), valid driver’s license, and travel to various locations throughout the U.S. at least 80% of the time. Will accept 4 yrs experience in lieu of the bachelor’s degree plus experience requirement. Multiple openings. Email resume to knemec@leitz.org.

Field Service Engineer for Hach

Company – Peripatetic, remote position- must reside in Grand Rapids & Kalamazoo, MI MSA. Will support regional customer support activities for the calibration/verification of instrumentation for processes and lab instrumentation. Req: High School Diploma or foreign education equivalent & 2 yrs. as a technician conducting maintenance. Up to 75% travel. CV to autumn.roecker@hach.com. Salary range: $48,500-84,900/year. Salary offered: $75,735.18/year.

Tech CEO sees growth as an ‘investment in our roots’

OST’s Jilek excited by talent hub potential

By Kayleigh Van Wyk

Digital and IT consulting firm Open Systems Technologies Inc. (OST) has selected interim president and CEO Lisa Jilek to head the company on a permanent basis.

Jilek served in the interim position for Grand Rapids-based OST — which also has offices in Minneapolis, Detroit and London — since August. She succeeds former president and CEO Meredith Bronk, who served nearly 25 years at the company.

OST was founded in 1997 in Grand Rapids and since 2012 has been a portfolio company of Kodiak, Alaska-based Koniag Inc., an Alaska Native Regional Corporation created for the benefit of more than 3,800 Alutiiq shareholders from the Kodiak Island region. Koniag has a diversified portfolio that includes companies in the government contracting, commercial IT and energy and water sectors, as well as real estate holdings throughout the country.

Jilek, who lives in Minnesota, joined the OST team four years ago as vice president of sales and marketing before moving into a role as chief growth officer with a focus on strategy. She recently spoke with the Crain’s Grand Rapids Business about OST’s focus on helping clients adapt to new technologies, and why the company anticipates further growth in Grand Rapids, where local officials are attempting to build a Midwest tech hub.

During your career, you’ve started your own business and pivoted to corporate leadership roles. How has your journey prepared you to take on your role at OST?

I started my career at a consulting company based in Minnesota with the understanding of what it was like to work at a small business and the scrappiness that went into that, and the understanding of wearing multiple hats. It was a really great learning experience to start off in a small business and in the consulting industry. From there, I decided to go out on my own with a business partner. We started our own company (Revved Results Inc.) and really focused on the executive suite industry and helping executive suite owners and operators expand their business.

I then made a pretty big pivot into more of the corporate arena and worked at Thomson Reuters. So, I went from a small business — my own business — to a 50,000plus global organization. It was an interesting yet great learning experience in a different environment.

What originally drew you to OST?

I was enamored by the possibility of a company that has such a fantastically strong culture about employees bringing their whole selves, and it being a place where you can be present for life’s moments that matter and be in a high-growth environment that has aspirations to do big things. It was the mirroring of those two elements and a career move that just made all the sense in the world for me at the time. Now, four years later, I find myself in this huge opportunity to wear the leader hat.

As president and CEO, how do you hope to lead OST toward more growth and innovation?

OST just had its 25-year anniversary last year, and the company’s already done some pretty great things in that 25-year history. In terms of what’s next, I would say we’re really going to double down on our efforts to innovate and to bring services to market.

I want us to be a top competitor in our space. We have to remain at the forefront of our industry from a technology capability standpoint. And when I think about what that actually means to compete as a top player, it means that we have to continue to attract and retain top talent.

As economic development and business leaders launch a strategy to make Grand Rapids a tech hub, how valuable has it been for OST to invest in people and technology here?

Grand Rapids is our headquarters and it’s our biggest office from an employee standpoint. As we continue to grow, we are looking at Grand Rapids as a hub from a talent standpoint and as an investment in our roots.

Later this year, we’re planning to move into a new office that we’re super excited about. The space will serve as a collaboration and connection hub for both our team and our clients to be able to use. I think one of the important things was to have this space … be a reflection of how people want to work today — the hybrid environment, the collaboration environment and the spaces for creativity. It’ll be a reflection of that new way of working.

Many companies are still adjusting to new technology-driven ways of doing business. Why is it important for them to stay up to date?

For organizations that have been around for a while and companies that are looking to remain relevant into the future, they have to invest in their digital experiences, whether that’s building digital products or creating digital services that are tied to their products or creating a digital buying experience.

The pandemic has accelerated investment in digital and businesses needing to go digital. Now that we’re a number of years in, not only is there an expectation that consumers have to have things be digital, but then from a business-to-business standpoint … they’ve got a ton of back-end systems, tools, processes and infrastructure that they need to accelerate.

How does OST help clients adapt to emerging technologies?

For companies that need infrastructure like servers and storage, we are so deeply rooted in providing IT infrastructure that we can also help organizations not just create the digital experiences on the products and services side, but also what I’m going to call the digital backbone — like an IT infrastructure that has the flexibility and the security to enable what the business needs. So, we provide services on both sides: the digital backbone side as well as the products and services side.

What will help OST grow for another 25 years?

I think it’s important that, as we’re on this growth path, we’re not going to compare ourselves to other firms in our space. People ask, ‘Who are your competitors?’ And you could say everything from the big management consulting firms to the niche players. But for us, it isn’t about comparing ourselves to other firms because I believe we’re going to do it uniquely our way. That stems from who we are culturally as an organization and our core values being our North Star. It’s all about enabling and empowering our people.

OST Inc. President and CEO Lisa Jilek. | OST INC.

How Acrisure grew using AI engines

Global insurance broker uses data in variety of ways

By Rachel Watson

Acrisure’s technology just keeps getting faster, better and smarter.

After the Grand Rapids-based global insurance brokerage acquired Pittsburgh-based Tulco LLC’s insurance practice in 2020, it also hired Tulco’s artificial intelligence architect and set itself up for a rapid tech transformation that’s starting to pay dividends in sales and productivity.

Chair and CEO Greg Williams co-founded Acrisure in 2005 and has since grown it into a top global brokerage and financial technology company.

The firm generated about $4.1 billion in 2022 revenue, up from $38 million in 2014. It has 1,000 locations in 21 countries. In late May, Acrisure reported its valuation at $23 billion, securely positioning the firm among the largest and most valuable private companies headquartered in the state.

Though Acrisure mainly lands in the news for its many mergers and acquisitions, the company also is investing heavily in a new strategy to become a leader in the “insurtech” space. Insurtech is defined as the innovative use of technology in insurance, a subset of fintech, or financial technology, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Around 2018, Williams began investigating ways to use tech to transform the company.

“This is still a relatively traditional business, the business we operate in,” said Elliott Bundy, Acrisure’s chief communications and marketing officer. “It has been traditionally very people-driven, and so Greg, our CEO, really started to look around at potential technologies we should be investing in (and) partners we should be looking at.”

That led Acrisure to acquire Tulco’s insurance practice for $400 million. Eight months after the acquisition, Tulco’s former executive vice president, Matt

Marolda, joined Acrisure as chief innovation officer.

Marolda is responsible for building and leading Acrisure’s AI capabilities, data and technology platforms to drive business growth.

How the AI works

Marolda brought with him a team of software, AI and data engineers from Tulco and has since grown his tech squad at Acrisure by a factor of 10, to about 150 innovation team members. That core group builds and runs the tech that serves Acrisure’s 14,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of clients.

The tech team spent nearly two years building an infrastructure around AI before they rolled out Auris, an internal platform that uses AI to help “producers,” or sales staff, leverage data to sell insurance products. It has since launched Suvaun, an AI platform that helps brokers streamline the employee benefits quoting process for employers and their employees. And it has an unnamed marketing platform that helps reach new audiences.

The proprietary AI engine behind these platforms is similar to technology that Marolda and his teams at Burbank, California-based film production company Legendary Entertainment and WarnerMedia developed several years prior in Hollywood. Marolda previously worked for those companies as chief analytics officer and president of applied analytics, respectively.

“Foundationally, what we spent almost two years developing (at Acrisure) was an incredibly rich and robust data lakehouse that underlies everything,” Marolda said.

The data comes from the hundreds of millions of transactions Acrisure conducts each year. It also acquires data from third parties and second parties like its partner agencies and carriers.

“All that data is brought together through AI,” Marolda said. “That data on its own, it’s just kind of sitting in piles. What AI does, is it helps to actually ‘resolve’ it. … It brings all the data together, and then ... ‘enriches’ it.”

Acrisure’s Chief Innovation Officer Matt Marolda speaks to a crowd of 1,100 employees at an event Feb. 20. Marolda is the chief architect of Acrisure’s digital transformation since 2021. | KATHRYN RAPIER FOR ACRISURE

Curley Cone caters to new crowd with adults-only lounge

Thirsty Buddy near Gun Lake has big-city vibe

By Abby Poirier

Visitors to the Gun Lake area who want an upscale night out have a new option in Thirsty Buddy, a lounge-style restaurant from the owner of local fixture Curley Cone.

Curley Cone has been a local staple and ice cream landmark since 1954, offering hand-scooped ice cream and sweet treats. In recent years, owner Julie Fox has expanded the Curley Cone campus to include a coffee bar and full menu, event space, cocktail garden, farm stand and even a pickleball court. Now, she’s branching out alongside business partner

Township.

“It’s got a lot of lounge furniture and a deck area, and then we’ll have a patio in the summer that’s going to be beautiful,” she said. “It felt like this area just needed something that was kind of swanky and kind of fun and kind of different. So that’s what we built.”

After years of building a family-friendly, tourist-oriented campus offering dining and activities for every vacationer, Fox is hoping to offer a new experience for locals looking for a fun night out.

Thirsty Buddy has an adults-only policy, requiring diners to be 18 or older to enter to help reinforce its upscale, late-night atmosphere.

While the policy won’t be strict, it is intended to help establish the restaurant as a space for older diners, Fox said.

most nightclub-ish,” with a casual dining area, four-season patio and deck. Thirsty Buddy seats about 130 currently, with room for 50 more once its deck opens as warmer weather moves in.

May and is posted on the restaurant’s website.

Shashin Kothawala to offer a new dining experience, this time catered to adults.

“It’s got a Chicago vibe or a bigcity vibe,” Fox said of the new Thirsty Buddy concept, which opened March 22 at 12850 Chief Noonday Road in Yankee Springs

“It’s just a different environment,” she said. “We love kids, obviously, we built our business next door on them, but we really wanted an adult environment where people can just relax and visit with friends.”

Fox describes the restaurant interior as “swanky and loungey, al-

Thirsty Buddy offers a full menu with highlights like wood-fired pizza that diners can watch as it’s prepared in an authentic Italian pizza oven, a roasted half chicken with apple and bacon hash, charcuterie boards and desserts. The restaurant also offers a wide range of cocktails from its fully stocked bar.

Fox added that Thirsty Buddy also plans to offer live entertainment every week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The lineup is confirmed through the end of

“I enjoy going somewhere where you can talk, you can listen to music, you can have a drink, and that’s kind of the vibe that we’re trying to establish,” she said.

Fox added that she and business partner Kothawala were looking to offer a different atmosphere than what is currently available at other area restaurants.

While the reception to the new location has been warm, Fox said getting Thirsty Buddy off the ground proved to be a challenge between supply chain issues that raised the prices of lumber and slowed shipping times, and a rebranding the partners completed before opening.

The original logo for Thirsty Buddy featured a curly-haired goldendoodle and the logo “Pizza. Best Friends. Spirits.” but the partners swapped it out for a sleeker, more sophisticated set of initials as their vision for the concept changed.

“It became different than what I originally pictured,” Fox said of Thirsty Buddy’s brand. “It’s kind of swanky and cool on the inside and I felt like the dog was too casual. So, we rebranded before we even opened, which was a hard pill to swallow, but I knew it was wrong and I knew I had to do it.”

Thirsty Buddy is open from noon to 7 p.m. on Sunday, and 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. every other day of the week.

Developer plans $9M spec industrial project

By Kate Carlson

Robert Grooters Development Co. plans to break ground this month on a nearly 200,000-squarefoot speculative industrial facility just south of Kentwood in Gaines Township.

The Grand Rapids-based developer estimates the project will cost more than $9 million to build.

Grooters has owned the property at 4675 60th St. for years and had been “waiting for the right time to start building,” said Natalie Amrhein, a sales and leasing agent for Grooters. Its proximity to M-6 makes it a desirable space for an industrial project, Amrhein added.

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Demand for industrial property is expected to soften slightly in 2023, but still outweighs the supply of available space. For example, in the Grand Rapids area, industrial demand has remained high over the past couple years, with a vacancy rate of just 2.37 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the Colliers International’s West Michigan industrial market trends report.

“Our clients have been seeking space near Middleville and nearer to operations in mid-state,” Robert

Grooters, owner of the 49-year-old development company, said in a statement. “With this new facility, we will solve expansion challenges for Michigan companies ready to grow.”

Plans for the building include multiple dock and grade-level doors, ceiling-mounted sprinklers that eliminate the need for in-rack sprinkler systems, and energy efficiencies including motion-activated lighting.

Robert Grooters Development is talking to a few prospective tenants interested in renting the space, but the project is speculative, Amrhein said, noting it will likely include more than one tenant.

Kentwood-based Wolverine Building Group is serving as the architect and general contractor for the project. Construction could take a year at the longest, but the developer expects the project to wrap up in late fall.

Crews have been grappling with delays related to construction materials and other key items such as electrical components, which currently have the longest lead times, Amrhein said. The contractor already ordered steel for the project, she said.

The owners of Curley Cone near Gun Lake have opened Thirsty Buddy, a new lounge catering to the age 18 and up crowd. | COURTESY PHOTO

“I enjoy going somewhere where you can talk, you can listen to music, you can have a drink.”

Julie Fox, owner, Curley Cone

Women business leaders share insight, inspiration

By Abby Poirier

Women business leaders in West Michigan discussed the value of diverse perspectives in leadership, finding mentors in unexpected places and “saying yes to the next challenge.”

Those were some of the takeaways from a panel of four local women business executives who convened recently at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park for the Power Breakfast series put on by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.

Participating in the Women Who Mean Business event were: w Lauren Davis, regional president at Huntington Bank w Graci Harkema, DEI speaker and author and founder of Graci LLC w Deidra Mitchell, president and CEO of Waséyabek Development Co. LLC, the non-gaming economic development entity of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi w Raquel Salas, founding partner, managing member and attorney at Avanti Law Group PLLC

The discussion, led and moder-

ated by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business Publisher Lisa Rudy, took a look at all four leaders’ histories, discussing the unique capabilities of women in leadership positions.

Salas shared her journey of moving to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic to study law at Michigan State University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2007.

“English is my second language,” Salas said. “I went to law school and it was my first time taking classes in English. I didn’t understand half of the things that the professors were saying. Every morning

I would wake up, go to class, and then I would go to the library and start writing all the words that I didn’t know the meaning of. I created my own dictionary.”

Despite the challenges, Salas went on to carve out an inspiring career in law, founding Wyoming-based law firm Avanti Law Group and receiving multiple accolades for her work.

Davis started her career as a customer service representative for Huntington and now serves as the West Michigan regional president for the bank.

“I realized that as I was working as a teller in the branch that bank-

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ing was a way to help a lot of people,” she said. “I saw customers come in and open their first accounts for their kids or get their first mortgage, or college students with their first car loan. And so I thought of it as a way to help people, and I love helping people. When I went to college, I decided that was the part of finance and accounting I wanted to focus on.”

With that goal in mind, Davis started working her way up the ladder before landing her “dream job” as president of Huntington National Bank’s West Michigan Region in July.

One lesson she’s been learning lately has been how to uplift people around her.

“I’ve learned through my leadership that just because people are quiet in the room and they’re not talkative doesn’t mean they don’t have something to say,” she said. “People who are quieter may have something that could help me see roadblocks (that I) didn’t see.”

Meanwhile, Mitchell has guided Waséyabek through a period of rapid growth. The tribally-owned firm has grown from three employees and one Grand Rapids location to almost 300 people in seven states during Mitchell’s past six years of leadership.

Mitchell said she believes women’s collaborative spirit and “abili-

ty to see everything as an ecosystem” makes them stellar leaders. She also gave a nod to her own resilience and desire to succeed.

“Just tell me I can’t do it, that’ll pretty much guarantee it gets done,” she said.

Harkema agreed, bringing in a DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) perspective from her firm, Graci LLC. She said her previous experiences as diversity and inclusion director at Founders Brewing Co. proved formative for her, renewing her passion for representation.

“Not only was I the only female on the leadership team, but I also was the only person of color and also the only person identifying in the LGBTQ+ community,” she said of her experience. “What I’ve been able to take and gain from that experience that I bring into my business now is the power of representation.”

She added that while DEI might be seen as merely a trend or buzzword in the corporate world, it actually brings fresh perspectives into leadership.

“Diversity is so much more than what we see on the surface. It’s so much more than our gender, our race, our orientation, or our age,” she said. “Diversity is everything that encompasses us. We are only going to be better when we tap in together.”

MUSKEGON-BASED AUTO SUPPLIER SAVES TIME, MONEY BY INVESTING IN NEW TECHNOLOGY

By Crain’s Content Studio

One West Michigan manufacturer is demonstrating what a modest investment in advanced manufacturing technology can yield, even for a well-established company.

Muskegon-based Scherdel Sales and Technology leveraged a $25,000 Industry 4.0 grant to purchase a 3D printer, which company executives predict has already saved them upwards of $10,000 over the first month of ownership alone. Scherdel supplies the likes of Ford, Nissan, and BMW with a variety of springs and clips for braking, transmission and other automotive systems.

Scherdel won the grant it ultimately used to purchase the Markforged Mark Two 3D Printer as part of the MEDC’s Industry 4.0 Technology Implementation Grant administered locally by The Right Place, Inc. in partnership with the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, Automation Alley, and the MEDC.

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

So far, Scherdel has employed its

3D printer in a variety of situations across the shop floor. In some cases, the company uses the technology to mockup parts so its tool designers can visually wrap their minds around the component, said Steven Bakos, Scherdel’s tooling manager.

The company also used the machine to print part offshoots, which help guide the finished springs away from the machine once the part is cut off. In the past, Scherdel would have those parts fabricated from stainless steel from an outside vendor, typically at the cost of $200 and a couple of days lead time.

“If we can get that part in a day, rather than two or three days to have an outside service make it, we are good to go,” Bakos said. “I can start it at night and have the part ready in the morning. It’s extremely fast.”

Scherdel noticed similar cost savings by using the 3D printer to prototype sample tools aimed at dialing in the bends on a new part prior to production. Traditionally, sample tools were made from metal and any adjustments meant additional time spent quoting and waiting for delivery. With the 3D printer

CRAIN’S CONTENT STUDIO

combined with carbon-fiber infused filament, Scherdel can make their own sample tools in a matter of hours compared to two or three weeks waiting for an outside vendor.

“Time is the biggest commodity in manufacturing,” said Margaret Eastley, Scherdel’s CFO.

THE WAY FORWARD

Increasingly, manufacturers are investing in advanced manufacturing technology to better compete in today’s fastpaced market. The Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center’s Industry 4.0 Assessment Scherdel participated in offers an opportunity for companies to gauge where they stand when it comes to advanced manufacturing technologies, said Steven Lopez, a business development specialist with The Center-West.

“By taking this assessment, companies and leaders can gain insights into current strengths and weaknesses, identify areas for improvement and develop a roadmap for adopting advanced manufacturing technologies and practices,” Lopez said.

Scherdel recently invested $100,000 in a robotic pallet system, which the workers have affectionately named Pat. The company also provides training on various machines and processes through virtual reality equipment.

Beyond the gains in productivity and efficiency, Scherdel also sees advanced manufacturing technology increasingly driving its talent

attraction and retention strategy in the coming years.

“You really have to keep the Millennials and Gen-Z interested and challenged,” Eastley said. “That’s why we’re introducing a lot of these new concepts ... It can be boring, mundane work sometimes, so we’re constantly thinking of ways to innovate and excite everyone. It really shows our employees that we’re investing in the future.”

All stress the unique capabilities women have in leadership

Panelists at the Women Who Mean Business Power Breakfast included, from left, moderator Lisa Rudy, Graci Harkema, Raquel Salas, Lauren Davis and Deidra Mitchell. | MICHAEL BUCK, M-BUCK STUDIO LLC

Good child care is good for business

In 2022, our companies joined forces to study the effect child care issues had on our workforce. Like many companies, ours have struggled to sustain labor levels necessary to operate at capacity, exacerbating supply chain and other challenges we’ve had in recovering from the pandemic.

In collaboration with Battle Creek Unlimited, the region’s economic development organization, and Pulse @ the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, we surveyed our employees about how child care shortages have impacted their ability to fully participate in the workforce and be productive workers.

From the survey results, it is evident that child care is a fundamental issue affecting our workers and is standing in the way of the state’s economic growth and continued prosperity. Sixty-two percent of our employees report missing work at least once per month because of issues relating to child care. This represents a significant blow to our productivity levels — and to the household income of our employees. The domino effect on our regional economy is evident.

West Michigan, like the rest of the country, is facing a child care crisis that threatens the size and productivity of our current workforce — as well as the quality of the workforce of tomorrow. Increasing the supply of high-quality, affordable and accessible child care that meets the preferences and needs of families will have a significant impact on our ability to access labor, reduce employee turnover and increase productivity. In turn, this will have a significant impact on the economic growth and competitiveness of our region and our state.

A world-class workforce is a product of a world-class educational system. While el-

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ementary school has previously been viewed as the start of a child’s education, we now know that a good education, a successful career and a strong civic foundation starts at birth.

As employers of thousands of southwest Michigan residents, we are committed to promoting efforts to improve and expand access to quality child care programs. We are already taking stock of our own company policies to support working families,

and we intend to influence the public conversation, raising awareness of early education’s importance to the economy and workforce development.

The business community cannot do this alone. We need policies that will strengthen our efforts and give us tools to advance access to high-quality, affordable child care to support our employees, the broader community and the state. These policies — which include increasing compen-

sation to stabilize the child care workforce — must be girded by a public commitment of funds proportionate to the importance of child care in attracting families and workers to Michigan.

GETTY IMAGES

Spring may have come in like a lamb this year, but March brought employers more than a lion’s share of changes with three new pieces of legislation signed into law.

RTW and prevailing wages

True to her campaign promise, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer struck down Michigan’s Right-to-Work law and reinstated prevailing wages for publicly funded construction projects.

In effect since 2013, Michigan’s Rightto-Work law prohibited union-security agreements, which require employees to pay union dues as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment in a unionized workforce. Under the Rightto-Work law, employees were able to optout of union dues but still afforded the rights and benefits of being members of the bargaining unit.

The new law repeals Right-to-Work and allows employers and labor organizations to enter into collective bargaining agreements that require all employees in the bargaining unit to pay union

dues. The new law also precludes any local government from passing its own Right-to-Work replica in its municipality.

The new law, which goes into effect in March 2024, will not impact public sector jobs like police, fire and public school teachers thanks to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision. However, the repeal will impact unionized jobs in the private sector, such as auto industry, construction and manufacturing jobs.

The new law also restores prevailing wages for government-funded construction projects. Although the legislature repealed the prevailing wage law in 2018, Gov. Whitmer restored prevailing wage rules for state-funded projects three years later. The new law now restores the prevailing wage rules for local government projects as well.

Going forward, a commissioner will establish prevailing wages and fringe benefits for construction projects, and a schedule of these rates will be part of the specifications for the work to be performed. A grandfather clause exempts projects financed by millages predating the new law’s effective date.

Private sector employers with unionized workforces should review their collective bargaining agreement to see if they contain union security clauses, require that security clauses become part of the contract upon repeal or invalidation of the Right-to-Work law or require the reopening of the collective bargaining agreement in such a case.

Employers who do not have union security clauses in their collective bargaining agreements should prepare to negotiate over union security when their current contracts expire. Similarly, employers who are in the process of or will soon begin to negotiate new collective bargaining agreements should be prepared for demands to include a union security clause.

Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act

Gov. Whitmer also signed an expansion of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, adding sexual orientation and gender identity or expression to the list of prohibited discrimination bases, which already included sex, race, religion, weight

and other protected characteristics. Organizations covered by Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act should have already made this change in 2020 after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirmed it was illegal to discriminate on these issues for basis of employment. State court cases and agency guidance have likewise indicated that Elliott-Larsen prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity even before the law was officially amended through the legislative process.

Organizations that haven’t made those changes should now do so because of the expanded Michigan law. Be sure to check that sexual orientation and gender identity or expression are included in your equal employment opportunity policy and to update your anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training accordingly.

Cheryl Johnson is senior VP of HR and chief people officer at Bronson Healthcare Group; Andy Richards is chief operating officer at Duncan Aviation; and Massimo Rovere is general manager at Magna International.

The Alpine Township Planning Commission at its December meeting approved Houseman’s request to rezone the site to mixed-used planned unit development. Later that month, the township board approved the preliminary site plan for the condos and the infrastructure plan for the commercial portion. Houseman said he will seek final site plan approval for the senior apartments within the next few weeks.

Demolition of the buildings on the site is complete, and Houseman said he hopes to start construction on the apartments by July.

“We’ve been grading as much as we can between weather events, and we hope to have the roads completed by the end of summer,” he said.

He projects the residential component of the project will take about five to six years, and the commercial component about three years.

“I’ve done other developments, but this is at a higher scale,” he said.

Meanwhile, also in Alpine Township, developers Dale Kraker and Howie Hehrer of JTB Homes and Interra Homes closed on the purchase of half of Gracewil Country Club at 2597 Four Mile Road NW from owner John Wilson last summer for an undisclosed sum. They are under contract to buy the remaining half of the golf course within the next year or two.

The 206-acre, 36-hole golf course was built in 1929 and will remain open for all of 2023 and on a year-by-year basis after that as the multiphase housing project progresses.

Pending approval of their latest site plan and rezoning request by the township on April 17, their aim

HOLLAND

From Page 3

“We don’t think developing the existing James DeYoung plant is economically feasible or desirable,” said GDK co-owner Doug DeKock. “The beauty of the land swap is it kind of consolidates and frees up the end of Eighth Street to make the connection to Kollen Park and the water. We have no interest in doing anything on the (power plant) site.”

Conceptual plans call for the construction of residential buildings, a hotel, restaurant, marina, ice cream shop, docking areas for the Holland Princess and Pearl Mist, and open green space that would include a kayak launch and a boardwalk plaza for boat watching. Renderings show 108 residential units across four buildings as well as a 50-room hotel, but it’s too early to estimate the final unit counts for either facility, DeKock said.

“The condensing of industrial uses is really important,” DeKock said. “If this doesn’t go through, we’ll stay the way we are for a considerable amount of time. I don’t see this opportunity presenting itself for a while if it doesn’t happen

is to convert the golf course into 538 units of housing, including 317 single-family lots, 70 villas for the general market and 151 units of senior housing.

If all goes well, Hehrer said site work is likely to start as soon as early next year, with construction beginning in earnest by 2025. They expect the project will take about 20 years to complete across several phases.

Cannon Township

Thirteen miles east, just outside of Rockford, Kraker has another golf course redevelopment underway.

He acquired the former Silver Lake Country Club, 7901 Greenbrier Drive NE in Cannon Township, for just less than $1 million in March 2020 after the former owner, Thom Rosely, closed it in 2019.

Kraker initially floated the idea of building 450 units of condos, apartments and senior living housing, but then Kent County approached him with a request to buy 137 acres of the 174.4-acre golf course for a planned county park.

His new plan is to build the Villages of Silver Lake — 48 single-family homes with two lots reserved for future use on the 37.4 acres of which he retained ownership.

Kraker said he pivoted to the single-family plan for the smaller acreage because there are already condos and single-family housing on the other side of the golf course by a different developer, Silver Lake Estates and Silver Lake Condominiums, and single-family seemed to match market demand.

The Cannon Township board voted in August to grant PUD rezoning approval. Kraker’s next step is to submit the engineering drawings to the township for approval.

The estimated project cost and

now.”

City leaders have been talking to Verplank Dock executives “on and off” about the dock location in Holland and the potential for higher uses of the property for at least the past 30 years, said Verplank CEO and Chairperson Ron Matthews.

“It’s been a long time coming and it seemed like it was always waiting for someone to push it over the end zone line. The city and GDK have finally come together,” Matthews said.

Verplank did not seek out the land swap, but the company is “certainly willing” to go through the process as long as it is cost-neutral and serves its customers, Matthews said.

“The movement will take some time, and there is some infrastructure that has to be changed around so the new property would be ready for us,” Matthews said.

The land swap and development would also make it possible for industrial companies along the lakeshore to use a new truck route that would avoid the middle of downtown, DeKock said. Large trucks would occasionally still need to drive through downtown, though it would be far less fre-

timeline will “come later down the line,” he said, after he’s secured all necessary approvals.

Kraker said he expects the homes will be priced at $400,000 and above.

Courtland Township

Developer Mark Wurn and his partners formed the Redstone Group in 2018 and acquired the 100-acre former Braeside Golf Club at 5460 11 Mile Road in Courtland Township from a previous developer whose plans for housing there didn’t pan out. They then launched construction on a single-family community called Braeside Estates.

Since 2018, Wurn’s home construction business that he founded with partner Bill Roersma — Roersma & Wurn — has completed the first phase of the development and part of the second. An additional 100 acres adjacent to the golf course property came up for sale when their project was already underway, so they acquired it and added a third phase to the project. Phase one, which kicked off in 2018, included 26 lots. Phase two, which will include 24 lots and began construction in 2021, is about 30 percent done and scheduled to wrap in 2025.

Depending on the economic conditions of the next few years, Wurn said phase three, which will include 42-48 lots, could take an additional three-and-a-half years to complete.

The homes are priced anywhere from $500,000 to $800,000 apiece, he said.

Wurn said the project appealed to the partners because Roersma & Wurn’s housing communities have typically done well in the Rockford area.

“A golf course is typically quite beautiful, and they’re rolling (hills), and it provides for walkout basements. It was also something

quently than current traffic, he said.

Some residents have criticized GDK’s plan as “just for rich people,” and say it lacks enough public access, said Holland City Councilman Dave Hoekstra. However, many community members and city officials are also excited to see the downtown expanded to the waterfront, he added.

All of the Holland City Council members are on board with GDK’s development plans, but it would still go through the planning commission and further city council approval if residents approve the land swap in the May 2 election, said Holland Mayor Nathan Bocks.

“What we’re trying to get across is that GDK is dedicated to public access, and so is the planning commission and the city council,” Bocks said. “They still have to go through the full development process.”

As well, the May 2 vote does not specifically authorize GDK’s plans for the waterfront property — it only allows the city to sell its land, which is the next step in the development process, Bocks said.

While GDK’s current plans are merely conceptual, the company revised its proposal to include

that could be engineered in such a way that people had a lot of breathing room — the lots are spacious,” he said.

Walker

English Hills Country Club at 1200 Four Mile Rd NW in Walker closed in 2020. Developer Mark Avis, of Illinois-based Redhawk Multifamily LLC, in partnership with Scott Sorenson of Domo Development in Ada, closed on the purchase of the 142-acre golf course property for $4.4 million in February, according to city property tax records.

Together with an adjoining property at 1470 Four Mile Road NW, which they purchased from Kim Sorrelle as part of the same deal, Redhawk plans to build English Hills, a 552-unit rental townhomes development that they first proposed in 2021. At the time, Avis estimated rents would range from $1,400 to $1,500 a month, but with rising construction costs he doesn’t have a current estimate.

Avis said he hopes to break ground on the project by the end of the year. He described it as one of “the best developments” he’s ever planned.

“It’s just a beautiful, beautiful piece of property, and we love the location, love Walker. We just thought we could create something really special,” he said.

Also in Walker, Anthony Rodriguez and Rick Cavenaugh of Barrington, Ill.-based Stoneleigh Cos., are building Savannah at Waterford Village at the former Lincoln Country Club, 3485 Lake Michigan Drive NW, which closed in 2021.

The project will include a clubhouse and 250 luxury one-, twoand three-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $1,800 to $2,575. Construction on the multifamily component began in January and is expected to wrap in two years. Pre-leasing will begin the

more public access by adding a kayak launch and more walkways by the water, Hoekstra said.

“This is still kind of a fluid concept,” Hoekstra said. “If we get the go-ahead and if it looks like we’ll go forward with it, the plans will be more detailed and revised with the planning commission.”

“I feel pretty confident looking at it that it will be a good balance of private development and public access,” Hoekstra added. “It looks to me like a win-win for everyone and accomplishes the connection from downtown to the waterfront.”

Providing public access “automatically” makes sense for the project, DeKock said.

“We want this to be an exciting place to be, and we want people to be able to mill around and be able to watch the boats go by and all of that,” DeKock said. “It’s always been our belief that something like this and bringing the waterfront to downtown is a really important step, particularly for the downtown community, as we just don’t have that connection to the water like other communities do — like Grand Haven and South Haven.”

Proponents also expect the waterfront proposal to spur sur-

first week in July, with the first building open for occupancy at the end of September, Rodriguez said.

The clubhouse will include a fitness studio, resident lounge, business center, terrace, outdoor dining with barbecue grills, walking trails surrounding a pond, a wetlands area and dog park.

Stoneleigh also received zoning approval for five commercial lots and 68 lots of single-family housing on-site. Rodriguez said the lots are listed for sale, and if he “had to guess,” those home values will ultimately be priced somewhere between $350,000 and $450,000 once built.

Rodriguez said the 36-acre site was “highly attractive” for a mixed-use development because it’s a “walkable community.”

“The site has great access off Lake Michigan Drive NW, a major arterial road with convenience to downtown Grand Rapids (10 minutes),” he said in an email to Crain’s.

Wyoming

Avis, with Redhawk Multifamily, also is planning to develop housing at The Pines Golf Course, which is still operational at 5050 Byron Center Ave. SW and 2180 52nd St. SW in Wyoming.

He said he is under contract to buy the 114-acre property, which includes multiple parcels, from Michael Boogaard by the end of the year.

“The owners approached me — it was not for sale, it was off the market — and they asked if I would consider developing if they wanted to sell it, and it is just (a) phenomenal location and a beautiful, beautiful property,” he said.

The plan consists of 7,500 square feet of retail, 22,000 square feet of office space and 604 units of market-rate housing split between condos, lofts and townhomes.

rounding developments in Holland. Bocks said city officials are starting to see “tire-kicker developers” looking at surrounding properties, but it is still early in the waterfront development process.

“Public access is a tricky thing, and how each community handles it is a little bit different,” said Matthews, of Verplank Dock. “If Holland passes this, they’re going to have to look at the whole package — the improved trucking routes and not only GDK’s specific plan, but how that impacts Kollen Park and everything around it. You’re going to have to buy into the whole concept and it’s going to be a citywide traffic flow change and people flow change.”

Bocks and Hoekstra believe that most people support the waterfront plan, and some of the detractors might not understand it thoroughly.

“My sense is people will support it, we just have to do a good job in making sure the correct information is out there,” Hoekstra said. “If this doesn’t pass, we’re back to square one. We’re hoping that’s not the case. It’s been years of public engagement and discernment and a lot of professionals looking at this.”

ACCOUNTING

Baker Holtz, CPAs and Advisors announced the hire of Tim Zylstra as an assurance manager.

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Kalamazoo-based LKF Marketing hired Shelly Cla in as an account manager and Jeff Schwartz as an account coordinator.

ARCHITECTURE & ENINGEERING

Fishbeck announced the expansion of its environmental division by 24 employees through the acquisition of Kalamazoo-based Envirologic.

ARTS

The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo announced the addition of Jeff Weber as the Kalamazoo Cultural Center’s director. Creation of this new position ensures the oversight and management of KCC. Weber will be responsible for managing and maintaining the facility as well as serving building partners, renters and patrons.

The Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation added for three-year terms trustees Michelle Missad, community volunteer, and Caylie Peet, minority business program manager, Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Trustees re-elected include Kate Avery, Deb Bates, Marisa Fahnenstiel and Dan Poortenga, as well as of cers for two-year terms Shane Rider, treasurer, and Derether Greer, secretary.

AWARDS

Blackford Capital was recognized by the Global M&A Network for its accomplishments in the following categories: USA Private Equity Firm of the Year – Small Mid-Market, and USA Deal of the Year – Small Markets, for the acquisition of Airhead Sports Group by Aqua-Leisure Recreation.

Bob Gallina, ground instructor at Northern Jet Management, has been honored for his lifetime of work by receiving the Federal Aviation Administration’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, the most prestigious award given by the group.

BANKING

Julie Kamer joined Independent Bank as a mortgage loan of cer, working from the bank’s Holland location.

Kalamazoo-based Consumers Credit Union has been recognized by the National Association for Business Resources as the 2022 Best and Brightest Top 101 Companies to Work For and Best in Wellness at the national level.

LAFCU board president Harold Foster stepped down following 37 years of service. Randy Freeman, past president of UAW Local 652 Lansing and LAFCU board member for 11 years, was nominated to serve as Foster’s successor and was unanimously voted in by the LAFCU board of directors as the credit union’s next board president.

Chelsey A. Foster joined Highpoint Community Bank as senior vice president, business development.

Dandridge tapped as NIA executive director

NIA Centre, a nonpro t that aspires to become a nationally recognized African American Cultural Center that celebrates Black excellence, has hired André B. Dandridge as executive director. The Grand Rapids resident has over 15 years of experience in the health care science industry and a background in intellectual property. Dandridge earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Lyman Briggs College at Michigan State University and a Juris Doctor from Michigan State University College of Law with a concentration in intellectual property. He has held various roles in biomedical laboratories, law rms and community development organizations.

Susan Vogel-Vanderson joined Macatawa Bank in Holland as chief wealth management of cer.

United Federal Credit Union in St. Joseph announced the promotions of Kaylee Ganus to chief marketing of cer and Jodie Kitchell to regional vice president, serving the Indiana and Michigan markets.

BUSINESS SERVICES

Kalamazoo-based CertaSite, a commercial re protection and life safety company, announced the hiring of Kara Ferguson as human resources director. She will be based in Indianapolis at the CertaSite headquarters.

The Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce announced its board of directors for 2023 are: chair Anna Urick Duggins (partner/attorney, Parmenter Law), vice board chair Jonathan Wilson (regional manager, DTE Energy), treasurer Joel Kamp (CEO/ owner, Pigeon Hill Brewing Co.), and secretary Aaron Maike (president, Baker College Muskegon). Sharlene Shineldecker (regional vice president/owner, Transnation Title Agency Lakeshore Division) also joins the board of directors.

CONSTRUCTION

Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. hired the following: Danielle Becklin, marketing manager; Eugene Blesing, project superintendent; Shane Crow, project superintendent; Dan Dennis, project superintendent; Sandy Dyer, accounting; Jeremy Fron, carpenter; Josh Hoch, project superintendent; Lucas Kleyn, assistant project superintendent; Josh Kwiatkowski, project superintendent; Joe Lighthart, assistant project superintendent; Alyson Lloyd, project superintendent; Dennis Loveland, project superintendent; Robert Miller, project superintendent; Nick Morrissey, project superintendent; Tatiana Parsons, billing specialist; Chase Pattison, project superintendent; Ryan Pendrick, assistant project manager; Ryan Ruiter, assistant project superintendent; Nate Stader, project superintendent; and Wayne Vandawater, project superintendent.

EDUCATION

Alisha Davis has been appointed Grand Valley State University’s assistant vice president for the social justice centers and director of the Of ce of Multicultural Affairs.

GRANTS

The Grand Haven Area Community Foundation announced 13 Community Impact Grant awards, totaling $595,493, in support of Northwest Ottawa County and surrounding communities: Grand Valley State University – Groundswell Grand Haven Area Partnership ($24,446); Goodwill Industries of West Michigan – HydroBlox Plastics Recycling ($100,000); Michigan’s Edge Mountain Biking Association – Mosquito Creek Trail Expansion ($25,000); West Michigan Environmental Action Council Education Foundation – Environmental Sustainability in Northern Ottawa County ($15,000); Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital – Pediatric Rehabilitation Hospital ($100,000); No One Lives Alone Inc. – Expand Access to Individualized Coaching and Support ($15,200); The Little Red House Inc. – Strategic Marketing Plan ($55,000/2 years); Harbor Humane Society – Community Outreach Manager ($40,000); Chamber of Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Ferrysburg – Envisioning Our Communities’ Future Speaker Series ($125,000); and Migrant Legal Aid – Defending Against Hate Program Expansion ($5,000).

The Grand Rapids Chamber has received a $150,000 grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation to support the expansion of its member-driven, collaborative workspace.

HEALTH

Corium Pharma Solutions Inc. announced the appointment of Dr. Mark Sirgo as chief executive of cer and a member of the board of directors. Sirgo is a pharmaceutical executive with over 35 years’ experience in the industry.

Holland Hospital announced it ranks No. 1 in Michigan for surgical care and is among America’s 50 Best Hospitals for surgical care, according to a new analysis released by Healthgrades. In addition, Holland Hospital ranks No. 1 in Michigan for both orthopedic surgery and joint replacement, and is among America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery and Joint Replacement.

Kevin Brader, MD, a board-certi ed and fellowship-trained gynecologic oncologist, joined Holland Hospital Women’s Specialty Care; Dawn White, MD, joined Holland Hospital’s bariatric services program.

LEGAL

Brett Flessner joined Rhoades McKee as an associate in its Hastings of ce. Flessner assists individuals and businesses in the areas of divorce, child custody, adoption matters, probate and estate administration, and managing business affairs.

DeAndré Harris, an attorney at Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, has been named to Lawyers of Color’s 2022 Hot List, a nonpro t devoted to promoting diversity in the legal profession and advancing democracy and equality in marginalized communities. The Hot List features 100 attorneys of color who are younger than 40.

Timothy F. Sheridan, a senior trial attorney and partner of Plunkett Cooney, was inducted into the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

MANUFACTURING

Aspen Surgical Products announced the appointment of Steve Blazejewski as chief executive of cer.

MEDIA

WYCE Community Radio added Phil Tower as station manager and promoted Shane German to music and programming director.

NONPROFITS

Guiding Light announced four new members to its board of directors: Steve Jandernoa, partner at 42 North Partners in Grand Rapids; Ed Postma, certi ed nancial planner and a partner at Plan It Financial Group; Dee Dee Taylor, CEO and founder of Taylor Made Re-Entry; and Kate Morton, sales manager at WXMI-TV Fox 17.

Wayland-based Paws With A Cause achieved reaccreditation by Assistance Dogs International.

The Family Promise of Grand Rapids board of directors announced Cheryl Schuch, CEO of Family Promise of Grand Rapids, has been promoted as the CEO of Family Promise National. Schuch began her new role March 1.

RETAIL

Tanger Outlets Grand Rapids announced Ashli Schoonmaker has been named marketing director for the open-air shopping destination in Byron Center.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority President and CEO Tory Richardson joined the Airports Council International – North America board of directors.

Cla in Crain’s Grand Rapids Business welcomes submissions to the Change-Ups section. Send announcements covering personnel changes, new businesses, changes of address, etc. to

Weber

Gallina Kamer

Ferguson

Schoonmaker

Flessner

Harris

Sheridan Richardson

Becklin

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

To place your listing, visit https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ people-on-the-move/ or contact Debora Stein at (917) 226-5470 / dstein@crain.com.

BANKING & FINANCE

Wolverine to cut U.K. jobs amid Sweaty Betty integration

Amwins

Top execs are leaving the activewear brand

The Amwins Grand Rapids office is pleased to announce

By Kayleigh Van Wyk

ately be reached for comment.

After acquiring London-based activewear brand Sweaty Betty for $410 million in 2021, Wolverine Worldwide Inc. is taking steps to streamline the brand’s operations, including a proposed U.K. workforce reduction.

Jordan Kurkowski’s promotion to Executive Vice President and Branch Leader of all brokerage operations. Jordan will be responsible for leading the Amwins Grand Rapids office in delivering specialized commercial insurance coverage in the wholesale brokerage sector.

A news release with the company’s fourth quarter 2022 financial results stated the company would place a priority on fueling growth for its Active Group — which includes Sweaty Betty, Merrell, Saucony and Chaco — in 2023.

Jordan joined Amwins in 2019 with prior insurance underwriting, brokerage, and retail experience. He joined the local Grand Rapids team with an emphasis on Management, Cyber, and Professional Liability insurance.

The Rockford-based marketer and licenser of footwear and apparel recently announced strategic plans intended to improve the operating performance and global growth of Sweaty Betty. Wolverine acquired the shares of Lady of Leisure InvestCo Ltd. — which owned the Sweaty Betty brand — in a $410 million all-cash deal in August 2021.

A top performer for the company in 2022, the Active Group experienced 19-percent revenue growth from 2021, outpacing 7-percent growth in its Work Group and a 6.2-percent decline with its Lifestyle Group, according to a recent report to shareholders.

ble for the company’s operations outside the U.S and headed by President Isabel Soriano.

Jordan has a BBA in Marketing Management from Davenport University and has earned the Associate in Surplus Lines Insurance (ASLI), Registered Professional Liability Underwriter (RPLU), and Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLIS) designations.

The ongoing transition calls for a consolidation of the brand’s London office space and a proposed workforce reduction in the U.K. to help align Sweaty Betty’s cost structure with Wolverine’s other brands. The company did not disclose the number of positions that may be cut. A company spokesperson could not immedi-

The Active Group’s revenue growth was driven by a $116.9 million increase from Merrell and $94.3 million from Sweaty Betty, according to the report, which also notes that Sweaty Betty accounted for $60.2 million in operating expenses through the first year after the acquisition.

Going forward, Sweaty Betty now will report into Wolverine Worldwide’s London-based International Group, which is responsi-

“Bringing Sweaty Betty under Isabel Soriano and the International Group fits perfectly with our strategy to prioritize resources and support to the brands with the biggest global growth opportunities,” Wolverine Worldwide President and CEO Brendan Hoffman said in a statement. “Our regional teams have deep commercial experience in key international markets and are well-positioned to bring their sourcing, logistics, technology and operational expertise to help accelerate Sweaty Betty’s growth.”

The latest transition comes after

an announcement earlier this month that Sweaty Betty CEO Julia Straus will leave the business in June 2023 and return to the U.S. to be closer to family.

Company officials say a search for her successor is still underway.

“These decisions were not taken lightly but are necessary in order to position Sweaty Betty for longterm success,” Straus said in a statement.

As well, Sweaty Betty COO Mark Straus reportedly will step down to pursue other opportunities.

Wolverine Worldwide has sought to reorganize some of its brands amid revenue and profit misses. In February, executives

shared the company’s plan to sell its Keds brand and license Hush Puppies footwear to Ohio-based Designer Brands Inc.

“Selling Keds and licensing the Hush Puppies brand for the U.S. and Canada is an important step as we continue to advance our strategy to simplify the portfolio and direct resources to our growth brands,” Hoffman said at the time. “We are confident this will place Wolverine on an accelerated path to improved profitability and longterm shareholder value creation.”

As of the end of 2022, Wolverine employed roughly 4,300 people globally in production, office and sales positions.

Good Truckin’ Diner expanding

By Abby Poirier

Good Truckin’ Diner hopes to complement the East Hills neighborhood’s artistic vibe when it opens its first Grand Rapids location on Wealthy Street SE.

The Lansing-based Good Truckin’, which specializes in allday breakfast and offers gluten-free and vegan options, plans to open the self-described “eclectic” eatery at 701 Wealthy St. SE, the former home of All In Hospitality Group LLC’s Royals pizza concept.

Nick Sinicropi, owner of Good Truckin’ Diner, recently signed a five-year lease with Terra Firma Development LLC. The restaurateur is targeting a June 1 opening date.

The Amwins office has been part of the Grand Rapids community since 1970, and offers expertise in Professional, Casualty, Property, and Binding Authority products. In 2021, the Amwins office relocated to 37 Ottawa in the heart of downtown, and has continued to grow its culture through specialization, adding talented team members, and community involvement. The Grand Rapids office has also seen double digit revenue growth since 2018. Their office is currently expanding its space, with completion expected in July of 2023. The office is actively recruiting and is always looking for talented individuals to help lead the charge. The office also focuses on community involvement, participating in the 100 Businesses that Care, spearheading the Week of Thanks Campaign, and partnering with charities like GRPSF and Turning Pages. If you are interested in exploring career opportunities with Amwins Grand Rapids, please visit amwins. com or email Jordan Kurkowski at Jordan.Kurkowski@amwins.com.

Sinicropi said he’s had his eye on the Grand Rapids restaurant scene for years now and has been waiting patiently for a good spot to open up. He thinks Good Truckin’ will make a lasting fit for the Wealthy Street location because of its unusual style, offerings and desire to cater to as wide a crowd as possible.

“Good Truckin’ is about being creative and being different,” said Sinicropi, who describes himself as a foodie.

“(We’re) fresh, affordable and everything is homemade. We’re definitely right up there with any restaurant (that is) vegan and glu-

ten-free friendly. We just try to keep it fresh,” he said. “When I go to a new town or if I’m staying somewhere on vacation, I’m looking for something that is unique, local and different. We try to do that.”

Sinicropi also said he appreciates the Wealthy Street area as a “walkable, art-oriented neighborhood,” and believes his style of cuisine and dining will be a great fit.

This is the second physical location for Sinicropi’s Good Truckin’ Diner, in addition to a food truck.

The original location is in Lansing’s REO Town and offers a variety of eats, from breakfast tacos to street tacos, classic breakfasts like pancakes to burgers and a wide range of gluten-free and vegan options.

Sinicropi said that the same menu will be coming to the new location, as well as its specials board, which is a hit with customers.

“They’re all wonderfully unique and usually have something to do with what’s going on in the world or something clever,” he said of the specials.

Terra Firma President Eric Wyn-

sma, who owns the Wealthy Street location, said he believes the new diner will “generate a lot of traffic” for other area retailers. He also praised the restaurant’s concept, calling it an “eclectic, modern-day take on the diner.”

Good Truckin’ Diner plans to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an emphasis on the brunch crowd and offering all-day breakfast.

“It’s a big move for us, it’s a big space,” Sinicropi said. “We’re just excited to get up there and work with local vendors, local artists.”

The new-to-Grand Rapids concept hopes to succeed at a location where Royals struggled to gain traction after opening in early 2020 with a focus on brunch. The location closed briefly and later reopened in August as a pizzeria with a full bar. However, the restaurant closed permanently only three months later, citing “massive hospitality employee shortage, supply chain issues, and rising costs on everything restaurant related,” according to a Facebook post at the time.

BANKING & FINANCE

Amwins

The Amwins Grand Rapids office is pleased to announce Jordan Kurkowski’s promotion to Executive Vice President and Branch Leader of all brokerage operations. Jordan will be responsible for leading the Amwins Grand Rapids office in delivering specialized commercial insurance coverage in the wholesale brokerage sector. Jordan joined Amwins in 2019 with prior insurance underwriting, brokerage, and retail experience. He joined the local Grand Rapids team with an emphasis on Management, Cyber, and Professional Liability insurance.

Jordan has a BBA in Marketing Management from Davenport University and has earned the Associate in Surplus Lines Insurance (ASLI), Registered Professional Liability Underwriter (RPLU), and Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLIS) designations.

Founded in 1998, Sweaty Betty focuses on offering a wide array of high-quality, innovative and on-trend tops, bottoms, swimwear, outerwear and accessories distributed around the world. | WOLVERINE WORLDWIDE

Good Truckin’ Diner’s REO Town location in Lansing. The restaurant is opening a new location in Grand Rapids at 701 Wealthy St. SE. COURTESY OF GOOD TRUCKIN’ DINER

Inside GVSU’s Blue Dot Lab

By Kate Carlson

Grand Valley State University plans to repurpose the 35-year-old Eberhard Center at its downtown Grand Rapids Pew campus into a $140 million tech center, in an effort to create a “local innovation ecosystem.”

The tech center, named Blue Dot Lab, is included in GVSU’s 2022 master plan update, which the school’s board of trustees approved in February. The facility would house computer science, data science and transdisciplinary degrees in business, computing and the humanities.

The university plans to demolish a portion of the academic building, which opened in 1988, and construct a new addition in its place, increasing the building’s square footage to 175,000 square feet. Construction is expected to take three years, according to GVSU’s most recent capital outlay plan.

The university is requesting $35 million in state funding to support the project, and would fund the

GVSU

From Page 1

These targets are part of GVSU’s 2022 master plan update, which the school’s board of trustees approved in late February. The plan lays out a long-term vision for upgrades and anticipated capital projects at GVSU’s main campus in Allendale, the Pew campus downtown, and its health care campus along Medical Mile.

Investments at the Pew campus, which hosts nearly one-third of GVSU’s enrollment, would complement broader economic development goals in the city of Grand Rapids.

“Any time you can bring young adults and college students to the downtown core, it will create an increase in vibrancy,” said Tim Mroz, senior vice president of community development at economic development organization The Right Place Inc. “They’re going to visit restaurants, nightclubs and coffee shops downtown. It’s exactly what you want.”

The 45-acre Pew campus located on the west side of the Grand River has a mostly insular design. Mroz said consultants working on GVSU’s master plan engaged with The Right Place to focus on how the university could increase engagement with downtown neighborhoods and the business community.

“I don’t think the downtown community really sees the various GVSU campuses and buildings, especially their cafeterias and eateries, as public places that anybody can go to,” Mroz said. “If GVSU can open that up and say, ‘Come and play on my front lawn,’ that will go miles for the university even in terms of potential future students and folks growing up on the west side being able to engage with GVSU.”

According to the master plan

remaining $105 million of the project, according to the capital outlay plan.

Creating the Blue Dot Lab aims to achieve three goals: Enhance students’ digital skills across all majors; increase the number of graduates with technical, computing, data and AI-related expertise; and facilitate increased collaboration between GVSU, startups, entrepreneurs, and corporate partners.

GVSU added digital literacy as a required outcome for all of its undergraduate students starting in 2022, regardless of their area of study. School officials expect faculty from every department to integrate resources from the Blue Dot Lab into their coursework to carry out this goal. The lab would be managed by an internal team from a range of degrees, departments and colleges at GVSU to ensure the lab is accessible to every student.

The development plan calls for audio and video studios, fabrication labs, collision spaces, re-

search labs and presentation space. Audio and video editing software, graphic design, data visualization and three-dimensional modeling also would be integrated into the tech hub.

As well, the center would be a collaborative space where students, faculty and local corporate partners and entrepreneurs could work together. A startup and community partner space planned at the tech hub is specifically designed for GVSU and industry partners to work together on projects and give GVSU partners access to faculty experts and students with a passion for studying the latest technologies.

Blue Dot Lab aims to build competencies in computing, data science, cybersecurity, machine learning and adjacent fields, which are growing in demand among local employers, according to a survey released last year by The Right Place Inc. The survey of more than 100 local businesses found that 72 percent of respondents said they plan to increase

tech hiring over the next five years, which could add 3,200 new hires in the region.

Meanwhile, The Right Place has been leading an effort among local organizations to advocate for more investments in the tech industry, and rolled out a plan in 2022 to make technology a focus for the greater Grand Rapids region over the next 10 years.

“Key to the DNA of the Blue Dot Lab is its ability to create handson, experimental learning for the GVSU community,” according to

2021, which university officials plan to increase to about 8,100 with projects in the master plan. About 2,100 people, or 10 percent, of GVSU students are enrolled at the health care campus along Medical Mile, while the remaining 60 percent of students attend class at GVSU’s Allendale campus.

Master plan projects

GVSU’s capital outlay proposal for the project. “Students, faculty and staff will have the same access to these tools to further the research and innovation of their education and coursework. There are places and spaces for teams to work on innovating new technology, and spaces ‘to find other big idea thinkers.’ There are places for people to see what others are doing and to be seen by others. This will build a community of innovation that gives GVSU students an advantage in their future pursuits.”

would be located at the site of the existing Mount Vernon parking lot. There would be opportunities to host events and live performances on Pew Green, but it also would connect various adjacent campus buildings to the riverwalk and Laker Line bus stop, according to the plan.

update, “For Pew to grow into a viable, exciting campus attracting new student and partnership growth, it needs an infusion of density across students, faculty, staff, visitors.”

The master plan recognizes how GVSU can evolve and “enhance our longstanding role as a catalyst to the vibrancy of downtown Grand Rapids by creating an environment that welcomes even more students to live and learn there,” Karen Ingle, GVSU associate vice president for facilities planning, said in an emailed statement.

“Just as these students would benefit from the energy of the urban campus experience, so too would Grand Rapids benefit from the energy of an influx of more Lakers and their eagerness to be part of the downtown community,” Ingle said.

Downtown growth

GVSU launched its downtown Pew campus — named after the late Steelcase Inc. CEO Robert Pew who helped establish GVSU in the early 1960s — in 1986 with the groundbreaking of the L.V. Eberhard Center and Meijer Public Broadcast Center buildings.

The downtown campus expanded in the following decades to include a total of 13 buildings, including Winter and Secchia residence halls, surface parking lots and a parking structure. A noteworthy addition to the campus occurred 10 years ago with the opening of the L. William Seidman Center building, which houses GVSU’s business school.

GVSU’s fall 2022 enrollment of 21,648 was down 3.4 percent, or about 700 students, compared to fall 2021, but the size of the university’s freshman class has ticked up slightly over the past few years, according to enrollment reports. While on the decline, GVSU’s enrollment has fared better than its peers. That includes Western Michigan University, which had an enrollment decline of roughly 1,500 students, from 18,191 in spring of 2021 to 16,643 in spring of 2022.

GVSU’s downtown campus currently has the capacity to house about 400 students at its two residence halls. The master plan proposes doubling the amount of student housing in phases, across two newly constructed buildings at Pew campus.

As well, 5,754 students took classes downtown in the fall of

Pew campus-specific projects in the latest master plan include transforming the Eberhard Center into a tech hub, constructing a new student center, adding 400 beds of student housing, replacing the Mount Vernon parking lot with active green space, and adding parking structures after existing surface lots are converted over time into new buildings or green space.

The new student center and dining building would be four or five stories tall near U.S.-131, Fulton Street and the riverwalk.

The renovated Eberhard Center included in the master plan would house Blue Dot Lab as well as a school of computing. Blue Dot would be an interdisciplinary tech center that is meant to be used by students and people from the community. GVSU’s plan to create a digital learning and tech center downtown was included just over a year ago in The Right Place Inc.’s list of 12 projects that could be transformational for Grand Rapids. The roughly 175,000-square-foot Blue Dot Lab adaptive reuse project would cost roughly $140 million to transform the Eberhard Center over three years, according to GVSU’s most recent capital outlay plan. University officials are requesting $35 million in state funding support for the project.

The “Pew Green” open green space included in the master plan

Local officials say GVSU’s ongoing downtown investments have the potential to rebrand Grand Rapids as a college town.

“Grand Rapids in general has quite a few universities here, but it’s never really been viewed as a college town,” said Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. President and CEO Tim Kelly. “Finding ways to underline the university culture here is a benefit for everyone and I think Grand Valley is really taking the lead on that.”

The master plan update also aligns with many goals that the city and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. have for the area, including adding housing density downtown, job creation opportunities and adding recreational amenities to open spaces, Kelly said.

“They do occupy a lot of land, and to the extent that can be

opened up and coordinated with the rest of downtown is only a good thing both for downtown and GVSU,” Kelly said. “I think they’ve always known the opportunities that exist for their land here, but to see some thoughts and plans on what it could be is encouraging to see.”

Blue Dot Lab aims to build competencies in computing, data science, cybersecurity, machine learning and adjacent fields. GVSU

GVSU launched its downtown Pew campus in 1986 with the groundbreaking of the L.V. Eberhard Center. | KATE CARLSON

“Any time you can bring young adults and college students to the downtown core, it will create an increase in vibrancy.”

Tim Mroz, senior vice president of community development, The Right Place Inc.

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ARCHITECT

From Page 3

The downtown location has “treated us well,” but Verhulst said buying a property for his firm is a sound long-term investment.

The Shade Shop building is currently owned by a company affiliated with Grand Rapids-based Vision Real Estate Investment Inc., which purchased the property in 2018 for $900,000, according to city property records.

Pure Architects has 15 employees in Grand Rapids, and one person working in Detroit. Company executives plan to expand to about 24 employees in the “near term,” and expect further staff growth in the future, Verhulst said.

The nearly three-year-old firm’s workload is mostly dedicated to projects in early childhood education through higher education. The company also does work across the region on workspaces that focus on employee well-being in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Verhulst said.

Pure Architects also emphasizes partnerships with minority-owned contractors and meeting sustainability benchmarks, which will be emulated in the company’s own office buildout on Leonard Street. That is part of the reason Verhulst chose to repurpose an existing building rather than construct a new one, he said.

“We didn’t want to build a new space,” Verhulst said. “One of the more sustainable things you can do is add to an existing building, and we also didn’t want to displace anyone.”

Plans call for The Shade Shop to continue operating on the first floor of the building, while Pure Architects would renovate and move into the second floor, which is currently vacant. The two suites on the third floor are currently leased by a photographer and an outdoor apparel company. The ar-

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chitectural firm could eventually move into the third floor as well, Verhulst said.

The approximately $900,000 renovation of the second floor could be completed by late fall this year, Verhulst said. Wolverine Building Group will build out the space.

Pure Architects is designing the office space and aims to comply with environmental standards for the Living Building Challenge, or make the office WELL-certified. The certifications require various sustainable building practices and consideration of the well-being of its users.

“We’re planning an office for 24 to 38 desks,” Verhulst said. “I plan on being there for a long time. It will feel very Los Angeles- or New York-style of a design shop. A goal of the build-out is to have a ton of daylight, natural materials and connection to each other with a lot of transitional spaces and couches everywhere.”

The renovation plans for the whole building also will make it more accessible, which includes adding an elevator, Verhulst said.

The redevelopment comes less than a year after The Shade Shop

BANKS

From Page 1

The fundraising environment was already getting harder a year ago when interest rates began to rise and concerns picked up about a potential recession, said Tim Streit, co-founder and managing partner at Grand Rapids-based Grand Ventures. Tighter credit for venture capital deals following Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse will put liquidity “at an even higher premium,” although there remains “a ton” of dry powder in the venture capital arena in the U.S. that firms are seeking to deploy after record-breaking years in 2021 and 2022, Streit said.

“For portfolio companies, liquidity is going to be a little harder to find,” he said. “Credit’s going to tighten, but our overall view is this isn’t the end of venture or the end of the world. Well-performing companies that are growing and addressing big markets will continue to get funded and will continue to be a great source of returns for investors. I think there’s going to be a little bit of a reset in terms of short-term liquidity.”

Between two funds, Grand Ventures has $70 million in assets under management and recently completed successful follow-on capital rounds for three portfolio companies, Streit said. The firm invests in early-stage investments in tech companies in the Midwest involved in business enterprise software for advanced manufacturing, agriculture and food, transportation and mobility, and other industries.

About half of Grand Ventures’ portfolio companies have some form of venture debt with Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank in New York that failed March 12, or through other banks, Streit said.

‘Almost perfect storm’

SVB’s collapse came on top of higher interest rates, a softening economy and predictions for a moderate to mild recession in the second half, as well as the resulting lower valuations and poor exit environment for investors that have been driving down venture deal flow.

The situation creates an “almost perfect storm” for venture capital and a “jitteriness in the market,” said Dale Grogan, managing partner of Grand Rapids-based Michigan Capital Network that manages four venture capital funds and five angel investor groups across the state.

er, and with the lack of debt financing, that’s going to squeeze the market,” Grogan said.

After the disruption caused by Silicon Valley Bank’s failure, and the collapse days later of Signature Bank, both of which were subsequently sold, “people are still somewhat cautious,” said Jeff Wesley, executive director at Red Cedar Ventures, the early-stage venture investment subsidiary of the Michigan State University Research Foundation in East Lansing.

“Generally, when you’re in our space, we like consistency. That’s always our best world. When there’s volatility that happens, either with the economy or events like this, they kind of impact who’s funding, how much people are funding and how much gets done,” Wesley said. “Put that with the other economic factors going on, they tend to freeze people a little bit for some period of time.”

However, at the early stages where Red Cedar Ventures invests, Wesley expects to remain busy in the coming months, as venture capital investments by firms that focus on later-stage rounds ease.

Market adjustments

SVB, which federal and California banking regulators seized on March 10, was a major provider of debt financing for venture capital deals. The collapse “puts more pressure on a venture market that was already reeling from the slowdown in financing seen over the past year,” according to an analysis on SVB’s collapse by PitchBook Data Inc.

SVB in 2022 issued $6.7 billion of venture debt, which accounted for 9 percent of its loan portfolio, PitchBook reported. The failed bank had another $41.3 billion in lines of credit to venture capital and private equity firms.

Grogan doubts any large banks will enter the market anytime soon to provide debt financing for venture deals, at least until they get more certainty about the economy and they’re “convinced things are going in an upward direction.”

“I think it’s going to go unfilled for a while,” he said.

Streit at Grand Ventures cast a little more optimistic tone. He believes that other lenders will eventually emerge to fill the market void created by the collapse of both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, both of which were subsequently sold.

doctors can more precisely diagnose middle ear infections in children. The company had been preparing to develop the next generation version of the device.

“We’re saying, ‘let’s just hold on that. We don’t need to invest that money this next year because we have a viable version one, so let’s think about scaling back and preserving cash so that when terms get better and cash becomes more available, no one’s going to suffer as much dilution,” Grogan said.

About 10 percent of Red Cedar Ventures’ 150 portfolio companies were affected by the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, Wesley said. Back to normal?

Now that the situation has calmed down from the chaotic immediate aftermath of the bank’s failure, Red Cedar Ventures also has focused on ensuring that portfolio companies “maximize their cashflow and extend their runway whenever they can” for the economic conditions that may lie ahead, Wesley said.

“We’re probably looking at bigger macro issues now,” he said. “Obviously, if things get more challenging with the economy, we want to make sure all of our companies have good bandwidth and enough cash on hand. You kind of want to make sure that’s in a good place in terms of cashflow.”

Silicon Valley Bank’s failure threw venture-backed companies that used the bank for deposits and banking services into turmoil for a few days until the FDIC said it would cover all deposits.

About a third of Grand Ventures’ 25 portfolio companies, including one that had more than $100 million on deposit, had exposure to the bank’s collapse, Streit said.

Several portfolio companies, especially fintechs, also had lines of credit with the bank or venture capital debt with Silicon Valley Bank, Streit said. The March 27 acquisition of $72 billion in Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits and loans by North Carolina-based First Citizens generated a “collective sigh of relief” within the venture capital industry, he said.

After federal regulators acted to protect all deposits, stabilize the industry and find buyers for both Silicon Valley and Signature, “I’d say we’re in the early days of getting back to normal, which will be kind of a new normal,” Streit said.

changed ownership among local family-owned companies.

Individual investors Wes and Aimee Muller acquired The Shade Shop, which was founded in 1935, last September from third-generation owners Barry and Susan McKey. Wes Muller is the owner of Caledonia-based Mullers Paint & Design Co. The McKeys took over The Shade Shop in 2000 and sold the company ahead of retirement while looking to preserve the company’s “local legacy.”

Venture capital-backed companies seeking larger, later-stage capital rounds of Series B or later will feel the fallout the most, “because there’s nobody to fill that gap right now” for venture debt, Grogan said. About $3 million to $5 million in venture debt that, for example, may have been part of a $20 million capital round in the past is “just off the table right now,” he said.

That gap will affect how much companies seeking growth capital can raise from prospective investors.

“I think (capital) raises will get smaller, I think they will get hard-

“There are still other healthy banks out there that continue to reach out,” Streit said. “The market will adjust.”

Even if they do, venture-backed portfolio companies will still face tighter standards when seeking credit to accompany a capital round.

Given the tighter credit environment, investors say they’ve been advising portfolio companies to conserve cash.

“We’re counseling everybody, manage your burn,” Grogan said. “Let’s kick out the things that are not going to generate near-term value or near-term revenue.”

Grogan cites as an example PhotoniCare, a portfolio company that developed a medical scope so

Both Streit and Grogan expect a more investor-friendly market for the next year or two, as valuations continue to decline amid the softer economy and high interest rates.

Despite the two big bank failures, Steven Doorn, director of portfolio management at trust bank Legacy Trust in Grand Rapids who’s worked in the financial services industry for 30 years, said he’s not worried about the about the U.S. banking system.

“I don’t think there’s anything broadly worrisome,” Doorn said. “From a banking and financial stability perspective, I don’t think this is a widespread systemic problem. That’s not to say there aren’t banks that are being caught offsides.”

“One of the more sustainable things you can do is add to an existing building, and we also didn’t want to displace anyone.”

Zachary Verhulst, founder, Pure Architects

Former NASA engineer grows Grand Rapids tech startup

Stacy Paul grew up on a potato farm in northern Michigan, spending much of her time outside while developing a strong interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pursuits. By high school, this interest led Paul to an aerospace camp at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., where she later attended as a student majoring in aerospace engineering. Post-college, Paul landed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where she worked on space launches with a team of fellow engineers. However, the big city life failed to suit Paul and her family, eventually drawing them to a slower pace in Grand Rapids, where she founded Grand Rapids-based Array of Engineers LLC and serves as CEO. The startup formed in 2018 develops embedded software and electrical engineering solutions for a variety of industries. Paul recently discussed her path from farm life to space launches, and her experience leading a team of West Michigan engineers who are developing high-tech solutions for industries such as aerospace, space, defense and medical device.

| BY KAYLEIGH VAN WYK

When did you start developing an interest in outer space?

When I was younger, I got this idea that I really loved space. I was in elementary school when I got a telescope for Christmas, and my parents knew nothing about space — they were farmers. And you didn’t have the internet where you could search how things worked, how a telescope would work or what the constellations were, but we would go to the library and get books. My parents learned along with me about the different constellations, and we would look up at the sky at nighttime. And I think that just helped encourage me to keep enjoying space and exploring. Did you draw on any inspiration from other women in STEM?

I knew no engineers at all, especially no female engineers. I knew my mom, who was a very hard worker and was as much a part of the business as my dad. But my dad also then introduced me to two female aerospace engineers that he just reached out to because he was so supportive in wanting me to succeed at a young age. And so those would be my first STEM role models when I was in high school, and I was able to talk to them about aerospace engineering and what that meant. You ended up landing a job at NASA after graduating college. What type of work were you involved in there?

My goal and my dream always was to work at NASA, and fortunately after college I got a job working in Houston, Texas, at Johnson Space Center. I specifically worked on day-of launch activities and on the ascent part of it. The engineers sit in Houston and then the launches happen in Florida at the Cape (Canaveral). During launches, they would launch weather balloons from the Cape, and we would collect that data and analyze it and be one of the many who helped determine if the shuttle was going to launch or not. When there weren’t launches, I worked on different enhancements that they would do to the shuttle. At the time, the

International Space Station was being built and so we helped with some of that as well.

How did you end up in Grand Rapids?

I think deep down I always knew I loved NASA, but I didn’t love Houston. It was way too big of a city, and it was really far away from my family. My husband, who also worked at NASA, is from Philadelphia, and it was really far away from his family, too. So after we decided to start having children, our first daughter was born in Texas but we decided to move to Michigan after that. We moved right here to Grand Rapids in 2005. I took a little bit of a break from work for a while and then when I was ready to get back and figure out what I wanted to do, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be an engineer. I thought maybe I wanted to do something else and wondered: Am I really doing something that’s benefiting society the way that I think that I should? So I taught some math classes for a while at a university, and then I also did some nonprofit work through United Way’s Great Start program. I really enjoyed that, but I didn’t feel as challenged mentally. So then I circled back to the idea of being an engineer. I started working as a consultant for a while and started to do more with commercial aircraft

and working on the testing and software design.

How did you come to form Array of Engineers?

My husband and I threw around the idea of creating a company right in West Michigan where we could bring more high-tech, innovative jobs here. We started Array of Engineers on Jan. 18, 2018. We had no idea if it was going to work, and so we started working just straight out of our own basement. By the time we left the basement, we had maybe eight or nine people working out of it. And we had a hard time finding a location to move to where we could sign a short-term lease because at this point we were only about a year old. When you’re still just starting out, it’s hard to know what your next year is going to be, let alone five to 10 years. We were fortunate to find space at Oak Industrial Drive, and that’s where we’re at now.

What kind of projects or tech advancements is Array of Engineers working on?

Our main industries are commercial aerospace, space, defense and medical device, plus we do some smaller (Internet of Things) projects also. On the space side, we have a new project we’ll be starting soon that has to do with small satellites

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that will be in orbit and used for collecting data on global warming. And then we’ll work on the Mars Sample Return and also with robotic movement. We have brushless motors that help with development and testing of field-programmable gate arrays. That’s kind of on the embedded software side of things. We also have some commercial aerospace projects going on that have to do with testing software on aircraft, and we’re working on a project with an electric aircraft, which is something cool to be working on.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I sit on a couple of different boards — the Aerospace Industry Association of Michigan and STEM Greenhouse. I love giving back to the community and making a difference in that way. But then also in my free time, with my girls and my husband, we love being outside. We like to travel as a family, mostly by camping. Going for walks, reading, and being out in nature are also my go-to activities. I think nature is so important for kids and adults — to be immersed in it and to be unplugged. I think that’s the best thing about when you go camping and you unplug and don’t have that phone or computer attached to you. I think that’s super important just to take a break from that every so often.

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Stacy Paul, CEO of Array of Engineers LLC.