Priceline plans to add more than 500 jobs to its call center in Wyoming in the Grand Rapids area. More jobs equal good news in Michigan, of course. But an online discussion shared with us between Milt Rohwer of the Frey Foundation and Birgit Klohs of The Right Place, Inc., may provide more illumination on […]
Business Watch
Covering the intersection of business and policy, and informing Michigan employers and workers on the long road back from coronavirus. Our Michigan Economic Dashboard shows key metrics that show how the state is performing.
Posted inBusiness Watch
How 'flushed' is your hometown?
In May 2010, in the teeth of the worst Michigan economy in a generation, Fortune Magazine came to Grand Rapids to proclaim, “A Michigan Success Story.” Grand Rapidians have much to point to with optimism and pride, from the construction on “Hospital Hill” to the revitalization of its downtown. But there’s more to the story. A Bridge […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
U.P. escapes property value fall
The Upper Peninsula stands above the rest of Michigan on the map — and above the rest of the state when it comes to property value trends. From 2007-11, nine of the top 10 counties seeing a percentage increase in property value (residential, commercial and industrial) came from the part of Michigan north of the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
SW Michigan: 'Best of both worlds'
Beaches, festivals and farms are luring Marian Cioe from the streets of Chicago to Michigan’s southwestern shore. Forty-five years after first visiting Southwest Michigan on a business trip, the 66-year-old nurse plans to “live happily ever after” in the Great Lakes State. Cioe is just part of a real estate trend that has set Southwest […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
The Big Flush: $180 billion vanishes from Michigan
Michigan home- and business owners have lost an astounding $180 billion from the value of their properties over the past four years — the result of auto company bankruptcies, a severe national recession and the worst state economy in more than 70 years — according to an analysis of state data by Bridge Magazine. Adjusted […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Nest eggs go bad in Oakland County
When Sven Gustafson and his wife Kristen bought a home in the Oakland County community of Ferndale in 2005, it looked like a smart move. Property values had been rising steadily. Ferndale, which borders Detroit along Eight Mile Road, was becoming a haven for young professionals, artists and gay Michiganians — the “creative class” described […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Plan for Detroit: Immigrants bring money
Former state Rep. Steve Tobocman argues immigration is the key to repopulating and reviving Detroit. Now director of Global Detroit, Tobocman recently wrote The Global Detroit Study, which outlines a plan to help Michigan regain economic prosperity by encouraging more immigrants to move here. Bridge Magazine’s Jo Mathis caught up with the voluble Tobocman recently […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Restauranteur sees city's future in density, immigrants
Torya Blanchard’s entrepreneurial story is becoming the stuff of legend in Detroit. The Detroit native quit a good job teaching French, cashed out her 401k and took the chance of her life by opening Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes in a former hole-in-the-wall hotdog stand behind the Boll YMCA in downtown Detroit. That was […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Entrepreneur bets on Detroit, urbanism
If you have taken a tour through downtown Detroit, there is a good chance you have walked through Claire Nelson’s shop, Bureau of Urban Living. Bureau, as it’s commonly known, is an Urban Outfitters-style boutique with high-end housewares carrying an urban, Detroit theme. It’s in a small space on the ground floor of the Canfield […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
TechTown broadens focus from high-tech
Wayne State University’s TechTown was intended to incubate high-tech when it was christened a decade ago. However, a survey of the 63 tenants now operating out of the 84-year-old, 120,000-square-foot former Chevy Creative Services building in central Detroit shows nearly two-thirds are doing things other than high-tech. The survey by Bridge Magazine shows life sciences, […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.