Bill Stough
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CEO, Sustainable Research Group LLC
Grand Rapids
Stough was among a small group of local businessmen and environmentalists that founded the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum in 1996. He went on to help form other sustainability groups across the state and consults with manufacturers looking to improve their efficiency and environmental footprint.
“In Western Michigan, manufacturers are again busy and many companies are working at full capacity filling pent-up demand. The change from where the market was last year to where it is going now has offered a welcomed relief to the manufacturing sector, which is now beginning to think longer-term about how to compete when global conditions stabilize as well. In the coming year, I hope manufacturers will pay serious attention to the coming spike in raw material, energy and water costs caused by global market demand from new consumers in developing countries competing for basic commodities like wood, oil, plastic and steel. My New Year wish is that companies will work with their customers and suppliers to become more sustainable in the use, reuse and end-of-life impacts of their products and operations so they can out-compete offshore firms that are not prepared to compete in a resource-constrained world.”