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If West Michigan is to be known as a design-centric region, then businesses and organizations here need to embrace design as one of the region’s intangible economic assets.

In an Upjohn Institute/Design West Michigan survey of 376 West Michigan firms last November, 75 percent of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that the success of their business will rely on being able to compete on design, whether for products or services. Local respondents even rated design as more important to their success than factors including reduced regulation and engineering waste out of current processes. A quarter of respondents said they were likely to hire a new designer over the next five years.

Design plays a crucial role in West Michigan’s economic future and the ability of local companies to remain globally competitive and find talent.

In short: Design Matters.

MiBiz spoke with a variety of designers and design thinkers to find out why.

Architect: Brian Koehn>>

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• bryan koehn
• design west michigan
• kim
• oliver evans
• upjohn institute
• william fluharty
• yang