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GRAND RAPIDS — Fast-track growth that powered the American economy in the 1990s has vanished, but business leaders determined to increase sales and hire more employees can achieve their dreams by “growing global.”

But exporting goods and establishing production and distribution facilities in other lands is a labor-intensive process that most small- and midsized companies don’t have the knowledge to pull off without some expert hand-holding.

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WEST MICHIGAN — The $100,000 was nice.

But just as valuable to Barry Nowak were the connections he made by participating in the 2011 Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest, an annual business plan competition that provides capital to young businesses in the state that can prove their mettle to judges.

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GRAND RAPIDS — Simple logic says when the economy is down, people and businesses aren’t as likely to spend. This means reduced production, layoffs and all kinds of belt-tightening.

Between the automotive and furniture sectors, West Michigan is highly dependent on the manufacturing industry for economic stability. With the hits manufacturers have taken from the recession, many companies are looking to market diversification to hedge against economic downturns. But despite companies’ best efforts, the region’s reliance on the office furniture and automotive sectors still hasn’t changed much since the recession took effect in 2007, said George Erickcek, senior regional analyst for the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

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Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM) will roll out its 2012 Michigan Turnaround Plan (MTP). The MTP is a holistic, fact-based strategy developed by BLM to make Michigan a "top ten" state for job, economic and personal income growth. Each year, BLM develops a work plan outlining the steps to be taken to advance the MTP, typically organized around the five-step structure of the MTP. This year's MTP will include a number of new recommendations and an important new sixth step that will lay out a 10+ year vision for growing the "New Michigan" economy.  Click on headline to watch video.

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Plans to update downtown Muskegon with mixed-use land development slowed to a crawl during the recession, but the pace is picking up, said Cathy Brubaker-Clarke, the city’s director of community and economic development. Brubaker-Clarke talked with MiBiz about recent strides and plans to keep Muskegon’s momentum going forward.

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GRAND RAPIDS — Companies in West Michigan have been increasingly focusing on how to help ex-criminal offenders, some of the region’s most disadvantaged workers, find a path to meaningful employment.

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GRAND RAPIDS — It seems a mystery: When you stay in a hotel, you can get high-speed wireless Internet in your room for the length of your stay. But move into an apartment or condo building, and you’ll likely need a modem, Ethernet cables and a one-year agreement with a phone or cable company.

Grand Haven’s Tyler van Houwelingen has solved that mystery for a West Michigan owner of several large multi-unit residential properties, including The Loft in downtown Grand Rapids. Together, they’ve started offering a connectivity service at The Loft that works just like the Wi-Fi at many high-end hotels, where they charge you for service rather than give it away.

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WEST MICHIGAN — Local businesses and city governments run side-by-side in every community in Michigan, but it’s much more of a challenge to make sure they work together.

A new study from the University of Michigan-Dearborn shows several West Michigan cities and townships have been succeeding at that challenge. Cities from Grand Haven to Marshall were recognized as four-star and five-star communities by iLabs, UMD’s Center for Innovation Research.

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ROCKFORD — “If you build it, they will come” was the premise Kevin Costner was banking on when he built his field of dreams.

For those involved with the “Everyone Wins” campaign, the hope is virtually the same.

The West Michigan Sports Commission and its partners are just $1.7 million shy of the $6 million needed to break ground on a proposed 12-field, championship-caliber baseball and softball complex just west of Rockford off U.S. 131 on 10 Mile Road.

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GRAND RAPIDS — When they first starting popping up at tech companies in the mid-2000s, digital dashboards were being hailed as the CEO’s killer app.