 Order Reprints
 Cheryl Gilliam, a 1982 graduate of the Michigan State University School of Packaging, has more than 30 years experience in packaging for the food and medical industries. The Portage resident holds seven U.S. patents. Gilliam is senior packaging engineer at the Kellogg Company, where she works on the Tony the Tiger brand. An endowed scholarship in Gilliam’s name is awarded to School of Packaging students. Gilliam, an All-American in track and field and winner of 13 Big Ten individual championships, is also president of the MSU Varsity Alumni “S” Club.
Order Reprints
 HOLLAND — Good things may come in small packages, but Coastal Container’s growing business is done in packages of many different sizes.
With the recent of acquisition of Best Packaging in Coopersville, the company’s growth has been steady since it was created four years ago. President and CEO of Coastal Container Brent Peterson said the acquisition will make Coastal a much stronger company and add to its stability and profitability as well as its cash flow.
Order Reprints
 EAST LANSING — The only conscious thoughts most people have about packaging come in flurries when they have a devil of a time opening one.
But packaging is a meticulously researched, highly specialized field thanks to the world’s largest and best-known packaging school at Michigan State University, which invented packaging as an academic discipline in 1952.
Order Reprints
 WEST MICHIGAN — The resurgence of the manufacturing sector, led by a strong recovery in the domestic auto industry, is surely welcome for Michigan after the loss of thousands of jobs over the years.
Yet like many economists, Robert Dye reminds people that the state’s economic future hinges on more than manufacturing and automotive production. In a recent economic outlook in Grand Rapids, the Comerica Inc. senior economist emphasized the need for continued efforts to diversify Michigan’s economy, even as the auto industry maintains solid momentum.
Order Reprints
 WEST MICHIGAN — The manufacturing sector grew in 2011 and there is no reason to believe that 2012 will be any different.
That’s according to Rich Antonini, managing partner of Plante Moran who concentrates his practice on that sector.
Order Reprints
 MUSKEGON — As West Michigan manufacturers complain about the dearth of qualified applicants to fill job openings, two institutions are working to bring their curricula in line to help fill the void.
The collaboration between Muskegon Community College and Western Michigan University Muskegon hopes to strengthen the connection between the two schools’ manufacturing programs.
Order Reprints
 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.
Order Reprints
WEST MICHIGAN — When old automotive factories close, communities don’t have to lose hope, according to a December 2011 report from the Center for Automotive Research on repurposing former automotive manufacturing sites.
Order Reprints
 WYOMING — Confidence in a strengthening manufacturing economy has led Lee Steel to make a $6 million investment in new, state-of-the-art equipment the company hopes will open the doors to new industries in West Michigan.
“This is more than just putting together a building and installing a piece of equipment,” said Lee Steel Blanking Division General Manager Ric Price. “This is an investment in the city; it is an investment in this community.”
Order Reprints
 ZEELAND — There’s marching to the beat of a different drummer, and then there’s making your own drums.
Despite being relatively unknown in its own backyard, Black Swamp Percussion Inc. of Zeeland makes drums and tambourines that musicians from around the world seek out, particularly because they’re domestically made.
Order Reprints
 GRAND RAPIDS — Like many companies in the automotive industry supply chain, Lacks Enterprises hopes to have finally put the bitter uncertainty of 2008 behind it.
The first layoffs in the company’s history are but a distant memory, as the company has added 600 employees since 2009. A rebounding auto industry has the manufacturer of
Order Reprints
 GRAND RAPIDS — With the ability to run a business from a backpack or laptop case, today’s knowledge workers have different workspace needs than previous generations of employees.
The dawn of powerful, portable computing meant that one device can take the place of the Rolodex, file cabinet and desk drawers. The laptop bag and its contents has become the primary instrument of the modern knowledge worker, but it doesn’t really have a good storage place in the office.
Order Reprints
 GRAND RAPIDS — Despite long-established companies’ deep pockets and resources dedicated to product innovation, they often struggle to innovate because their corporate cultures reward consistency and act to preserve the status quo.
To cure that tendency, Bissell Homecare Inc. decided to experiment and spin off a separate division that functioned like an entrepreneurially minded startup business.
|
|
