West Michigan: A Design-Centric Region
The economic future of West Michigan will depend on many factors. It’s a future that hinges, in part, on the results of key investments from business and industry, which will be measured in jobs created, the number of startup companies and the amount of corporate reinvestment. But other drivers aren’t as easily quantified.

With Kendall’s M.B.A. certificate in Design and Innovation Management, design talks business
While Ben Smith, design and marketing associate at Haworth Inc. in Holland, Mich., observes the term “design thinking” currently garners a trendy status, he thinks soon enough it will simply describe the way companies do business.

Why is design important to West Michigan?
I was very excited to hear about the WIRED initiative. I’m equally excited by the quality of members proposed for the advisory groups. I firmly believe that design is as essential as accounting, engineering and marketing in achieving positive business results and may even supersede its functional counterparts as we compete on a global scale. Thanks for supporting the design profession in general and in particular the West Michigan contingent. Did I mention I was excited?”

NewNorth Center for Design in Business: Helping companies realize the power of design
West Michigan isn’t about to sit back and wait for things to get better. It wasn’t brought up that way. With its strong work ethic, diversity of businesses, history of innovation, and culture of design, the region has always managed to move ahead, even as other areas of the state have fallen behind.

NewNorth: A good place to be
In 2007, when Nate Young was first asked to head the fledgling NewNorth Center, no one had to sell him on the area and its business community. Young had already co-founded a successful product design firm in Holland, Mich., and had spent 13 years in key design-related positions at Prince Corporation (later Johnson Controls).

NewNorth: Students gain fresh perspectives on innovation
“Whirlpool has a strong history in developing great products, but as our industry continues to globalize, it is very clear we need to be even more innovative to remain the market leader. It’s so important for companies to understand that innovation relies on the ability to use both rational and creative thinking. My challenge is to become a leader in the company showing how to access both those sides of the brain to develop innovative products. The Innovation Methods Certification has give

Kendall develops new B.F.A. in Design Collaboration
“The challenge for a practice-based program such as design is preparing students to participate in a professional world that can change very quickly. The successful people will be those who can define how those changes will happen, who have a broad base of knowledge, and are able to move beyond their own discipline and collaborate with people in other fields.”

Design West Michigan: Making connections
“We have a legacy of design here. It has shaped our environment, driven our economy, and fostered world-class innovation. We want design to be even more of an economic building block for the region and others to know that. We want that legacy to be an ongoing, living part of our identity.”