Displaying items tagged: Muskegon Community College

West Michigan colleges and universities saw significant leadership turnover during the spring, bringing in a new crop of presidents as workforce development proves crucial during a widespread talent crunch.

KALAMAZOO — When it first opened in 2008, the Can-Do Kitchen in Kalamazoo provided an avenue for budding food entrepreneurs to take their businesses outside of their homes and into a professional kitchen.

On Sept. 20, Ken James will move to a newly created administrative role at Muskegon Community College to help lead the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy. To James, that means serving four distinct constituencies: students, faculty and staff, the community at large, and businesses.

Muskegon Community College President Dale Nesbary plans to retire at the end of the coming academic year. Nesbary is set to retire in June 2022, ending 12 years as president of MCC and 44 years in higher education and research.

MUSKEGON — Kaja Thornton-Hunter unknowingly laid the groundwork for her young business several years ago when she hosted a crab boil at her home.

MUSKEGON — A new partnership is bringing Michigan State University’s resources and expertise in food processing to companies and entrepreneurs throughout West Michigan.

CALEDONIA — Dan Vukcevich admitted that his only previous farming experience was growing up on a cattle farm that never made any money.

Not many designers — if any — feature a portfolio of work quite like Joey Ruiter.

MUSKEGON — An 8,000-square-foot food processing business incubator in Muskegon is now open and accepting new tenants.

West Michigan community colleges saw thousands of applications through the Futures for Frontliners program unveiled by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year to cover tuition for workers deemed essential during COVID-19 shutdown orders.

A West Michigan food processing research center and incubator is among beneficiaries of federal grant funding to bolster small businesses in West and Southwest Michigan.

Under the guidance of Executive Director Marty Gerencer, the West Michigan Food Processing Association incorporated as a 501(c)(6) in February with a multi-pronged approach to support the food industry across a five-county region.

The heads of two West Michigan public health agencies say they are unconcerned about the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases here as death tolls remain relatively flat and hospitals haven’t reached capacity.

A line in Bronson Methodist Hospital’s emergency state filing to temporarily add 300 beds epitomizes the main challenge for boosting capacity for an expected surge in COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks.

Hospitals in the region plan to add hundreds of beds in anticipation of a surge of patients from the COVID-19 pandemic, MiBiz has learned.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s latest executive order grants hospitals and other care providers greater flexibility in how they use staff and students to treat COVID-19 patients.

While the labor crisis lingers in West Michigan, manufacturers are spending millions of dollars on upskilling their incumbent employees to keep up with growth. 

Colleges and universities from coast to coast are moving rapidly to close campuses and transition to virtual classrooms in lieu of face-to-face meetings as the spread of COVID-19 has transformed into a global pandemic. 

The talent needs of employers are a constantly moving target that requires companies to foster and maintain close ties with educators to keep up with the demands of the 21st century economy. 

MUSKEGON — With a $19 million convention center underway, several projects on the waterfront, a micro hotel and some mixed-use buildings, downtown Muskegon has become an epicenter of development activity along the lakeshore. 

Michigan ranked 20th in the nation 19 years ago in per-resident state funding for higher education.

Buying a site in the Grand Haven area gives Muskegon Community College a permanent campus location in northwestern Ottawa County. MCC took possession this month of a former funeral home location on Lincoln Street in Grand Haven Township, just west of U.S. 31. The college paid $378,000 for the property, where it plans to invest another $432,000 in renovations and start hosting classes beginning this fall.

MUSKEGON — By forming academic partnerships for a new medical clinic in Muskegon, Mercy Health aims to extend primary care where it’s needed and to create a talent pipeline of future health care workers.

MUSKEGON — Public and private partners hope to leverage existing assets as they move ahead with plans to develop a $15 million convention center in downtown Muskegon.

With a commercial real estate development pipeline that stretches into 2019, the forecast for the industry in West Michigan remains bright. MiBiz periodically checks in on the status of proposed developments. This report highlights several projects from around West Michigan and examines where they currently sit in the development pipeline.

A number of community colleges in West Michigan will partner with Michigan State University and other institutions across the state to offer joint certificate programs for students interested in the agricultural industry.

Amid growing demand for health care talent, the partners behind a medical assistant apprenticeship program now look to expand the model to other in-demand areas. 

Facing what they say is a dearth of qualified technical talent, manufacturers have been forced to get creative in developing their own internal training programs. But despite those efforts to fill the gap, companies still rely heavily on community colleges to train the next wave of workers. 

With developers facing a series of complications in creating a sustainable housing market in downtown Muskegon, city government decided to take the rare move and jump into the business of commercial real estate development.