GVSU survey hints at encouraging signs for West Michigan economy

By Brian Vernellis

GVSU Communications

After months of slumping economic performance, the West Michigan economy appears to be showing signs of growth again, according to a Grand Valley State University researcher.

Brian Long, director of supply chain management research at the Seidman College of Business, said his annual survey of regional purchasing managers and businesses showed some surprising results.

An encouraging sign

Several of the survey’s key indices — new orders index, production index and employment index — all trended upward in October, Long said.

“This month’s survey of new orders for West Michigan, which is our most closely watched index of business improvement, bounced back in October almost to a break-even point,” Long said. “One month doesn’t make a trend, but we can hope that the trend will continue next month.”

And, in the most encouraging sign of the region’s economy, the survey’s employment index rebounded into positive territory.

“In this month’s report, we got some good news from our West Michigan index of employment, which bounced back to positive,” Long said. “This implies that the industrial employment situation in West Michigan is now reasonably stable.”

Here’s a look at the key index results from October’s survey of West Michigan businesses: