Tag Archives: increase

Biannual regional economic snapshot reveals expected growth in 2022

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Local Business, , , ,

By WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org

The Right Place team that lead the survey included Brent Case, Vice President, Business Attraction; Eric Icard, Senior Director, Business Development, Olivia Lancto, Coordinator, Business Development, and Rafael Martinez, Manager Business Intelligent and Research (Supplied)

West Michigan business leaders are reporting strong confidence in the health of their companies and the economy at large, according to a March survey of 138 local companies by The Right Place.

Over the course of a year, The Right Place typically meets with more than 400 local companies. However, the economic development organization recently began intensifying its outreach by committing to meet with at least 100 companies in March and October of 2022. During these meetings, Right Place team members talk with companies about their plans and any barriers to growth they may be facing. While the details of individual meetings are confidential, The Right Place gathers qualitative data in aggregate form to provide a snapshot of regional business sentiment.

 

“In March, our team met with the leaders of 138 area companies, which is the highest number of business visits ever recorded by The Right Place in a single month,” said Randy Thelen, President and CEO, The Right Place, Inc. “Through these meetings we were able to provide customized business assistance while gaining valuable insights on the health of our local economy. Overall, we see an optimistic business community planning for continued growth through 2022.”

Key findings include:

Companies are projecting growth

The majority of companies (57%) reported they have plans to expand. This growth typically includes increased headcounts or capital expenditures, and is an indication that area business leaders are feeling confident in the future. Specifically, 46% of companies indicate they plan to increase their rate of hiring.

Increasing sales

With pandemic restrictions subsiding, consumers continue to spend more, slowing only slightly since the last snapshot report in June 2021. Most area companies (73%) are reporting increasing sales. Of the remaining companies, 23% reported stable sales, and only 4% reported a decrease in sales.

The talent challenges may be shifting

Recruiting talent to open positions remains a persistent challenge, with 48% reporting difficulties. However, this is down slightly from last June, when 53% reported difficulties. Instead, 52% of companies reported no recruitment issues in March.

Increasing investment in employee training

In response to recruitment challenges, 39% of employers are reporting increased investment in training for their existing workforce, with the goal of raising retention rates.

Of the businesses surveyed, the majority employ under 100 with annual revenues between $1 million and $99 million. The businesses surveyed represent a global workforce of 656,534 people. Specifically, 76% employ under 100, 20% employ between 100-500, and 4% employ over 500. The revenue ranges included 26% of companies between $1 million and $9.9 million in sales, 31% between $10 million and $99.9 million, 9% over $100 million, and 1% over $1 billion.

The Right Place’s coverage area includes Kent, Ionia, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Newaygo, Lake, and Oceana counties. The organization primarily serves businesses in the advanced manufacturing, technology, and health sciences industries.

A Wyoming wedding vendor, like others in the industry, struggle to keep up with demand

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, Food, Hard News, Local Business, Local Food, Recreation, Restaurants, , , , ,

By Lindsay M. McCoy
Capital News Service

LANSING – “We’ve been in business for 37 years, and this is definitely the craziest season we have ever seen,” said Kevin Humphrey.

While there have been more requests to book Adeline Leigh’s services than in an average year, the company had to reduce the number of weddings booked this year to deal with worker shortages. (Supplied)

Humphrey is the office manager for Adeline Leigh Catering, a Wyoming business located at 1132 Chicago Dr. SW, that prepares food for hundreds of weddings each year.

Across the state, vendors like florists and caterers are preparing for a frantic 2022 season as the number of weddings is up 15% nationally from normal, according to Wedding Report data.

While there have been more requests to book Adeline Leigh’s services than in an average year, the company had to reduce the number of weddings booked this year to deal with worker shortages.

“We actually cut back to mediate labor issues,” said Humphrey.

Humphrey said the business is also ensuring employees’ time-off requests are honored to keep workers on board.

Adeline Leigh has booked approximately 300 weddings for the upcoming months, about 100 fewer than in 2019.

“There was a point where we were turning down 15 events a day, and not everyone was so understanding,” Humphrey said.

Kalin Sheick, the owner of Sweetwater Floral in Petoskey, said she expects a busier-than-normal season in the months ahead.

Sweetwater will provide floral arrangements for about 100 weddings this year across the state, which is an “immense jump” compared with previous years, said Sheick.

“We will usually average around 65 or 70 a year,” she said. “We only stopped at 100 because of staffing. We could have booked way more than that.”

Sheick said the store has hired additional staff to help tackle the increase, and it is training its employees to focus on taking care of themselves to prepare for the looming, long busy season.

“We know that we need extra help and need to support them as best as possible,” Sheick said.

Other problems vendors are preparing for are supply chain delays and a shortage of products.

“We’re feeling the impact of delay, just like every other industry,” she said. “Stuff that used to be easy to get – vases, hard goods and supplies – there’s a delay and you need to be patient.”

 

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many large flower farms shut down, causing a smaller supply of flowers, said Sheick.

When it comes to food, Adeline Leigh Catering has had to remove only a couple of items from its menu due to supply issues. (Supplied)

“It really squeezes the amount of product you’re able to get. But at the end of the day, there’s a flower shortage because there’s more weddings happening than ever before,” she said.

When it comes to food, Humphrey said it was lucky that his catering business had to remove only a couple of items from its menu.

The time and effort put into ordering supplies has greatly increased as well. What used to be an hour-long project for Humphrey now can take up to an entire work day, he said.

“We order from many suppliers, and it used to be ‘they’ve got the best price, we’ll go there.’ Now you have to find whoever has it,” Humphrey said.

Another change vendors are seeing is a growing number of events booked outside of the prime wedding season of May through October.

Shannon O’Berski, the director of external relations at Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester, says the event venue is handling more weddings on less typically booked days.

“We have seen an increase in interest in off-season events throughout the fall and winter,”O’Berski said. “And more couples are choosing to host Friday and Sunday weddings.”

Meadow Brook Hall is often booked for the entire season.

“We are certainly receiving many inquiries!,” O’Berski said, and reservations are already filling up for 2023.

 

Though the months ahead will be busy and stressful for wedding vendors, Sheick said her team at Sweetwater Floral is excited about the upcoming season.

“It’s just a really fun job and a good thing to be a part of.”

Capital News Service is provided by the Spartan News Room located at Michigan State University. CNS reporters cover state government for member newspapers and digital media outlets across the state of Michigan.

More kids in child care homes could help employment but some fear quality of care will suffer

Citizen Journalism, Local Business, Our Cities, ,
Should home child care programs be allowed to go from six to seven with one caregiver? This is what the state is considering. (pxhere.com)

By Zaira Magomedova
Capital News Service

LANSING — The capacity of family and group child care homes could be slightly increased by state lawmakers, but some critics worry that the change might harm the quality of day care services. 

Michigan family child care homes with one adult provider can accept no more than six children. Legislation introduced by Rep. Jack O’Malley, R-Lake Ann, would allow them to take seven. The number that could be looked after by group child care homes with two adult providers would expand from 12 to 14. The legislation is a part of the package aimed at enhancing the state child care system.

 

Family child care and group care homes are private residences that provide day care. Preschool curriculum is also offered by some of the providers.

“These bills are very, very important because child care in the state is in terrible shape,“ O’Malley said. “Seventy-five percent of children in Michigan live in areas with limited access to child care. In the bigger communities there are more centers, but it is not the case with rural areas, where centers are not that prevalent.”

The bills could improve the state’s employment, he said. “Employers are losing employees who don’t have access to day care. We are helping parents who cannot get a job because they have no place to put their children.”

 

The legislation could also bring back those providers who had to leave the day care business due to the hardships of the pandemic, he said.

The bills have bipartisan support.

 

“We do support all of the bills in the package, we are very excited about the bipartisan focus on child care,” said Alex Rossman, the Michigan League for Public Policy communications director. “However, we are a little apprehensive of changing the ratios of child care workers to children.”

His group advocates for a sunset that allows the law to be reevaluated after a period to decide if it should be extended or ended.

The national standard of group sizes in home-based child care is no more than six, Rossman said. That capacity is recommended by the National Fire Protection Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and National Association for the Education of Young Children.

 “I think that the bills were introduced in response to some of the challenges that child care providers have during the pandemic,” Rossman said. “So what we are advocating for is the ratio change to be done temporarily, as we are hopeful that the impact of the pandemic both on public health and the economy will be temporary.”

Day care providers say that how many children they can handle depends on their age.

“I do believe that one provider can care for seven children,” said LaTonya Glover, the owner of Bright Beginnings Child Care in Detroit. “However, it really depends on the number of caregivers that are there and the ages of children.”

Others are cautious about the change.

 

“Asking adults to take care of more children increases the risk of a problem occurring for those children and the adults,” said Lindsey Potter, the vice president of the Childcare Providers Association of Michigan. “When we go from caring for six to seven children, it increases the number of times we are in the restroom with children, or increases the number of food we are making for lunchtime.

“And all of those times are away from direct care for children.”

Although she understands the intent of the legislation, Potter said she prefers to “maintain small group sizes, so that adults and children can be well-respected instead of just adding more work in order to gain more money.”

According to the Michigan League for Public Policy, 44% of the Michigan population lives in child care deserts. That means that there are three times more children ages 0-5 than the number of licensed child care spots.


“This child care package is something we have been working on for several years,” O’Malley said. “We now have got a very nice basic compromise with the governor’s office, with Democratic colleagues in the House and the Senate, so I think we are in a good position.”