Tag Archives: Manufacturing

Kentwood’s Lacks to host career fair Oct. 18 and 19

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Kentwood, Local Business, Our Cities, , , ,

By WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org

The loading dock at one of Lacks Enterprises manufacturing facilities. (WKTV)

Lacks Enterprises Inc. is hosting a Career Fair where the automotive supplier and one of West Michigan’s largest family-owned employers plans to interview candidates to fill a variety of open positions.

Lacks’ Career Fair is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, and from 2 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the Lacks Enterprises Employment Center, 4949 Broadmoor Ave. SE in Kentwood.

Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Lacks Enterprises provides interior and exterior plastic trim components and innovative wheel trim systems to the top global automotive manufacturers.

At its Career Fair, Lacks will conduct on-site interviews to fill a variety of general manufacturing, shipping and receiving, and skilled trades positions in its Grand Rapids and Kentwood facilities.

  

Applications will be available at the Career Fair, but attendees can expedite the process by submitting an application in advance at https://lacksenterprises.applicantpro.com/jobs/1850681.html.

Attendees are encouraged to bring documentation to complete an I-9 form should they be offered a position. I-9 Forms provide documentation to the employer to confirm their identity and authorization to work. The list of documents can be found at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents.

Employment is subject to the successful completion of Lacks Enterprises’ pre-screening activities, which includes drug testing, a background check and a physical. Lacks Enterprises will coordinate the physical.

For more information, contact the Lacks Enterprises Employment Center at (616) 554-7812 or visit Workatlacks.com.

Lacks Enterprises is the fourth largest privately held employer in West Michigan and has more than 2,500 people at facilities in Kentwood and Novi, as well as Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea. Lacks business units—Lacks Trim Systems, Lacks Wheel Trim Systems and Plastic Plate, LLC—specialize in applying Lacks’ innovative décor finishes, production experience and testing capacity to the unique needs of its customers.

Toothbrush Manufacturer Bringing Jobs Back Stateside

Local Business, Our Cities, , ,

Ranirmike_dewittWhile many companies are sending their manufacturing overseas, the City of Kentwood is set to receive a shot in the arm with hometown company Ranir bringing jobs back home.

Ranir, the largest manufacturer of store brand toothbrushes, is switching up gears and bringing its manufacturing from China to the company’s headquarters in Kentwood.

By bringing manufacturing back to Michigan, Ranir will create nine new jobs initially. The plant will make about 5 million brush heads per year. Both of those numbers have the potential to grow as the plant grows in the coming years.

While it’s always a
nice story to bring jobs back home, Ranir has found a way for the numbers to make sense and justify leaving the cheap labor costs in China. Greg McCormick, Ranir’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, cited the simplification of the supply chain using technology.

“We figured out a way to automate the production by using technology to simplify the design,” explained McCormick, “It takes the complexity out of the supply chain and reduces the amount of shipping time to our customers.”

What China offers in labor costs, Ranir was able to make up in shipping time and technologic
al advancements.

Ranir started in Kentwood over 30 years ago and the company relishes the opportunity to bring work back home.

“It’s very exciting to bring manufacturing back to Michigan!” exclaimed McCormick, “What we’re doing is truly new to world innovation. A lot of major brand names haven’t been able to do this with their products. We are the number one player in retail brush heads, and we’ve been able to figure it out! This gives us an opportunity to bring more jobs home.”