Innovation + Job News

A year ago, Grand Rapids-based Legacy Trust planned to double its assets under care from $250 million to $500 million in three years. But as the economy tanked, company leaders decided to continue the firm's growth by taking a different approach.

"We went to our board earlier this year and said this is not the time to put your brakes on, it's time to hit the accelerator," says Bob Prevette, president and co-founder. "We all needed to put sales and marketing back at the top of our agendas and we needed someone to keep us focused on that very important mission."

So the company created its first director of marketing and sales position, and hired Barbara B. Paneral to bring her 25 years of banking and brokerage experience to the firm.

"When we were just getting started, we were all rainmakers. Everything we did every day had an element of sales because we had a lot of time on our hands," Prevette says. "As you begin to add talent to your team of people, you do reach a place as executives where your time is more consumed handling the day-to-day needs of the business."

In addition, company leaders renewed their intent to acquire another financial services firm, beefed up advertising in the lakeshore market, developed a brand guide, launched a new web site and set a new goal to double assets within the next four years.

"We acquired capital from new shareholders and from existing, and that is still in the bank," Prevette says. "We are on the watch for good strategic acquisitions from Grand Rapids and around the lakeshore. When these opportunities present themselves you have to be ready for them and we think we are."

Source: Bob Prevette, Legacy Trust; Mary Ann Sabo, Sabo Public Relations

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

A number of West Michigan manufacturers say they're attempting to add new revenue streams by diversifying into industries such as aerospace, defense and government contract work.
But while their production lines might stand ready to generate new products, some business owners have yet to make the crucial connections with clients who will generate the work.

For the past four years, Holland-based Balanced Enterprise Solutions (BES) has made those connections for dozens of manufacturers, and, in the process, has grown from a two-man operation to nine full-time employees.

Company co-founder Don Mulder brought on three new partners in January, followed by a business development director, a mechanical engineer and an electrical engineer.

"My background is in defense, aerospace and government contract work," Mulder says. "But the business has morphed into enterprise assessment, enterprise improvement and enterprise growth."

BES solves problems for manufacturers, says Mulder. They can help a company learn and apply lean principles or act as a customer interface point to capture new business in a variety of markets, including medical devices and consumer goods.

"VIO from Marquette had a portable helmet- and car-mounted digital video recorder ready to launch and wanted a Midwestern manufacturer," Mulder says. "We started with 15 suppliers and narrowed it to four, then did site assessments and they chose a manufacturer."

BES created the documentation needed for Precision Aerospace to land a $2.5 million Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credit in August 2008, and helped JB Laboratories implement lean manufacturing principles.

"We're working with large aerospace companies in Des Moines and Boston, helping them capture additional Department of Defense business," Mulder says. "We have two people onsite in Oklahoma City, which is a large Air Force base depot where they repair all the jet engines."

Source: Don Mulder, Balanced Enterprise Solutions

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Ron Alvesteffer, president of Service Express, Inc. (SEI) wrote and published a new e-book in conjunction with Nashville, Tennessee-based Tanner Corporate Services, The SEI Way, Values and Practices Of A Growing Company.

Five percent of SEI's business is installing and maintaining servers and computer hardware. The other 95 percent is selling and fulfilling service agreements to companies of 100 employees or more.

Alvesteffer says SEI's high-touch customer service yields a 98 percent customer retention rate.

"Businesses seem to be going low-touch, no-touch with self-serve checkout lanes and ticket kiosks at airports," he says. "We're running in the opposite direction. We're finding ways to spend more time with our customers."

The 49-page book shares SEI's vision, values, core objectives and success stories – including methods to help employees achieve their personal goals. Alvesteffer says helping every employee achieve his/her goals establishes an employer/employee shared mindset to grow the business. A short video introduces each chapter.

"I don't think there's any brand new approach to business in the book," Alvesteffer says. "It's just going out there and doing what we say we're going to do. It sounds easy but it's hard work."

In 2009 alone, SEI added 22 jobs in seven states – nine of those jobs are in West Michigan. The company filled seven, and still seeks a field service engineer and a software engineer.

Even in this challenging economy, SEI is on-track for 20 percent growth this year, which equates to about $4 million in revenue.

Source: Ron Alvesteffer, Service Express, Inc.

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

It's not out yet, but Komitt Technologies' Kipp Bronk is confident it will get Apple's stamp of approval in time for a summer release.

"It" is a first-ever iPhone/iPod Touch application for the popular Frame Games puzzles created by Terry Stickels. Until now, the puzzles have been available only through Stickels' books, USA Today columns and calendars.

For years Bronk, a software developer and owner/founder of Komitt Technologies, Inc., has collected the puzzles and hung onto them thinking he'd do something with them someday. While thumbing through the file a few months ago, he decided that now is the time. His research brought him to Stickels. They developed a business relationship and worked out a deal to bring Frame Games to the iPhone.

"This application is about the Frame Games component and about Terry," Bronk says. "He's a brilliant man and these puzzles are very fun. We expect them to be very popular when they come out."

The application package includes 300 preloaded puzzles for $2.99. Bronk is also considering offering a limited number of puzzles at no cost so users can try it out before purchasing an add-on package. New functionality in the iPhone 3.0 OS allows users to purchase new content directly from the application, which will be 3.0 compatible. The applications will be available for purchase through iTunes once Apple has approved them.

Komitt Technologies has other iPhone applications on the market, for example, iCongress which allows users to put politicians on speed dial, NetPay, a paycheck estimator that calculates deductions and pay rates, and National Debt Plus which tries to put the national debt in perspective using graphics.

Source: Kipp Bronk, Komitt Technologies, Inc.; Craig Clark, Clark Communications

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Photo:

Screen shot of new iphone app Frame Games -Courtsey Photo

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

College graduates holding degrees in software technology and related fields have an unprecedented opportunity in Michigan to land a high-paying job.

Many experienced software engineers have left the state due to the economic challenges facing employers, opening the door to a wide variety of technology positions at companies that need the expertise.

So says Tech Trends prophet Keith Brophy, former owner of NuSoft Solutions and now general manager of the Enterprise Integration Solutions division of RCM Technologies, a nationwide software solutions company. The division currently seeks five software developers for the Grand Rapids office, but is having a tough time finding the talent. Brophy's theory is that qualified grads don't know where to find the jobs.

"The software talent doesn't realize how many opportunities there are," he says, "Because there's such a broad range of positions, it's hard to fully describe them. If a candidate fresh out of college goes to one of the online jobs boards, they might not even search under the right category."

The categories include web developer, database developer, analyst, user interface specialist, software tester and software architect. Brophy says these jobs can pay entry level wages of $40,000 and progress to more than $100,000 for experienced talent. And advancement comes very fast,

"The reason for the fast advancement is the very strong ripple effect when these jobs are created," says Brophy. "You hire the people, get them active in creating custom software, that software solution drives more opportunity for the business and more sales, and that, in turn, drives growth and jobs."

Brophy suggests software engineers looking for jobs should attend one of the area technology groups like aimWEST, West Michigan .Net User Group or the West Michigan SharePoint Users Group to build relationships with people in the industry.

"If you meet 10 people there, the need for talent is so great you'd probably come away with job opportunities," he says.

Source: Keith Brophy, RCM Technologies; Kate Washburn, Wondergem Consulting

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Grand Rapids-based Wolff Group, a food service sales and marketing agency, recently announced the acquisition of three food industry companies serving central and southern Ohio, Cleveland and Kentucky. The acquisitions position Wolff Group, formerly Steiner-Wolff, to develop an expansive network operating from a single point of contact across the four new regions and Michigan.

Wolff Group, 525 Ottawa, acquired A.W. Schroder Company, Enterprise Food Brokers and Parsley Marketing for undisclosed amounts.

"We represent the manufacturer," says Mike McDonald, senior vice president and CFO. "We sell and market their goods for them in certain geographies. That way they don't have to have their own sales people in the market.

"To have locations in several states, historically a manufacturer would go to each market and sell to their customers. Now they can simply come into the Grand Rapids office and we'll execute a sales plan for them across these areas."

McDonald says recognizable local companies Gordon Food Service and Sysco are Wolff Group's two largest clients.

"These acquisitions have created two jobs we're already filled," McDonald adds. "We're scheduled to hire four more in West Michigan this year, for customer service, financial, administrative and business development positions. We also have two new jobs in the Detroit office."

In addition, the company brought aboard all existing employees of the acquired companies, bringing Wolff Group's employment rolls to about 60. McDonald expects the firm to generate some $250 million in sales this year.

Source: Mike McDonald, Wolff Group; Tim Sipols, Amanda Passage, Lambert, Edwards & Associates

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

A West Michigan refractory maker seized an opportunity to use the company's concrete expertise in the infrastructure industry, creating a company division that landed new clients and created jobs.

Empire Solutions, formerly Empire Refractory Services, 2000 Byron Center Ct. SW, Wyoming, achieved certification with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and garnered several jobs repairing roads and bridges since the beginning of the year. That prompted the addition of a full-time sales person, with company officials looking ahead to adding other new positions.

"We expect to add six to seven positions for sales, superintendents, brick layers and concrete workers over the next couple of years," says Greg Peak, president. Empire has offices in Gary, Ind. and Cleveland, but launched the infrastructure division in Michigan with plans to expand it to Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

"Our guys work with concrete and chemical-bonded repairs, gunite, sandblasting, shotcrete and waterproof coatings for concrete coatings, plus they have to have basic bricklaying skills," Peak says.

Empire Solutions has repaired barrier walls on M-59 and a bridge deck on M-21 over the Grand River near Ada. Peak predicts the company can save MDOT money by repairing damaged bridges for less cost than the price of replacing them.

"We're also looking at water treatment plants as a good potential customer because the concrete tanks sometimes leak," he says. "It's not glamorous work, but we can preserve the tanks."

Concrete materials gain strength over the first seven years, but they begin to deteriorate after than, Peak says. Based on the number of concrete structures, roads and municipal and county water treatment plants in the state, he predicts increasing opportunities for work. And his vision doesn't stop at the state's borders.

"I'm exploring opportunities with the big guys like the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Highway Administration," he says.

Source: Greg Peak, Empire Solutions; Kim Bode, 834 Design & Marketing

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

The Grand Valley Surgical Center is the first in West Michigan to perform partial knee replacement surgery on an outpatient basis. Performing the surgeries on an outpatient basis enables patients to recover quicker in the comfort of their own homes, reduces the amount of anesthesia needed and costs thousands of dollars less than the inpatient procedure.

Since April, Dr. Peter Vasiu, an orthopedic surgeon with Grand Rapids Orthopedics, has performed three successful surgeries at the center, 2680 Leonard Street.

The surgeon removes a limited amount of arthritis-damaged bone from the thigh bone and a limited amount from the upper leg bone where they meet inside the knee. Metal caps provide a smooth surface where the bone was removed; a high density polyethylene spacer keeps the caps from rubbing together and provides cushioning.

"The patient can walk on it right away, and with the nerve blocking anesthesia we use, it should be initially not painful at all," says Dr. Vasiu. "There is some swelling and aching, but patients need only pain pills and it goes away as it heals. The physical therapist goes to the patient's home to provide treatment."

Dr. Vasiu says a very select group of people qualify for the surgery. Prospective patients can have arthritis only inside, outside or under the knee cap,  they have to have intact functioning ligaments, and they can't be morbidly obese.

"Usually when something's newer and exciting, it's more expensive," Dr. Vasiu says. "I think it's a novel thing that this procedure costs about $10,000 less than having it done as an inpatient with a hospital stay."

Source: Dr. Peter Vasiu, DO, Grand Rapids Orthopedics; Brian Mack, Grand Valley Health Plan

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

The recent expansion of Livonia-based MetroPCS to Grand Rapids has generated some 58 jobs in the new Grand Rapids office and throughout its 50 authorized dealer locations in Grand Rapids, Holland and Muskegon. The jobs include sales, marketing, networking, engineering and IT positions, and positions at a new MetroPCS-owned store at 4545 28^th Street, Kentwood.

"MetroPCS is unique in that we offer an alternative to wireless phone services that require contracts, deposits and credit checks," says Glen Flowers, vice president and general manager, MetroPCS Michigan. "We build in the populous places where people live, work and play. There are people who have a specialized skill set within the industry, and we were extremely fortunate with the caliber and quantity of skilled people we had available to hire in West Michigan."

The Grand Rapids office, 5800 Foremost Drive SE, is the company's first foray into West Michigan. MetroPCS Communications bills itself as the nation's leading provider of unlimited wireless communications service and boasts 6.1 million subscribers nationwide.

"Everything we do is unlimited," Flowers says. "Our pay in advance service allows customers to have a fixed rate plan every month. They pay by the month, not by the minute, and we intend to grow that footprint. There's a trend with people cutting the cord and going wireless and we're really capitalizing on that trend and getting great growth from it."

Flowers adds that a planned expansion in into Kalamazoo and Battle Creek will create additional jobs, but did not have a launch date.

Source: Glen Flowers, MetroPCS Michigan

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Ivy Hughes

What started as a one-man engineering consulting company based out of a Grand Rapids basement, has turned into an embedded systems engineering powerhouse that’s rapidly expanding and looking to penetrate national markets.

Grand Rapids-based DornerWorks is investing $1.5 million over five years to create 50 jobs in the embedded systems engineering market.

On Tuesday, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation awarded the firm a state tax credit valued at $600,398, which encouraged DornerWorks to expand within the state.

“The goal is to expand our facility in Grand Rapids,” says David Dorner, president of DornerWorks. Dorner expects the company to add 10 new employees a year for the next five years. “We want to double in size and employee base.”

DornerWorks works provides embedded systems engineering for the aerospace, medical device and automotive industries. A very basic example of an embedded systems engineering device is the one placed in a child’s shoe, causing the shoe to light up when the child walks.

Currently, DornerWorks’ customers are within a three-hour driving distance of company headquarters. Dorner expects the demand for DornerWorks’ services to increase vastly once the company engages in a national business campaign.

“We have a good reputation locally and we want to leverage those relationships to get national recognition,” he says.

Though Dorner doesn’t have any immediate plans to expand his facilities, he expects the five-year growth strategy to include a physical expansion. 

Grand Rapids-based Right Place Inc. worked with the state and DornerWorks to garner the tax credit.

Source: David Dorner, DornerWorks; Right Place, Inc.

Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

A Grand Rapids pharmaceutical research firm announced this week that preliminary data from its Phase IIa clinical trials indicate its lead compound, MSDC-0160, lowers blood glucose levels without the side effects of weight gain or edema – common side effects of medications currently on the market.

Metabolic Solutions Development Co., which has offices in Grand Rapids and a laboratory in Kalamazoo, conducted the nationwide tests on nearly 100 diabetics over a 28-day period.

"This was our first study with the lead compound in a diabetic population," says Mark Olesnavage, CEO. "It significantly lowered blood glucose versus a placebo and it was very nice to see a nice rise in HDL cholesterol. We used Actos as a comparator, HDL rises with Actos as well, and those patients did have some weight gain."

In addition, MSDC-0160 did not decrease circulating blood cell levels, unlike Actos.

"We can't draw conclusions with this number of people over this short period of time, but Phase IIb will be longer and will involve between 250 and 300 people," Olesnavage says. "Phase IIb will begin by the end of the year, and might include international sites."

One of the complications with diabetes is cardiovascular disease and most patients succumb to the disease due to cardiovascular issues. Metabolic must show that the compound is not going to increase cardiovascular disease.

Metabolic began developing the compound in 2006. Olesnavage points out that the drug, as yet unnamed, is many years and many millions of dollars from market, if favorable test results continue to move development forward.

Source: Mark Olesnavage, Metabolic Solutions Development Company; Nick Wasmiller, Seyferth & Associates

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

A group of 20 Grand Rapids professionals have formed a coalition to help new and emerging companies do business with the region's growing medical sector. The group consists of a variety of services new businesses need to find and lease commercial space, to handle human resources issues, to market the company – even to interpret foreign languages and cultural norms.

The coalition, Medical Mile Resource Group (MMRG), allows representation from only one professional from a given industry, but focuses on attracting professionals from a wide base of service sectors.

"I knew how the West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative incubator was working to help life sciences companies grow, and it was obvious those companies are going to be looking for space and hiring people," says Paul Spoelstra, owner of Paul C. Spoelstra & Associates and founder of MMRG with Tony Pearson, True North Real Estate & Property Management and Scott Goss, Action COACH Business Coaching.

"I started thinking, who's going to help with the spinoff and help those people assimilate into Grand Rapids," Spoelstra says.

And while the group has "medical mile" in its name, its geographic focus is broader than just Grand Rapids' Michigan Street where medical development is booming. The group recognizes that the growth of the medical community will generate jobs in non-medical business sectors such as transportation, financial and lending services, restaurants and housing. MMRG sees this growth impacting all of West Michigan.

"If Tony (Pearson) finds out a new firm needs office or lab space, he'll help them find the spot," Spoelstra says. "And if a company is expanding, the human resources experts will help them with hiring, or the cultural and language interpreter can help them get acclimated to the area."

Source: Paul C. Spoelstra, Medical Mile Resource Group; Craig Clark, Clark Communications

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

This last year, Grand River Preparatory High School, Kentwood, had a lot of class -- and in the 2009-2010 school year it will have even more.

That's because the school launched last year with only a freshman class, but this fall new freshmen are coming in and the current students will become the school's first sophomores. That has created a need for six full-time and two part-time sophomore-level teachers and one administrative position.

Two of the positions, the history/political science position and the math position, are already filled with teachers who are relocating to West Michigan after moving away to pursue teaching careers.

"These are folks that, to find jobs, had to leave the state and have been looking for opportunities to return," says David Angerer, principal. "The political science teacher has been teaching for five years in California, and the math person has been teaching at a private college prep school in Racine, Wisconsin. That's a common story with the people I've been interviewing, which is a great position for me who's hiring and looking for good people."

Angerer is also looking for persons to teach English, Spanish, Latin, science/biology, physical education and special education.

"The folks that are teaching at Grand River Prep are here because it's a new school and we're creating a new program," Angerer says. "It's a unique opportunity for people who want to create and work hard to get this program up and running."

Grand River Prep is the sole high school-only charter school in the region. The school has 150 openings for freshmen; so far, 170 students have applied. The school will select the students by lottery.

Source: David Angerer, Grand River Preparatory High School; John Zimmerman, Seyferth & Associates

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Just eight months ago, attorney Stephen Hilger launched Stephen A. Hilger, PC in his East Grand Rapids home office. Business is going so well Hilger recently moved his firm to a downtown Grand Rapids location that has space for the law firm to grow, and he's negotiating with other attorneys to bring one on board.

"My idea and business model is to grow the business with people who are like-minded on the professional and business side," Hilger says, "and build a boutique practice specializing in construction and real estate law."

Hilger was born in New Jersey and grew up in New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida. He came to Grand Rapids in 1991 and joined Rhoades McKee. Because of his interest in construction and real estate law, he made it a point to make sure his new space at 49 Monroe Center exudes an architect-esque feel.

"The office is a loft space that's very different than what you'd expect a law firm to be," Hilger says. "It looks more like an architect's business. I'm an avid photographer and I have a no-diploma rule here; we'll not hang any diplomas, just artwork and some of my photography."

The office décor also reflects Hilger's love of archery and music. His archery skills landed him a spot on the 2008 Olympic team, but, instead of going to the Olympics, he chose to stay home and continue building momentum for his blues band, The Steve Hilger Band. The band will close out Festival of the Arts' Friday night festivities at Rosa Parks Circle.

"Grand Rapids is where I've developed a good practice, a strong client base and I'm having fun," Hilger says. "West Michigan has been good to me."

Source: Stephen Hilger, Stephen A. Hilger, PC

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Metro Health launched its radiation oncology services last autumn, and, since then, the service has attracted twice the number of patients the hospital expected to serve in its first 12 months. That generated the need for a second radiation oncologist to expand services for patients.

Terri Bott-Kothari, M.D., a former investigator in radiation oncology for the children's oncology group at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, joined the Cancer Care Center at Metro Health Village last week.

The new position is a dual appointment to the cancer center, 5950 Metro Way, Wyoming and the University of Michigan Department of Radiation Oncology.

"This is a joint venture with U of M," says Brian Jepson, CIO. "Radiation oncologists are credentialed through both. When patients come for cancer care and radiation therapy, there's video conferencing between Metro physicians and U of M physicians, so our patients receive care from the University of Michigan health system. We have the same equipment here, the same clinical protocols. Before we offered this service, some patients were actually travelling to Ann Arbor on a daily basis over six to eight weeks for treatment."

Jepson says the addition of Dr. Bott-Kothari enables the cancer center to handle the current 30 to 35 radiation oncology patients, and will help meet increased demand going forward.

"When we're starting to treat 40 patients in the treatment program we'll have to start thinking about adding a second unit, adding a second linear accelerator," Jepson says.

The Metro Health radiation oncology program is part of a statewide radiation oncology network. If there's a need to grow, the hospital can tap radiation oncologists from other health care systems to cover the increased need until new physicians are in place.

"We're staying ahead of the growth," he says, "so there's no access issue as far as being treated here at Metro."

Source: Brian Jepson, Metro Health; Mary Ann Sabo, Sabo Public Relations

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.