http://blog.rightplace.org Strengthening companies, creating jobs, building a region one step at a time Tue, 02 Oct 2012 13:58:27 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Last week, The Right Place business development team hosted eight site selection consultants, from around the country, for a three-day familiarization tour of the Grand Rapids metro area. For those unfamiliar with the profession, site selectors represent expanding and relocating companies, providing site location and business assistance services. They represent 40-60% ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=661 Recently, The Right Place had the opportunity to meet with one of Grand Rapids’ newest tech start ups, Ideomed. Ideomed is an innovative tech company that provides personalized managed health solutions. Both the company and individual technologies were created with the idea of combining web technology and mobile technology to ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=628 The Right Place, in collaboration with The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and Cascade Charter Township, announced today the approval of a $350,000 Michigan Business Development Program incentive from the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) that will enable one of West Michigan’s most well-known family-owned companies to move forward on a ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=624 [caption id="attachment_614" align="alignright" width="300" caption="(left to right) Mike Finney, Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC), Aurora Battaglia, Comerica; Maria Gabriella Zignone, Banca Sella Spa; Giuseppe Gradi, Intesa San Paolo S.p.a.; Governor Rick Snyder; Massimiliano Iguera, J.P. Morgan; Birgit Klohs, The Right Place; Mark Kinsler and Maureen Krauss, MEDC promote Michigan during ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=606 Trade missions to other countries have been a successful marketing strategy for The Right Place for over 25 years, and we were pleased to use that experience and contacts when asked to lead the planning and execution of  the trade mission to Germany and Italy announced earlier today. On the behalf of Governor ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=591 Like the U.S. and Canada, there was a time when Mexican manufacturers belived that China would overrun them. Today, that belief is changing. According to a recent Area Development article, Mexican manufacturers are experiencing the same rebound as their northern peers with OEMs re-examining the true cost of moving manufacturing to China. The article sites ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=570 The Michigan Corporate Relations Network (MCRN) is soliciting proposals for its Small Company Innovation Program (SCIP). The SCIP will provide cost-sharing grants to foster collaboration between MCRN universities and small-to medium-size companies on research projects for new commercial products or services. The six universities that make up MCRN are Wayne State ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=567 The Right Place Inc. continued its popular practice of hosting West Michigan medical device manufacturers during the Medical Design & Manufacturing West exposition and conference. Held in Anaheim, CA, MD&M West is one of the largest opportunities for thousands of medical device OEMs to connect with purchasing professionals representing nearly every ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=556 The company will start producing some the company’s NUTRILITE® products at a new three-story, $24 million manufacturing facility that is expected to be fully functional by second quarter 2013. The operation is moving to West Michigan from Lakeview, California. The new Michigan plant will employ more than 50 workers and support ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=552 A piece in yesterday’s Grand Rapids Press notes that in studying student performance on tests conducted by the National Assessment of Education Progress, researchers from Education Trust-Midwest, found that Michigan has lagged in education achievement for several years – ranking 23-35 in fourth-grade reading and 27-41 in fourth-grade math. Such ... http://blog.rightplace.org/?p=536