Posts by growthzone

Industry InvestED: The Power of Partnerships It’s no secret that employers in our area, and throughout the country for that matter, are finding it increasingly difficult to find enough candidates with the appropriate skills needed to fill open positions. One solution lies in exposing students to the vast array of careers available and helping them…

Taking on State Issues at our October Advocacy in Action Events October has been a busy month for Advocacy in Action. Between our Public Policy Committee Meeting and our Governmental Affairs Breakfast, we discussed topics from our state’s water systems, to mass transportation options to those darn roads. Both of those events also included reports…

Developing the Workforce of Tomorrow: Chamber Style The Chamber’s internal talent development comes in the form of our amazing student interns who represent local high schools and colleges, as well as connect with us through Careerline Tech Center. This fall we have welcomed Justin Freeman and Autumn Post to our team to support our Marketing…

2019 West Michigan Lakeshore Region Economic Update One of your Chamber benefits is access to tools that can help you make good decisions for your business. Economic forecasting is a key component for informing your strategic planning. Our partners at Lakeshore Advantage meet with over 300 business leaders each year and interview a strategic sampling of…

Strong Start to the New Season of Advocacy in Action Strong Start to the New Season of Advocacy in Action It’s been a strong start to our Advocacy in Action programs this week, with the first meeting of the Public Policy Committee and the kick off to our Governmental Affairs Breakfast. At Monday’s breakfast we…

New Chamber Board Members for 2019-2020 September marked the new program year, new fiscal year, and the welcome to three new Chamber Board Members. Our Board of Directors pulls leaders from a cross-section of industries, with an intentional emphasis on selecting members of diverse backgrounds, genders and ages, in order to get a well-rounded perspective…

Chamber Invests in the New Housing Pre-Development Fund The Holland/Zeeland Housing Pre-Development Fund has been created to cover pre-development costs to incentivize developers to add affordable housing in the Holland and Zeeland areas. Increasing affordable housing at all price points in Ottawa County has been a major topic of concern among business, municipal and philanthropic leaders…

Housing Choice vs Housing Affordability Housing Choice and Housing Affordability at all price points are not exactly the same thing, but they are integrally linked. I use both phrases often and recognize that it sometimes sounds as though they are interchangeable. It’s important to recognize some subtle and not-so-subtle differences. Housing Choice is the opportunity for the market (for-profit,…

Chamber Interns are the Workforce of the Future Share: Preparing the Workforce of the Future At our June Wake Up West Coast Breakfast, the hot topic was talent development. It’s no secret that employers across industries are finding it more and more difficult to fill employment vacancies, and educational institutions are actively developing programs to…

Talent Development is More than an Educational Issue. It’s a Community Issue. At our last Wake Up West Coast Breakfast event, a panel of higher education administrators took the stage to answer questions about the complex subject of talent development, and how they are preparing students for jobs available now and those projected for the…