Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Michigan > Grand Rapids metro area
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-23-2018, 03:41 AM
 
Location: Mishawaka, Indiana
7,010 posts, read 11,971,589 times
Reputation: 5813

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by magellan View Post
I think you have to define "healthy market." Growth-wise it is outperforming every other market in the Midwest/Great Lakes area, even Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Columbus, averaging 2.5 - 3.0% annual new job creation/job growth over the last couple of years. Are wages up to par where they should be? I don't think so, but actually low labor costs and a mostly non-unionized workforce are some of the reasons that so many manufacturers are doing well here and aren't moving very much work overseas or to Mexico as was the trend in the 90's and 00's. Some still are but most are not.

But diversifying the economy is working and what used to a job market with 20%+ of workers in manufacturing is now only about 12 - 15%. Everyone here seems to be hiring, and I mean everyone. Giant billboards everywhere about job openings and starting pay. And with Amazon opening a distribution center soon, they need 1000 full time workers and are starting to advertise for it. Hopefully that will push wages up as employers compete for workers.
Source? I'm unable to find anything supporting the notion that Grand Rapids is the fastest growing city in the Midwest in job creation or population growth.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-23-2018, 08:15 AM
 
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
8,882 posts, read 19,849,212 times
Reputation: 3920
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdAilment View Post
Source? I'm unable to find anything supporting the notion that Grand Rapids is the fastest growing city in the Midwest in job creation or population growth.
I never said population growth. Population growth in the metro is modest at about 1% a year for the past 8 or 9 years.

Here's an article from last year talking about 2015-2016:

https://www.rightplace.org/blog/gran...nomy-in-the-us

This study just came out earlier in October:

https://wallethub.com/edu/fastest-growing-cities/7010/

You can sort the cities by "Jobs and Economy" and Grand Rapids is #22 with no other Midwest or Great Lakes metro area above them.



The methodology they used for the Jobs and Economy point system was:

Jobs & Economy - Total Points: 50
Job Growth: Double Weight (~7.41 points)
Increase in Ratio of Full-Time to Part-Time Jobs: Half Weight (~1.85 points)
Median Household Income Growth: Full Weight (~3.70 points)
Unemployment Rate Decrease: Full Weight (~3.70 points)
Poverty Rate Decrease: Full Weight (~3.70 points)
Growth in Regional GDP per Capita: Double Weight (~7.41 points)
Increase in Number of Businesses: Full Weight (~3.70 points)
Increase in Number of Startups: Full Weight (~3.70 points)
Increase in Venture Capital Investment Amount: Full Weight (~3.70 points)
Median House Price Growth: Full Weight (~3.70 points)
Building-Permit Activity Growth: Full Weight (~3.70 points)
Foreclosure Rate Decrease: Full Weight (~3.70 points)

Otherwise you can nerd-crunch data like I do and get it right from the Federal Government/BLS website:

https://www.bls.gov/eag/

After a bit of a slowdown this Summer, which coincided with the rest of the US, latest data puts it at 2.9% growth over September 2017.

You can also look at the St Louis Fed's website and compare GDP for metro areas.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NGMP24340

Grand Rapids' GDP grew by 45% since the end of the recession. Columbus was about 42%, Mpls about 30% and Indianapolis about 29%.

I don't really look at any other metros in the Great Lakes region because I know their numbers don't come close to the aforementioned 4 in most of the economic growth metrics. ie Chicago was 27%.

Last edited by magellan; 10-23-2018 at 09:08 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2018, 04:28 PM
 
Location: Seattle
513 posts, read 499,035 times
Reputation: 1379
I wonder if it is because Grand Rapids wasn't as entwined with the auto industry as Detroit, Flint and Lansing. They have always had a better mix of business types - Amway, Steelcase, etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2018, 06:29 PM
 
Location: Mishawaka, Indiana
7,010 posts, read 11,971,589 times
Reputation: 5813
Quote:
Originally Posted by jakebarnes View Post
I wonder if it is because Grand Rapids wasn't as entwined with the auto industry as Detroit, Flint and Lansing. They have always had a better mix of business types - Amway, Steelcase, etc.

I'm sure that had an awful lot to do with it. Sounds like Grand Rapids was still hit hard, just not as hard, and better positioned to rebound.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2018, 06:37 PM
 
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
8,882 posts, read 19,849,212 times
Reputation: 3920
Quote:
Originally Posted by jakebarnes View Post
I wonder if it is because Grand Rapids wasn't as entwined with the auto industry as Detroit, Flint and Lansing. They have always had a better mix of business types - Amway, Steelcase, etc.
That and a lot of employment in Grand Rapids now is food, financial and health-care related. Way more diversified than even 10 years ago. There are still a lot of automotive suppliers (and even a GM parts plant with about 900 workers).

The top 20 employers:

Spectrum Health (HQ) 25,000 General Medical & Surgical Hospitals
Meijer (HQ) 10,340 Supermarket Retail & Distribution
Mercy Health (Kent & Muskegon) 6,200 General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
Amway Corporation (HQ) 4,000 Consumer Goods Manufacturing
Gentex Corporation (HQ) 3,900 Glass Product Manufacturing for Automobile Industry
Perrigo Company 3,800 Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Herman Miller Inc. (HQ) 3,621 Office Furniture Manufacturing
Steelcase Inc.(HQ) 3,500 Office Furniture Manufacturing
Grand Valley State University (HQ) 3,306 Higher Education
Lacks Enterprises, Inc. (HQ) 2,800 Plastic Manufacturing for Automobile Industry
Grand Rapids Public Schools (HQ) 2,800 Elementary and Secondary Schools
Farmers Insurance Group 2,700 Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Carrier
SpartanNash (HQ) 2,585 Supermarket Retail & Distribution
Gordon Food Service (HQ) 2,544 Grocery and Related Products Merchant Wholesalers
Magna International Inc 2,500 Glass Product Manufacturing for Automobile Industry
Metro Health Hospital 2,400 General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
Ventra 2,384 Motor Vehicle Plastic Parts & Metal Stamping
Alcoa Howmet Corp. 2,350 Aerospace Instrument & Aircraft Engine Parts Manufacturing
Fifth Third Bank 2,280 Banking - Personal & Commercial
Priority Health (HQ) 2,250 Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers

Outside of that they don't list Hearthside Food Solutions which employs (I believe) over 2000 people in West Michigan and Kellogg's which also now employs over 1000 in the GR area. Which, if you eat Pop-Tarts or ANY brand of granola bar they are pretty much all made here now by contract food manufacturers.

And largest West Michigan service and financial institutions

Meijer (HQ) 10,343 Supermarket Headquarters, Retail & Distribution
Farmers Insurance Group 2,700 Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Carrier
SpartanNash (HQ) 2,585 Supermarket Headquarters, Retail & Distribution
Gordon Food Service (HQ) 2,544 Supermarket Headquarters, Retail & Distribution
Fifth Third Bank 2,278 Banking - Personal & Commercial
Priority Health (HQ) 2,250 Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers
Consumers Energy 1,500 Other Electric Power Generation
Amway Hotels (Amway, Courtyard, JW Marriott) (HQ) 1,315 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels
Booking.com 1,200 Travel agencies and services
Huntington National Bank 905 Banking - Personal & Commercial
Gun Lake Casino 900 Casino Hotels
Dialog Direct 789 Customer service contact center
Teleperformance 600 Customer Service Contact Center
Chemical Bank 450 Banking - Personal & Commercial
Macatawa Bank (HQ) 430 Banking - Personal & Commercial
Hastings Mutual Insurance (HQ) 423 Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Carriers
Wells Fargo 170 Banking - Personal & Commercial

Not sure why they don't have Lake Michigan Credit Union on there but they employ more than 1200 people now throughout Michigan.

From https://www.rightplace.org/why-west-...-and-employers

Last edited by magellan; 10-23-2018 at 06:47 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Michigan > Grand Rapids metro area
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top