It must be pointed out time and again that small businesses are the largest employers in West Michigan, across the state and across the country. The Local First third annual “Street Party,” drawing a few thousand people to the downtown June 24, provides the visual tapestry of the variety of small businesses defining the category. New entrepreneurs, key to the “new economy,” are very much small employers. George Erickcek, W.E. Upjohn Institute senior regional analyst, has made several public presentations regarding the structural changes now manipulating and evolving the state’s economy, and the fact that “smaller” is the new rule. |