Street Talk
A casual, and sometimes cutting, roundup of what's being said around town.
ARTICLES
Street Talk: West Michigan: lower unemployment, higher growth
Add Chinese consumers as friends.
The growing number of consumers in China is a good thing for manufacturing centers like West Michigan, according to Brad Haverkamp.
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Street Talk: Game of musical chairs keeps hospitals hopping
Ford’s foundation.
A tipster said last week that Metro Health may make a big announcement very soon regarding its choice of a new partner.
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Street Talk: Mini-MI to D.C.: They came, they saw, they had meetings
Gentleman's bet.
Chamber leaders and members from Grand Rapids, Ottawa, Muskegon and Allegan counties used the waning days of April for a jam-packed, two-day visit to Washington, D.C., led by Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce President Rick Baker and Vice President of Government and Corporate Affairs Andy Johnston.
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Street Talk: Water, water everywhere — and lots of sandbags, too
Voice over.
Last week’s unprecedented 1,500-volunteer sandbag effort in support of the city of Grand Rapids’ Environmental Services Department was essentially organized over the course of a one-story stair climb following Mayor George Heartwell’s first emergency press conference at City Hall, and later deployed from the back of a speaker hall.
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Street Talk: Have you hugged your banker today?
Cheesebrough rising.
The American Bankers Association says that many small business owners have been wondering what it takes these days to get a bank loan.
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Street Talk: EPIC finalists represent a little bit of everything
Winds of change.
This is gonna be EPIC!
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Street Talk: Blame Washington for a new batch of worries
New heights.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s latest quarterly small business survey finds that Washington policies continue to hamper hiring and growth, with over a quarter of small businesses saying they have lost employees in the last year.
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Street Talk: For Grandville, the Buck stops here
Name names.
Grandville Mayor Jim Buck made it official last week when he closed the city council meeting with news that he would not seek re-election in November.
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Street Talk: Home may be where the heart is, but employees aren’t
Strength in numbers.
Pointing to extensive research from more than a decade of experience with the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For program, National Association for Business Resources CEO Jennifer Kluge is criticizing Yahoo and Best Buy for recently reversing their policies that allow employees to work from home.
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Street Talk: Competitors rise for Levin’s seat; who will Land there?
Tee party.
For politicians, it’s the busy season, which became earnest as U.S. Senator Carl Levin announced his pending retirement.
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