Kent County tops list for most job gains in the state

Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data paints a rosier picture of the current Grand Rapids economy, certainly one that is recovering from its low point during the Great Recession. The real estate market has bounced back, businesses are selling, unemployment is down statewide, but particularly in West Michigan. Approximately half of the almost 156,000 jobs the state lost during the last downturn have returned, but the Grand Rapids area has claimed a much larger percentage of that number than other counties.

Of the top 10 counties in Michigan with the largest job growth, Kent County and Ottawa County have added more jobs than the next 8 counties combined. Since 2005, approximately 54,000 jobs have been added - 24,000 of them just within the first three quarters of 2014. Southeast Michigan, the area of the state with the strongest economic performance for decades has been slow to regain jobs partly because the automotive industry is still considerably weakened, and so many businesses there were directly related to car manufacturing.

In West Michigan, manufacturing is coming back stronger because of its greater diversification and more adaptable population. If the strong union climate in the Detroit Metro Area is a disincentive to would be employers, West Michigan, by contrast, looks appealing. The furniture sector is back on track, and a number of manufacturing companies, including Dicastal North America and Plasan Carbon Composites, have announced plans to relocate to West Michigan. Grand Rapids also has strong healthcare, research, and education sectors as well as many opportunities in agribusiness.

Unfortunately, as with many of the jobs created after the recession, current wages do not match those of the jobs lost. Union jobs left, and part-time or lower wage jobs have replaced them. And despite the economic wounds inflicted on Southeast Michigan, the economy of just Oakland County is still three times as large as Kent County’s, and wages there are still higher.

Additionally, while jobs are coming back to the area, in manufacturing and other high tech fields, economists are worried that the lack of skilled workers will leave many positions unfilled and will cost industries and the economy in terms of unrealized growth and profit. This is hardly a local problem. Young people today are overlooking manufacturing as a potential employer and failing to pursue training in S.T.E.M. fields where many of the most lucrative positions will be.

Still, both industry and the State of Michigan have been motivated lately to create incentives to lure knowledge workers here, and the growth and diversification of the economy can only be seen as very positive developments for the people living here who wish to stay here and prosper.

Lamar Construction Company closes its doors without notice

Lamar Construction Co. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Friday, July 11, after a sudden and unexpected layoff off all of its 293 employees in Michigan, Kentucky, and Colorado. On Wednesday the Hudsonville-based company announced that it was closing its construction division, but said it intended to keep its structural steel engineering operation open. However, it appears that Lamar’s financial situation was more complex and precarious than even its management believed earlier in the week because on Friday all workers received email notice that the company was now defunct and they would not be paid for their work this week. Online, the Lamar website has been “removed indefinitely.”

Lamar’s services consisted of designing/building, general contracting, construction management, steel & precast erection, development services, facility management, custom cabinetry/millwork, and green/sustainable construction. The larger and custom projects they worked on were quite complex involving state-of-the-art construction engineering or advanced environmental technology. The Denver Business Journal highlighted several present and future construction projects that would have to be reorganized now that Lamar will no longer be acting as general contractor. These included a 172-apartment complex in Golden, Colorado, a 12,000 square-feet office building, an industrial project, and senior housing.

According to the bankruptcy petition Lamar Construction filed, the company has assets of between $10 to $50 million and liabilities within the same range. Company shareholder Carl Blaukamp, in an interview with Mlive said that Fifth Third Bank had declined to extend their line of credit after “some unexpected losses.” Lamar obliquely blamed the shutdown on “current economic conditions.”

Lamar Construction Company had been in business for 74 years and was named one of West Michigan’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For by the Michigan Business and Professional Association in 2013. In June Mlive photographed Lamar preparing the Fifth Third Ballpark for the Midwest League All-Star Classic.

Why is the west side of Michigan doing so much better than the east side?

In January, Stephen Moore wrote an article for the Wall St. Journal entitled, “Why the Rest of Michigan Isn’t Singing the Motown Blues.” In it he discussed the discrepancy in unemployment between Grand Rapids (then at 5.9%, 5.6% in April, 2014) and Detroit (then at 15.1%, 14.5% in April, 2014).

Moore credited West Michigan’s current robust economy as being the result of good government policy (via Gov. Rick Snyder), a diversified economy, a union-lite business environment, a strong regional work ethic, and cheap energy,provided by shale. These are all important factors, and it is difficult to pinpoint what manufactures success at a particular point in time (after all, Detroit considerably overshadowed Grand Rapids as a producer of jobs and wealth for much of the 20th century). Moore did not touch on one aspect that is inescapable to those who live in West Michigan: that is, who settled the area. And that was the Dutch.

If you look at a Census map of primary ancestry by county, you will note that West Michigan has a three-county area with “Dutch” written all over it. These are Ottawa, Allegan, and Kent counties where Grand Rapids and Holland (both referenced by Moore) are located. The rest of the state was settled by Germans, except for the northwest corner of the Upper Peninsula, which was settled by Finns.

Many people underestimate the commercial nature of the Dutch, but they have throughout history turned less promising areas into thriving commercial centers. In the 16th century they created an international shipping empire out of a swampy lowland country, and in the New World they brought New York City, the center of trade in the colonies, into being.

West Michigan was largely settled by Dutch looking for freedom to worship in their Dutch Calvinist tradition. In 1900 40% of Grand Rapids was Dutch, and in 1990, 300,000 people of Dutch descent lived in West Michigan, the largest area of Dutch settlement in the United States.

The Dutch chose to settle here not only for religious reasons, but also economic. In the 1840s Michigan was already link by rail to New York City, so there was a potential market already established. The Hollanders quickly became known for their industry, their frugality, and their hospitality. Their Calvinist religious beliefs only reinforced their natural tendency to materially prosper. Entrepreneurship was in their blood.

They were also civic-minded and remain this way today. The Van Andel, DeVos, and Meijer family invested heavily in Grand Rapids when it was stagnating, and their money and ideas have succeeded time and time again in attracting both tourists and mental capital. The most obvious recent example is Rick Devos's creation of ArtPrize, less than a decade old and already an international festival venue.

In describing the atmosphere for doing business in West Michigan, business broker Max Friar recently said, “What makes Grand Rapids different, in my opinion, is a strong, conservative, honest work ethic that runs thick through the small business community. I think that West Michiganders like to do business with each other because in general there is a sense of trust that permeates business relations. Certainly companies have contracts, but I genuinely smile at how many people do business on a handshake. That says a lot about a community. When people ask me if I work outside of West Michigan, I tell them yes, but honestly I prefer not to."

The influence of the Dutch in developing the business mores of the West Michigan area is often overlooked, but it should not be. We are who we are today because of who the people of yesterday were and what they did.

Tech jobs: precariously balancing the education bubble and the employment bust

As mentioned before, the current employment situation in Michigan is complicated, both for young people and members of older generations. The University of Michigan's index of consumer confidence revealed higher than expected sentiment for April, but it remains to be seen whether this will be part of an overall trend or will follow the more common pattern of surge/slump.

Regardless, for workers trying to examine future trends - and parents of future workers - there seems to be some good news as regards manufacturing. The Michigan Legislature recently created the Skilled Trades Training Fund in order to ensure the education and development of a steady supply of skilled labor for our manufacturing sector.  According to the state's Workforce Development Agency website: "The STTF will provide competitive awards for the development and implementation of employer responsive training that will enhance talent incomes, productivity, and employment retention, while increasing the quality and competitiveness of Michigan's business." This fund will be used for technical training only, encourages the participation of manufacturing companies, and offers reimbursement incentives for employee retainment.

West Michigan manufacturing companies seeking to avoid a shortage of labor and turnover have also taken some of the training process into their own hands. Pridgeon & Clay, a Grand Rapids metal stamping company known for their manufacture of automotive parts has begun communicating with school districts and community colleges and has established an in-house training program to make sure their supply of skilled workers is not interrupted.  DeWys Manufacturing, Inc. also has created a 12-week training program to help maintain an active workforce at all times.

Other manufacturers are playing the long game. At a conference in Houston last month, Jim Fetterling, one of Dow Chemicals vice presidents, discussed the potential waves of economic revitalization resulting from the country's recent shale boom. The energy savings from cheaper, more plentiful natural gas offers new possibilities to U.S. companies. He believes that this new shale boom should not be squandered on exports, but used to rebuild the manufacturing sector and create jobs. Many of those new jobs will be skilled and Fitterling sees the fourth wave of the economic revitalization will be focused on research and development.

After what we Michiganders have seen happen to the auto industry over the past twenty years, it's hard to feel confidence about manufacturing, but the outlook for skilled workers, at least, is brighter. If you have a friend or family member graduating from high school in the next few years and considering college, direct them either to the STEM fields or skilled labor. That's where the future lies.

Unemployed in West Michigan: the Current State of Affairs

If you have been following the news about unemployment, you are likely not optimistic about any further relief for the long-term unemployed, in Michigan or elsewhere.

Here's where it stands: most states give a maximum of 26 weeks of unemployment compensation to laid off or terminated workers, but since 2011, to save money, Michigan limited the number to 20, a significant reduction from the 99 weeks' workers were getting during the recession.  Still, in 2013, with federal help, Michiganders could get a maximum of 48 weeks' assistance.

In December, 2013 federal unemployment extensions expired, and, for Michigan workers, that capped the maximum benefit at 20 weeks'. Congress has been ineffectively duking this issue out since then with various proposals in the pipeline, and last week House Speaker John Boehner rejected the Senate bill temporarily extending unemployment benefits at the federal level for the long-term unemployed as "unworkable," particularly reinstating benefits retroactively since the old law expired.

The latest unemployment statistics reveal Michigan, at 7.8%, as having the 5th highest unemployment rate in the nation, after California, Illinois, Nevada, and Rhode Island. Preliminary statistics reveal that the Grand Rapids-Wyoming metropolitan area has an unemployment rate of 5.8% (January 2014). The real unemployment rate, however, which would include the long-term unemployed who have given up hope of finding a job but have dropped off the unemployment rolls, is 10.2%, state-wide. Add to that the underemployed who would seek more or better work if they could find it, and those numbers only grow higher, probably much higher and growing as the new health care insurance laws solidify the disincentive employers have to give their workers more hours.

Some Michigan lawmakers have proposed laws that would offer tax relief for unemployment compensation at the state level or re-extend the total number of weeks to 26, but these proposals do not seem likely to go anywhere in the Michigan Legislature.

Add to this the staggering amount of student loan or underwater mortgage debt Generations X and Y are shouldering, and it's no wonder that many people in this current economy see themselves as just "picking through the rubble." Good news for the average Michigan worker seems less likely all the time, although we can of course hope that the area's economic growth will have some positive effect in job creation longer term.

Unemployed in West Michigan, muddling through the system

As I described before, receiving your unemployment benefits in Michigan may be more complicated than it looks.  After weeks of not receiving an unemployment check, I decided I had better visit the state's unemployment problem resolution office. But I soon discovered that this office was packed by 8 o'clock. Apparently, the state's new eligibility questionnaire had doubled the wait time to resolve individual problems. Getting there as the doors opened only indicated that you might be able to meet with a case worker by late afternoon. But I didn't exactly have anywhere to go that day.

As I waited in line, the fellow next to me told me my best bet was to arrive early - like an hour and a half early - and wait outside until the doors open. I found myself standing outside the unemployment office at 6:30 in the morning. The wind chill was -5. But at least I would get answers, I thought.

The silver lining to all this is what you hear while waiting in line. Among the roughly 100 shivering souls waiting alongside me, many had very interesting stories as to why they're there and what their problems are. It made waiting outside in a soviet line, in the pre-dawn dark just a bit more bearable.

After finally (number #35!) gaining admission to the unemployment office, I sat, waited, and talked to the guys on either side of me. One was a highly skilled high-end plumber, and the other was a diesel trucker. What interesting stories they had to tell about their travels and their situations in life currently, and the challenges of small business. There is plenty of real suffering in this jobless recovery, and men have taken it on the chin.

Finally my number was called. As I approached the front of the line, I was motioned to talk to someone on the phone. Really? Well, all right, I figured, as long as I get some answers. Except I didn't. In so many words, I was only told that my case had been assigned to someone. It occurred to me that I had little power to affect change regarding my "pending status" anyway. Resigned, I left, my view of how a bureaucracy functions confirmed.

A few weeks later, in January, 11 weeks after my last unemployment check, when I logged on to the unemployment benefits portal, my benefit claims had changed status, and the next day, I got a check for that almost 3-month backlog of benefits.  At no time during this process was I able to communicate with anyone who had knowledge of my situation or could make any decision about them. There was no one to call, email, or otherwise query. I was relieved to finally receive my unemployment money, but the lag time occurred during Christmas, in the bleakest part of the year. If my family hadn't had savings to fall back upon, we could have been like any one of the many families who have been evicted or foreclosed on in the past five years. Weave your own safety net, Michiganders, in case the government one isn't there to catch you when you get tripped by this economy.

And wear a scarf - it's cold out there.

--John Potter

Unemployed in West Michigan: more complicated than it looks

When I was younger, I was always a bit curious how people seemed to simply wait in line to get an unemployment check. It appeared as if it was a somewhat unappetizing way to attain free money. In other words, I felt as if it was a world an enterprising person never had to come into contact with. Naive me.

Last September I was laid off from a job I had had for 15 years I knew the unemployment office was to be my eventual destination. And I inquired from friends what that actually entailed. But I gradually became acquainted with the full scope of process: keeping record of your job search, going to a Michigan Works office, getting acquainted with calling an interactive phone recording (asking about my job search). And fortunately for me, the regional problem resolution office was only a mile from my house.

Then the checks started coming. It wasn't a lot of money, but it wasn't insignificant either. A welcome relief actually when so many bills need payment. I seemed to have the system down - keep records, fax those records monthly to Lansing, collect money. Then I made a mistake. I told the truth.

The truth was that, feeling the pressure to supplement my income, I applied for a low-paying very part-time janitorial job. I then decided that would almost be counterproductive to finding a job in my field, so I turned it down after being offered it. The aforementioned phone recording that asks questions about your job search does indeed ask if you've turned down any jobs. Well, I detailed through subsequent paperwork the why, who, and where of this refused job.

Michigan's unemployment system does not necessarily cut off benefits if you refuse a job. It depends whether it's in line with your previous salary and experience. The employer is contacted, and a review of the facts occurs. This is something that should take a few weeks, correct? I'm still waiting after nearly 3 months.

To complicate matters, Michigan's unemployment office instituted a new interactive phone system to determine eligibility. Such a system is not new in itself, but the roughly 30 questions needing to be answered takes a full 25 minutes. Eventually I realized that using the state's website to answer their questions was a quicker route.

Somewhere, I'm sure, a state bureaucrat confidently assumed that instituting a new and highly specific questionnaire would weed out fraud and abuse. Perhaps even generate savings. And of course, the internet would expedite this process for everyone. But they didn't think it through. At least they didn't consider the resulting casework overload. My guess is that this bright idea was floated in the past. But someone with more experience thought this through and realized it might not be so successful in execution. She must have retired. I suppose that's the problem with bureaucrats - they're rather immune to feedback.  Just ask any of the hundreds of people who swamped the Unemployment Agency last Monday, stood out in the freezing cold for hours, and didn't get to speak to anyone. Government doesn't tend to have to worry about marketing and continuous improvement the way small businesses do.

So what happened when I decided to take action and meet with an unemployment officer? Stay tuned; I'll answer that next time.  Perhaps I'll have heard something back by then, but I'm not holding my breath.

--John Potter

Where Are You, Career?

Unemployment is one of those dreadful words that has peppered our news religiously for the last decade.  It has ebbed and flowed with each year that passes.  To the average American, unemployment simply refers to whether one has a job; but to a Generation Y American the underlying meaning is much more complex.

I graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2011 with a specific path I thought I would follow.  As a middle-class American, I was not given many other options than attending college right after high school.  It was expected; so I did.  I learned a lot, both scholastically and personally, and graduated with a political science degree I was proud of.  I began applying for jobs towards the end of the 2011 summer.  I am here to tell you - it is 2013, I have had eight interviews in two years, and there is nothing on the horizon.      

Grand Rapids is a growing city, there is no doubt about that.  More restaurants, breweries, and shops pop up daily.  For the college graduate looking for work in their field, it doesn’t offer as much as one would like.  The unemployment rate for Grand Rapids in March 2013 was 6.2%, and has infinitesimally fallen and risen to 6.4% in August.  In 2008, the unemployment rate was high at 11.5%.  The rate is expected to continue to fall.   

I realized after a year of applying to at least three to ten jobs a week, it was not going to be as easy as I thought.  My search expanded from more specified jobs to a wide range spreading across numerous fields.  People would ask, “What do you do with a political science degree?”  My response was, "What every graduate hopes to do, find a job."  I received excellent feedback from my interviews.  I am comfortable speaking to groups, I have hard work ethic, and I am creative. Every position I interviewed for was given to someone with more experience who was also out of work.  The Great Recession laid off a massive pool of applicants who have more experience than me and now are making less money than they did before. 

A report released in August 2013 by PayScale and Millennial Branding, claimed that Generation Y is specifically underemployed and overqualified for the jobs they are working.  During the Great Recession many Baby Boomers and Generation X-ers lost their higher-paying jobs and instead settled for lower-paying, entry-level positions that would have normally gone to people like me.  Plenty of Boomers, who normally would have retired, stayed in the labor market because their net worth crashed after 2008.  Generation Y seems to have been left out of this equation, and pushed into un- or underemployment. 

53.6 percent of college graduates 25 and under are either unemployed or underemployed, according to the Associated Press.  We are unable to find jobs in our desired fields and are turning to jobs that are severely beneath our skill sets.  Many 20-somethings graduate from college, only to find the pool of competing applicants has more than tripled while they were in school.  The dream of each generation doing better than the last seems as far away as that ideal job.  Born to Baby Boomer parents, the expectation of financial success still seems reasonable for us, but the economy simply cannot supply the jobs.  Since the recession began in December 2007, average incomes for 25 to 34-year-olds have fallen 8 percent.  

I have to remain hopeful, even in the face of constant rejection.  The reality of my future is drastically different from that of past generations.  I sustain myself financially by working in the service industry, and creatively by finding odd jobs and internships that will build my resume.  I am continuously marketing myself.  I have to hope that as a resident of Grand Rapids, a city I love, growth will come to all sectors of our economy.  I strive to build a future for myself and my family to the best of my ability with the options I am given.  I have to hope it will be enough.  I have to hope that the vision of the ‘American dream’ will continue to grow with my generation. 

Unemployed in West Michigan: How to navigate the Unemployment Office

This month I became unemployed for the first time in fifteen years.  The last time I faced the job market, the internet was just becoming popular and finding a job was simply doing legwork or "pounding the pavement."  After all, the economy was roaring and it was more a matter of finding the right job rather than a job.  Today I'm becoming acquainted with a far different, very challenging job market.  And being able to skillfully navigate internet job boards beats any amount of legwork you're willing to put in.

Nonetheless, my first responsibility was to file for an unemployment claim.  Not unlike the Secretary of State's Office, Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency has people take a number and wait to speak with an agency representative.  As I sat waiting, I wondered just how long the wait would be.  A twenty-something woman let me know that it would be a few hours.  That is, unless I was willing to stand in line at eight in the morning.

Just as I was about to leave, a UIA worker came out and announced that first-timers could apply online rather than wait. She also apologized to everyone there, announcing that the state had cut four hundred  positions at the state's UIA within the past year.  Apparently it is in the midst of further automating the unemployment process.

Which is a grand idea!  Except that most of the people waiting to talk to a UIA worker had special circumstances (i.e., conflict with disability payments).  The UIA workers I did observe worked diligently to make sure the process worked for those in need, but just being unfamiliar with a new and bureaucratic system can make you feel like you need help too.

Getting unemployment is not typically a monumental ordeal, but you must follow the process carefully (including answering phone questions on a specific day and time).  And the UIA has a reputation for frequently changing its claims process.  Next week, applicants will have to answer a variety of different phone questions through MARVIN (Michigan's Automated Response Voice Interactive Network).  Government agencies have a real affinity for acronyms, don't they?

After making the initial claim, the UIA requires applicants to apply to at least two open job positions each week while they're receiving unemployment checks - which means trudging off to the nearest Michigan Works building.

The Michigan Works staff are tasked with helping the unemployed register for employment on the Pure Michigan Talent Bank. The staff were quite helpful to me in this regard. And the site itself is rather easy to use. However, the connectivity glitches made a 20-minute task turn into an hour. And woe to the unemployed person who has no computer experience whatsoever.

In all, applying for unemployment went fairly smoothly was not the bottleneck or broken pipeline I'd feared it might be.  As with any government entity, correct procedures must be followed to avoid a mess.  Happily, I found the people working at these institutions to be very helpful.

What is your experience with unemployment in West Michigan?

--John Potter