GRAND RAPIDS ? The greater Grand Rapids region should experience stronger economic growth than the rest of the state in 2011 and 2012, economist George Erickcek predicted in his annual West Michigan economic forecast.
Erickcek, with the W.E. Upjohn Institute in Kalamazoo, gazed into his crystal ball on Wednesday morning during the Right Place Program annual breakfast meeting at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. His predictions covered the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Kent, Ionia, Berry and Newaygo counties.
He said West Michigan along with the rest of the state has been slowly recovering from a ?kidney stone of a recession.? But both should feel better in the next two years, with the Grand Rapids MSA leading the way.
Employment in general and the office furniture business in particular are picking up, he said. What?s been happening in Michigan for nearly a decade is nothing short of an economic transformation in which a leaner, more advanced, but smaller version of what we once were is emerging like a butterfly from a chrysalis.
?It?s a new time, and we have to work differently,? he told several hundred guests.
His research shows employment has increased by some 6,000 jobs in Michigan during the past 12 months, about half of them – some 2,800 jobs ? generated in the greater Grand Rapids area alone. The state auto industry, after losing some 150,000 jobs in the past ten years, has finally stabilized as well.
Unfortunately, Grand Rapids? unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at about 13.4 percent. But housing prices in the area are better than in other comparatively sized Midwest cities, he said.
What particularly worries Erickcek is the younger generation in West Michigan is less educated than earlier generations. When you look at the percentage of the adult population with a bachelor?s degree or higher, the area would have to add 3,500 more individuals aged 25-34 just to bring it to the level of the 35-44 year old age group. In short, greater Grand Rapids is not retaining or attracting enough of the young, highly educated, ?creative class? to sustain high economic growth into the future.
?It begs the question, will the area workforce have the skills to compete globally?? he asked. ?The problem is not just West Michigan: The US is still globally competitive, but lags behind other nations in post-secondary training for the younger generation.?
a>>
