KALAMAZOO - Pfizer will cut 275 jobs from its manufacturing operations in Kalamazoo County before the end of the year, reducing Pfizer's manufacturing headcount in Southwest Michigan to about 2,500. Company supervisors were announcing plans to workers this morning to further streamline its operations here as part of "ongoing efforts to remain globally competitive," company
LANSING - While there has been a substantial increase in technological innovations on alternative energy, the efforts do not come anywhere near what will be needed to solve America and the world's energy problems, U.S. governors were told Monday at the closing session of the 2008 National Governors Association meeting in Philadelphia. Richard Lester, a
LANSING - Energy companies have no authority to compel the Department of Environmental Quality to use their preferred permit requirements, the Court of Appeals said Wednesday in an unpublished decision that put Midland Cogeneration Venture power company on the losing end of a case it filed against the DEQ. Midland Cogeneration originally won its plea
LANSING - With Governor Jennifer Granholm's signatures Wednesday, Michigan became the last state to ratify the Great Lakes Compact and arguably became the first of the Great Lakes states to fully implement the proposal to limit withdrawals from the basin. With all eight states now on board, the language has to be adopted by Congress
WASHINGTON - In an extraordinary move, the Bush administration plans to publish a document Friday listing various ways to control global-warming gases, while simultaneously disavowing the document's conclusions and warning that new regulations could lead to a ?command-and-control? regime covering a broad range of commercial and household activities, including factories and power plants but also
GRAND RAPIDS - The latest generation of Apple's smart phone, called the iPhone 3G (Third generation) made its debut on Friday morning across the country at AT&T corporate stores. Bill Bendetti, director of sales for AT&T in West Michigan and Northern Indiana, talks about what this smarter, faster, and less expensive phone has to offer
MIDLAND - Rohm & Haas Co. has agreed to be bought by Dow Chemical Co. in an all-cash deal of $15.3 billion, signaling a consolidation wave in the chemicals industry may be afoot. And as part of the deal, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will buy $3 billion in convertible preferred securities, with the Kuwait Investment Authority
LANSING - With an anticipated fight over whether the controversial Reform Michigan Government Now! ballot proposal appears on the November ballot, both sides are preparing with some of the top names in political and legal consulting in the state. How a fight will proceed is still somewhat speculative because the formal process to determine if
LANSING - One hundred twelve proposals seeking $475.7 million were submitted to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. in the spring 2008 round of the 21st Century Jobs Fund. Trouble is, only $30 million is available from the state, making the selection process very rigorous. The biggest determining factor will be the ability of the applicant
ANN ARBOR - U.S. companies that offshore customer service may save money on labor costs, but they also pay the price in terms of unhappy customers, University of Michigan researchers contend. "Firms are increasingly offshoring front-office functions such as customer service call centers and back-office functions such as information technology to manage their operations and