Community Food Club sees growing need.
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APRIL 18, 2022 VOL. 40, NO. 8
The Business Newspaper of Metro Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon & West Michigan
THIS WEEK
GUISFREDI MOVED BY PEOPLE North Kent Connect leader shares journey of overseeing an organizational transformation. Page 8
City reports 2021 economic impact Over $181M in new private investment committed across eight projects bringing 708 new jobs. Rachel Watson
rwatson@grbj.com
COVID-19 data sets Cellular research by Spectrum, MSU shows not all patients should receive same treatment. PAGE 3
Be well Report finds employers are normalizing mental health care and training leaders to support employees. PAGE 3
HOME ASSIST Independent Bank’s partnership with Freddie Mac provides help with down payment, closing costs. Page 4
THE LISTS
The area’s top credit unions. Page 5 The area’s top banks. Page 6
Grand Rapids had a banner year in 2021 when it comes to business attraction, retention and expansion. The city of Grand Rapids’ Economic Development Department (EDD) on March 30 reported its overview of programs and impacts for 2021, and Economic Development Director Jeremiah Gracia spoke to the Business
Spectrum Health’s $100 million Center for Innovation and Transformation will be located in the Monroe North neighborhood on the edge of downtown. Courtesy Rockford Construction
Journal about the major highlights ahead of its publication. The city saw $181,189,556 in new private investment across eight projects — four new and expanding businesses and four real estate projects — which together
included a commitment to create 708 new jobs and retain 1,717 existing jobs. In 2021, the city added $638,237 in new taxes, $144,614 of which was from new property taxes and $493,673 was from new
income taxes. For comparison’s sake, in 2020, the city’s new private investment total was $179,618,441 across 10 projects — six real estate CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
PNC finds social responsibility is on the rise Survey shows for-profit, nonprofit organizations increasingly are committing to change. Rachel Watson
rwatson@grbj.com
Serving the social good is becoming more important — even essential — for most organizations, according to a new survey by PNC Institutional Asset Management. Willow Research conducted an online survey on behalf of PNC Institutional Asset Management in December, polling a national sample of C-suite and financial executives in organizations with annual
revenues of $25 million or more to take the pulse of organizations’ views and actions on social responsibility, and the results were published last month. About 19% of the respondents were from the Midwest. Amy Kuntz, regional managing director-Midwest for PNC Institutional Asset Management, told the Business Journal her organization wanted to get its arms around what social responsibility means to different institutions. “It’s a big topic that doesn’t just mean one thing; it doesn’t just mean caring about the environment or about diversity. Our clients and prospects talk to us about this, and it sounds different from each of them; it’s not the same thing to each of them,” Kuntz said.
“What we really wanted to do was talk to people in both the for-profit and the not-forprofit sector to ask them, ‘What does social responsibility mean to you and how do you put it into prac-
Kuntz
tice?’” Respondents included CEOs, presidents, executive directors, COOs and high-level financial roles including CFOs, CIOs, VPs and directors of finance. Most of the organizations in the survey (95%) had annual revenues of $50 million or more. A total of 240 interviews
GRBJ.COM Vol. 40, No. 8 $3.00 a copy. $59 a year © Entire contents copyright 2022 by Gemini Media. All rights reserved.
Inside Track ....... 8 Guest Columns.. 17 Vibrant cities Change-Ups ..... 18
Local nonprofit partners with NYC marathon.
Calendar .......... 18 Public Record ... 20 Street Talk ...... 22
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were conducted, divided evenly between for-profit and nonprofit organizations in health care, higher education, insurance, financial services, technology, construction and human services. “SR initiatives have proliferated in recent years, and studies have shown investors and consumers increasingly are seeking out socially responsible companies that align with their values,” said Alistair Jessiman, CEO of PNC Institutional Asset Management. “Organizations recognize not only is this good business and critical for continued growth, but it is also the right thing to do.” The inaugural edition of the PNC SR survey found, among other CONTINUED ON PAGE 15