Grand Rapids Chamber expects ‘exciting next few years' as it lays out plans
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The effort to add more housing was a key focus during the Grand Rapids Chamber's annual meeting Wednesday, alongside major projects like Acrisure Amphitheater and the Amway Soccer Stadium.
Around 1,200 business leaders gathered at the DeVos Place for the chamber's 137th annual meeting, which included an update on efforts from Housing Next to add more housing to the area and an update on the to solve chronic housing in Kent County.
How many people were housed through Kent County's 100 in 100 initiative?
Regional housing partnership Housing Next in 2022 released a housing needs assessment that found that West Michigan needs to add 50,000 housing units across Kent and Ottawa counties by 2027. Housing Next is focused on addressing that need through the corridor strategy, which would take vacant property in underutilized commercial corridors and turn it into dense neighborhoods with several different types of housing.
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'We're all used to that ugly parking lot, we know what that type of development looks like. Not many of us have seen, here in West Michigan, beautiful development that allows for these diverse housing typologies. It creates these walkable, amenity-rich neighborhoods,' Housing Next Executive Director Brooke Oosterman said during the event.
She explained that her team has created a pattern book that lays out 14 different types of housing that could fit in those neighborhoods, many of which do not take up a lot of space. Housing Next is working with local communities to create zoning that would allow for those types of housing to help chip away at that 50,000 housing gap.
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City leaders on Wednesday also said that as of Jan. 27, 54 people are in permanent housing through the 100 through 100 Kent County initiative. Those individuals have also been able to do things like schedule important surgeries or apply for social security now that they have an address and a permanent place to live.
Another 65 are in the process of getting housing through the initiative, led by city, county and nonprofit leaders. The goal is to keep going after meeting that goal of 100 individuals, ultimately eradicating chronic homelessness in the community.
Major projects like the amphitheater and the soccer stadium are also expected to serve as a catalyst for housing, leaders said Wednesday. Both projects are on track, with the expected to open in May of next year and the expected to start construction in May of this year.
First two people housed through 100 in 100 Kent County program
'This is going to be an exciting next few years for Grand Rapids,' Grand Rapids Chamber President and CEO Rick Baker told News 8 after Wednesday's event. 'We're going to see a lot of growth.'
During the event, Baker posed the question, 'Are we being good ancestors?' He said being a 'good ancestor' means focusing on how current investments will play out into the future leaving behind good opportunities for the next generations.
Baker also touched on other efforts the chamber is focused on, including its policy goals. The group has advocated against the state's new law on paid sick leave and increases to the state's tipped minimum wage, scheduled to take effect in February. A package of bills from state Republicans could keep the current tipped wage in place and make small businesses exempt from certain sick time reforms.
Republican-led House passes bills to keep tipped wage in Michigan
'We have a lot of members, a lot of businesses, small businesses in particular who are very concerned about the changes in the paid sick leave and the changing of the minimum wage, particularly in the restaurant industry,' Baker told News 8. 'The restaurant industry is a tough industry to begin with, and not fully recovered from 2020. There's still a lot of challenge because we came out of the pandemic into high inflation. … These laws are just making it that much more difficult. So we're hearing a lot of concern from small business owners in our region that are concerned quite honestly about the future of the business and the people that they employ.'
Alongside reports on housing and transformational projects, Grand Valley State University's Seidman College of Business Dean Diana Lawson provided a look at the 2025 economic forecast. Economists expect the West Michigan economy will be mixed, but will overall 'grow slightly faster than 2024.'
Employment is expected to have a smaller increase compared to 2024, and wages are also expected to see slower increases compared to 2024. Sales, however, are expected to grow faster than in 2024. Inflation is expected to remain around the 2.5% to 3% level.
Lawson encouraged business leaders to use both 'the head and the heart' to make decisions based both on data and gut instinct, and to give employees a sense for the bigger purpose of their tasks.
Tipped wages, sick time, surrogacy: Eight new Michigan laws set to go into effect in 2025
Overall, Wednesday was about celebrating the work the Chamber and its members have done over the last year, according to Baker, who said he'd 'leave the event with a lot of enthusiasm about the future of our community.'
'This is our one time every year to really celebrate the contributions that business makes to a community,' he said. 'Without for-profit businesses in our community, communities don't exist. We have to have the businesses and we have to acknowledge the contributions that they're making to our community.'
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