LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder signed into law one of the biggest-ever changes to state employee benefits with an overhaul he said would prune $5.6 billion from the state's $15 billion in long-term unfunded liabilities. In signing HB 4701 and HB 4702 , designed to shore up the state's pension and retiree health care benefits,
GRAND RAPIDS ? The good news for West Michigan is for the first time in years the Grand Rapids area will add more jobs, says George Erickcek, senior analyst at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, who projects overall job growth of 1.1 percent next year, though public-sector employment will continue to
GRAND RAPIDS - More than 20 percent of the 1,400 chief financial officers surveyed for the Robert Half Financial Hiring Index said they plan to add full-time accounting and finance employees in first quarter of 2012. Only 11 percent forecast staff decreases. The resulting net 9 percent increase is up four points from the fourth-quarter
LANSING - Lest anyone think the state suddenly has $1.2 billion in extra money, Sen. Roger Kahn, the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, said Tuesday that much of that will get used up on a variety of expenses and other commitments. Gongwer News Service reported Monday that between some $200 million in unspent funds for the
HOLLAND - Fifty-seven percent of west Michigan companies plan to hire new information technology staff during the next six months. ?Employers need to realize that candidates with the computer skills they seek are not easy to find and often have a choice of opportunities,? said Paragon?s chief recruiting officer Beth DeWilde. ?It is great to
LANSING - A combination of extra revenue and spending lapses from government departments could mean Michigan is left with a surplus from the 2010-11 fiscal year of well more than $1 billion, state budget officials said Monday. Final numbers will not be available until the state's books for 2010-11 are closed. A preliminary book closing
DETROIT ? Last week, we picked up a story from our content partner, Autoline Daily, that reported General Motors was going to switch suppliers for the batteries in the Chevrolet Volt. But GM said Monday it will not be using batteries from A123 in its Volt, rather in the upcoming EV, the Spark. LG Chem
BLOOMFIELD HILLS ? The 25 percent Michigan Small Business Investment Tax Credit expires on Dec. 31, but if you are an investor and want to learn how to qualify for the credit attend the Great Lakes Angels' meeting Monday night. GLA President David Weaver said he can help high net worth individuals get qualified as
DETROIT ? Strategic Staffing Solutions (S3), a Detroit-based global IT and business services company, is partnering with MITechNews.Com to list available IT and business services job openings in Michigan. These jobs are not limited to, but include those offered by several of S3's Fortune 500 customers in financial, health care, energy and government industries. S3
GRAND RAPIDS ? In a startling Holiday headline, British TV news reports that Santa's network was hacked and his Naughty List stolen. The names of these bad boys and girls ? and you know who you are ? were published online. To view this humorous video, click on Vimeo.Com a>>