Right Place report highlights Grand Rapids’ growth, resilience, and future competitiveness

This year, Grand Rapids made national attention when LinkedIn designated it the country’s No. 1 “City on the Rise.”

This callout illustrates how Greater Grand Rapids has entered a new phase of economic competitiveness, supported by long-term population growth, talent retention, and investment in quality of place.

That national recognition comes as the region marks four decades of intentional economic development and looks ahead to its next chapter.

Those strategies were highlighted during The Right Place Inc.’s Economic Outlook for 2026 event and its fourth annual State of the Region report.

The Dec. 4 gathering of business, civic, and economic leaders in downtown Grand Rapids was both a look back at how the region is evolving and an assessment of what the future holds.

“Population makes the world go round,” says Randy Thelen, president and CEO of The Right Place. “It drives the labor force, it drives business growth, and ultimately it determines whether a region is positioned to compete.”

Past strategies yield results

The State of the Region presentation included insights by Thelen, Fifth Third Bank economist Jeff Korzenik, and W.E. Upjohn Institute president Michael Horrigan. They described how the region’s economy is still growing, even as the U.S. economy faces uncertainty, slower hiring, and population challenges.

The Right Place’s 2025 State of the Region report illustrated that the groundwork laid decades ago is now creating leverage for the future.

For much of the late 20th century, Grand Rapids and West Michigan were heavily reliant on a narrow set of industries, like furniture manufacturing and automotive supply chains. 

During the economic turbulence of the 1970s and early 1980s, the region faced many of the same headwinds as peer Midwestern communities.

But business and civic leaders decided to pursue a different path, one focused on diversification, talent development, and public-private collaboration.

“Good things don’t happen by accident,” says David Van Andel, chairman and CEO of Van Andel Institute. “They are purpose-built. What we’re experiencing today is the result of thoughtful leadership, foresight, and hard work over a long period of time.”

Van Andel, whose family played a foundational role in launching The Right Place in the 1980s, says the organization was built on the belief that a strong business base could catalyze broader community outcomes.

“When business can thrive and survive, everything else becomes possible,” Van Andel says. “That rising tide really does raise all boats.”

History matters as the region looks ahead.

“The growth we’re seeing today is not random,” Van Andel says. “It’s the result of intentional choices. 

Now the challenge is using that foundation to compete at an even higher level.”

A busy year

The 2025 report reflects one of the most active years in the recent history of The Right Place’s seven-county collaborative.

During the year, the organization worked on 19 business expansion and attraction projects, and collaborated with partner counties on workforce and job creation initiatives. The team also conducted 600 business retention visits with existing employers.

Thelen said that while The Right Place is known for recruitment, much of its work focuses on helping existing companies grow and remain competitive.

The Right Place also expanded its role as a regional center of collaboration and ideas, hosting events that brought together employers, developers, talent professionals, and entrepreneurs.

Highlights included Tech Week Grand Rapids, which attracted more than 15,000 attendees and featured a sold-out kickoff with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; a sold-out Developer Day with more than 200 developers and construction firms; the Place Matters Summit; six Talent 

Learning Labs; and Go Beyond, a sold-out event for women in tech.

Steve Downing, CEO of Gentex Corp. and chair of The Right Place board, says those efforts reflect the organization’s emphasis on execution, not just strategy.

“It’s not just what we say. It’s what we do,” Downing says. “Economic development has to translate into real jobs, real investment, and real opportunity for people in this community.”

The organization also supported more than 650 interns from 114 universities and 84 companies through Hello West Michigan’s Intern Connect event. In 2025, it published four research reports focused on key industries: the State of the Region, Tech Report, Development Report, and Manufacturing Report.

Progress in all aspects

The State of the Region report looks at the region’s economy through three primary areas: people, place, and prosperity.

From a people standpoint, the Greater Grand Rapids region grew by 6.2% over the past 10 years. More than 70% of that growth came from diverse communities. About one in four residents is 19 or younger, and 37% of adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher.

“This is a younger, more diverse, and more educated region than it was even a decade ago,” Thelen says. “Those trends shape the type of economy we can support in the future.”

Demographic change will increasingly define economic performance.

“Population and employment growth are going to be much slower going forward,” Horrigan says. “That doesn’t mean lower prosperity, but it does mean we have to produce more with a more slowly growing workforce.”

He says education, training, and productivity gains will be critical as labor supply tightens.

The industrial vacancy rate stands at 3.1%, compared with 7.6% nationally, making it the tightest industrial market among the nation’s top 50 metro areas. More than 1.4 million square feet of industrial space is currently under construction.

The cost of living is still 7% lower than the national average, giving the region an advantage as similar areas face higher housing and business costs.

Gerald R. Ford International Airport had 86,000 more passengers in the first nine months of 2025 than during the same time last year.

“These are the kinds of assets that matter when you’re competing nationally for talent and investment,” Thelen says.

Data shows that the job market is still strong, though it has started to slow down. Greater Grand Rapids had 597,000 employed residents in 2025, including 1,300 new tech jobs. The tech sector now supports nearly 41,000 workers, the highest level on record.

Most businesses remain optimistic, with 65% reporting higher sales.

Hiring plans have slowed slightly, but only 24% of companies say they have trouble finding workers, a big drop from past years.

“That easing tells us the labor market is starting to normalize,” Thelen says. “After years of extreme tightness, that balance matters.”

Developing the next blueprint

The report also marks the final year of The Right Place’s 2023–2025 strategic plan, and the organization has met or exceeded almost all of its goals.

Over the past three years, the organization helped create or retain 4,153 jobs. The average hourly wage for these jobs reached $30.90, much higher than the original goal. It also helped bring in $844.2 million in new investment and supported $487.2 million in community development projects.

“The nature of projects has changed,” Thelen says. “They’re more capital-intensive and more technology-driven, and that’s pushing wages higher.”

A new three-year strategic plan will be announced in early 2026. 

Korzenik says the U.S. economy continues to grow, but increasingly without strong payroll expansion.

“It is possible to grow your economy without growing your payrolls,” Korzenik says. “It’s just harder, and it requires sustained productivity growth.”

Consumers have remained financially stable because many have locked in low mortgage rates, even though hiring has slowed. At the same time, tariffs and trade policies have caused some businesses to be more careful about investing.

“The biggest toll from tariffs isn’t the tariff level itself,” Korzenik says. “It’s the uncertainty. But businesses are learning to move forward anyway.”

Horrigan says long-term trends show a growing need for skilled workers, partly because of automation and artificial intelligence.

“AI and automation aren’t eliminating jobs,” he says. “They’re changing them. The stage is set for higher wage premiums for education and training.”

As Greater Grand Rapids grows, it has moved into a new level of competition. Instead of comparing the region only to other Michigan communities, leaders now compare it to fast-growing cities like Raleigh, North Carolina; Boise, Idaho; and Salt Lake City.

“We’ve reached a new level,” Thelen says. “The work now is sustaining growth while protecting what makes this place competitive.”

Van Andel says the lesson of the past 40 years remains relevant.

“In a forest, older trees eventually age out,” he says. “You have to keep planting new ones. That’s the work ahead of us.”

Additional reporting and photos by Tommy Allen.

This series, West Michigan Tech, aims to spotlight tech organizations and employers in the Greater Grand Rapids area that are delivering innovative programs, addressing talent pipeline challenges, and striving to develop, attract, and retain top talent in West Michigan. This series is underwritten by The Right Place.