I n December, more than 450 business and community leaders joined The Right Place for its 23rd Annual Economic Outlook for West Michigan. The 2020 Economic Outlook provided insights on regional, state, and national economic trends and projections, as well as current economic development conditions and activities. The 2020 Economic Outlook projected stable but slowing growth over the next two years, pinpointed areas that provide both challenges and opportunities for theWest Michigan community and emphasized the importance of certainty in creating a strong economic environment for businesses. Similar to the forecast provided at the 2019 Economic Outlook, economists expect the economy to remain relatively strong overall through 2020, with no recession on the horizon at this time.
THE RIGHT PLACE REPORT President and CEO of The Right Place, Birgit Klohs, shared updates on the West Michigan region’s current economic development conditions and activities. In 2019 The Right Place team completed 20 economic development projects. These projects resulted in 1,591 new and retained jobs, $144 million in new and retained payroll, and more than $239 million in capital investment for the region. Only four of these projects were a result of the team’s business attraction efforts, while the other 80%of projects involved the retention and expansionof WestMichigancompanies. Advanced manufacturing had another strong year in terms of growth, accounting for 60% of completed projects in 2019. However, other significant projects like the newAllegiant Air base at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) and the establishment of Acrisure’s downtown headquarters were a large portion of the region’seconomicgrowth throughout theyear.
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2020 ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
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