West Michigan Companies, Building for the Future

A center of innovation, West Michigan is home to many of the world’s most sophisticated manufacturers, an internationally recognized medical research institute, and an alternative energy research and development center. Here, companies and organizations produce everything from chrome-plated wheel covers, to wind turbines, surgical devices, and new discoveries in combating cancer.   We are:

• Home to four Fortune 100 Companies and four of Forbes Largest Private Companies
• The world headquarters for such companies as Alticor, Inc. (Amway), BISSELL Homecare, Inc., Steelcase, Inc., Herman Miller Inc., and Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. (makers of Hush Puppies and Merrell footwear)
• Home to nearly 90 international companies
• Home to the country’s 6th largest cluster of biopharmaceutical suppliers
• Within a day’s drive of many major U.S. markets, with same-day delivery to Minneapolis, Toronto, Memphis and other hubs
  

Success Stories

Let us introduce you to three local companies whose success not only illustrates their own adaptability and drive, but also the talents inherent throughout the Greater Grand Rapids manufacturing community.

• Autocam is a world-class automotive supplier that has achieved micron-level tolerances in their manufacturing processes, particularly for fuel-injection systems. Autocam has used that precision capability to enter the medical device market as a manufacturer of fine-gauge stents and ophthalmic and surgical devices.
• Thierica, Inc. is a specialist in the design, manufacture and installation of decorative painting, coating and related spraying applications. The company has leveraged that technical expertise to become one of only two suppliers in the world capable of meeting the technical requirements for detailing the instrument panels for the U.S. space shuttle.
• Oliver Products Company has transformed its knowledge of packaging, printing and precision adhesives to create new and expanded opportunities in the medical, food and industrial markets. In addition to manufacturing products for the food processing industry, the company now manufactures sterile and specialized packaging for medical applications and medical device components.