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The Right Place unveils three-year strategic plan

Grand Rapids Blue Bridge
Andrea Flores Pazarin
/
WGVU News
Grand Rapids Blue Bridge

Goal of Grand Rapids becoming midwest economic leader within a decade

With the ultimate goal of establishing the Greater Grand Rapids area as one of the best economies in the Midwest, local economic development organization The Right Place Tuesday unveiled its three-year strategic plan.

To do so, The Right Place Tuesday laid out its goals over the next three-years: including growing local businesses and attracting more to the area, working towards a more equitable and inclusive economy, attracting talent in the tech sector to the area, and creating a more globally competitive region.

Randy Thelen is the CEO of the Right Place.

“The Right Place’s mission is to drive sustainable economic growth and shared prosperity for all in the Greater Grand Rapids Region,” Thelen said.

In December, economists from Grand Valley State University predicted that the economy will cool off in the months ahead, however, financially speaking, Grand Rapids is still growing twice as fast as the national average. Thelen says, the region must continue to be aggressive when it comes to growth despite recent rise of inflation and supply costs.

“We simply must keep our foot on the accelerator,” Thelen said. “Cities that left off the gas find that the accelerator is broken when they want to use it again.”

The Right Place says it will measure the plan’s success using the following metrics: 4,000 jobs retained and created, an average wage of $26.50 average wage, $550M in capital investment, and $100M invested towards community development, all by the year 2025.

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