Grand Rapids Business Journal
Courtesy The Right Place
The Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center – West (The Center-West), Feyen Zylstra and DISHER recently announced the formation of a new Preferred Smart Manufacturing Partnership program for West Michigan manufacturers.
The program, announced Tuesday by The Right Place economic development agency, is designed to guide manufacturers through creating sustainable change as they learn about and implement Industry 4.0 technology in their business.
“In the future, West Michigan companies will need to be stronger, even more globally relevant/competitive and profitable,” The Right Place said. “Simultaneously, manufacturers must address workforce shortages, talent skill gaps and the image problem that has long driven capable individuals away from a career in manufacturing.”
Longtime Oakland County economic development executive Ken Rogers dies at 81
Ken Rogers, former head of Automation Alley and deputy executive at Oakland County.
Ken Rogers, the longtime executive director of Troy-based industry organization Automation Alley and former deputy Oakland County executive, died at the age of 81 on Tuesday night.
The cause of his death was not immediately known.
Rogers was appointed to create and lead Automation Alley by then-Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson in 1999 as a way to bridge the county s growing technology sector with traditional automotive skills. Rogers ran the organization as part of Oakland County s economic development department until Automation Alley officially separated itself from the county in 2014 to become a regional player in the space.