DeVries, Marvin G.

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West Michigan Management MemoVolume 3 | Issue 2 Article 14-1-1983Consumer Attitudes in the Grand Rapids AreaMarvin G. DeVriesGrand Valley State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/wmbmThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Seidman College of Business at ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusionin West Michigan Management Memo by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contactscholarworks@gvsu.edu.Recommended CitationDeVries, Marvin G. (1982) "Consumer Attitudes in the Grand Rapids Area," West Michigan Management Memo: Vol. 3: Iss. 2, Article 1.Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/wmbm/vol3/iss2/1Volume 3, No.2, Spring 1983 	 F. E. Seidman School of Business Consumer Attitudes in the Grand Rapids Area People's attitudes affect their behav­ior. This is a well-known and docu­mented fact for all areas of human activity. In economics, for example, sur­veys of consumer attitudes have been firmly established as indispensable tools for forecasting and planning for changes in consumer spending and saving. At the national level such information about at­titudes is useful to the government in formulating economic public policy and to the business community in formulat­ing inventory and investment plans. The Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan serves the United ~tates by conducting a monthly survey ~lroughout the entire country in which 'people express their opinions about the country's economic conditions and what they are expected to be in the future. The Center, however, does not compile and publish an index that reflects opin­ions in specific geographical areas such as western Michigan. We believe opinions in western Mich­igan do differ from those in the United States as a whole, but we don't know the extent of this difference or the impact on the attitudes of people in western Michi­gan of such economic events as the re­cently ended economic recession. Such Inside At last, the End of the Tunnel ....... 2 Grand Rapids Economic Index . . . . .. 3 Faculty and Staff Notes ..•••.•..... 4 New Faculty Members ............. 4 Better Times Ahead ............... 6 Seidman lecture Series . . . . . . . . . . .. 7 Delta Mu Delta .................. " 7 Taxation Writing Award ............ 7 New library Service ............... 8 AGRAND W~ local attitudinal information would be Significant for area bUSiness and public organizations because, as the University of Michigan surveys have shown, con­sumer attitudes are leading indicators of future economic events. The Seidman School of Business plans to conduct quarterly surveys of Grand Rapids area residents concerning their attitudes about general economic conditions. We will construct an index of consumer sentiment identical to the one used by the University of Michigan and determine whether there are significant differences between the two. We will also publish the results of this survey quarterly, along with our Grand Valley Economic Activity Index and a corre­sponding analysis of local economic conditions. Four hundred households, randomly selected, will be contacted each quarter. The results of each survey will be accu­rate within plus or minus four percentage points. The surveys will be conducted by Insight Marketing, a Grand Rapids­based market research firm. An analysis of the first quarter's findings is contained in an article in this issue, written by Dr. William Peterson. Marvin G. DeVries Dean Grand Valley Proposes New Center for Economic Expansion and Job Creation Since mid-1982, Grand Valley State has been engaged in an analysis of the economic and business development needs of West Michigan. This analysis has resulted in a proposal to establish the Grand Valley Center for Economic Ex­pansion and Job Creation. The Center will become a vehicle for the continued growth and expansion of the economy of West Michigan. It will provide education, training, and busi­ness research and consultation services, as well as financial resources. At Its core will be a venture capital corporation which can provide essential funding to assist in the expansion of area businesses. The Center's objectives are: • 	To conduct extensive market analysis and planning which will be available to all existing and potential West Michigan businesses. • 	To document and report in detail all aspects of the Center's development and progress so that it can be dupli­cated in other economic regions of the state. • 	To use faculty and students in the pro­cess of local business expansion and job creation efforts in order to train an experienced cadre of economic ex­pansion specialists who can make this process available to other regions of the state. • 	To conduct sophisticated management training programs which will immedi­ately benefit existing West Michigan pusinesses and meet the demand for these services. • 	To create a central resource handbook for entrepreneurs, including account­ants, attorneys, bankers, venture cap­italists, and market research and business promotion firms. • 	To create new partnerships between the academic community of the re­gion and labor, bUSinesses, and the various governments of the region and their economic development agencies. • 	To form a local venture capital corpo­ration to fund job creating business expansion. The Center will be staffed by Grand Valley personnel. It will have a quasi­independent board of directors under continued on page 7 

Consumer Attitudes in the Grand Rapids Area

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Consumer Attitudes in the Grand Rapids Area

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