GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Local leaders and economy experts gathered in downtown Grand Rapids Thursday for the 2025 Economic Outlook for the Greater Grand Rapids Region.

The event, hosted by regional economic development organization The Right Place, Inc., looked at the current state of the region’s economy. It also offered forecasts on the state and national economy and offered insights into the area’s manufacturing industries.

While Grand Rapids is facing several challenges alongside other markets, its economy has outperformed, The Right Place President and CEO Randy Thelen said.

“It hasn’t been a robust year, but it’s been a solid year,” he told reporters after the event. “Relative to the nation, relative to the state, relative to our peers, we’re performing.”

There’s a lot of major projects underway in the area, like the Acrisure Amphitheater, the Amway Stadium and the potential triple-tower project in downtown Grand Rapids.

“It’s an exciting time, if you start to look at the collection of community assets that are underway right now. This is truly an extraordinary time,” Thelen said. “Cranes are a great economic indicator. We’ve got a couple in the air now and we’re soon to see quite a few more.”

Wages have gone up, alongside restaurant sales, hotel sales and airport traffic, Thelen said.

“You’re seeing indications that the consumers are, post-COVID, getting out and about, and enjoying the community and to some degree traveling across the country,” he said.

In Grand Rapids, job growth is exceeding both statewide and national numbers, Michael Horrigan, the president of the W.E. Upjohn Institute, said in his presentation on the economic outlook for Michigan. That’s been the case since 2008.

The industries that have seen the most job growth over the last year have been the tech industry and manufacturing industry, Thelen said, estimating that about 1,000 tech jobs have been added and about 1,200 manufacturing jobs.

Local companies aren’t struggling as much with talent attraction as they did last year, allowing them to more aggressively grow.

Jeff Korzenik, chief economist with Fifth Third Bank, said some companies are “labor hoarding,” holding off on layoffs in fear of struggling to replace those workers at a later date.

Some labor challenges remain, especially as Baby Boomers retire and the percentage of those in the 18 to 65 age range shrinks.

As companies look to the future of labor, a big question remains about future national policies on immigration and foreign-born workers, Korzenik said. From 2021 to 2023, the growth of the foreign-born labor force outpaced the growth of the native-born labor force. Stopping that growth could bring more labor challenges.

“The labor shortage is coming back,” he told reporters. “Anything that’s different about immigration will tighten (the) labor shortage.”

Citing data from the University of Michigan, Horrigan said that Michigan has fewer foreign-born workers compared to the rest of the nation. For now, he said experts are in the “wait and see” stage.

“We’re just not sure to what extent is there going to be deportations, to what extent is there going to be a change in policy,” he said. “In terms of the actual numbers here in Michigan … what the University of Michigan concluded is that it’s relatively low compared to other areas.”

Local companies are also in the ‘wait and see’ stage regarding potential tariffs.

“We’re in a highly uncertain environment. We don’t know how much these tariffs will be implemented,” Susan Houseman, senior economist with W.E. Upjohn Institute, told reporters. “If they are, it could … boost inflation.”