Business

Henry Ford Allegiance Health Welcomes New Board Members Henry Ford Allegiance Health begins 2022 with changes to its Board of Trustees, which include the addition of new Vice Chair, Daniel Phelan, Ph.D., President and CEO, Jackson College, and Cathy Hendrian, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, CMS Energy Corporation. Dr. Phelan will serve alongside Board Chair Martha Fuerstenau, President/CEO, American 1 Credit Union. He will also join both the Board Executive & Governance Committee and the Board Quality Committee. Dr. Phelan previously served on the Henry Ford Allegiance Health Improvement Organization (HIO) Committee. In addition to his role at Jackson College since 2001, Dr. Phelan chairs the Board for the Center for Community College Student Engagement and serves on the Board of Directors for the League for Innovation in the Community Colleges and the Board of Directors for the American Council on Education. In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees, Cathy Hendrian will also join the Henry Ford Allegiance HIO Committee. Professionally, Hendrian is Senior Vice President of Human Resources for CMS Energy Corporation and Consumers Energy Company. Hendrian has overall responsibility for the company’s people and culture strategy. This includes cultivating a culture and creating an employee experience…

Alro Plastics Acquires Johnson Plastics  Alro Plastics is excited to announce the acquisition of Johnson Plastics in Evansville, Indiana on December 17, 2021. This asset purchase will allow Alro to grow our customer base while providing improved service for cut-to-size plastic and machined parts. Johnson Plastics customers will now have access to Alro Plastics vast inventory of general engineering and high performance rod, tube, plate, sheet, and profiles. Johnson Plastics was founded in 1995, specializing in designing and engineering products to meet the needs of their customers. Their innovative product offerings include custom plastic fabrication and vacuum forming. They are a distributor of sheet and engineering plastics, plastic films, packaging products, and industrial supplies. The Johnson Plastics team led by Richie Johnson will join Alro and continue to provide quality materials and machined parts with great customer service. Alro Steel Acquires Ace Steel Alro Steel is pleased to announce the acquisition of Ace Steel in Roanoke, Virginia. This asset purchase will allow Alro to grow our customer base while providing improved service for cut-to-size metals and plastics. Ace Steel’s customers will now have access to Alro’s vast inventory including aluminum, carbon steel, stainless steel, tool steel, cast iron, red metals,…

Alro Plastics Expands with Larger Facility in Grand Rapids    Alro Plastics has moved into a new 70,000 square foot facility located at 4670 60th SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512. Please visit alro.com for a map and directions.  The larger building has expanded inventory and processing services. Grand Rapids can cut plastic sheet up to 6 inches thick x 14 feet wide x 14 feet long and rod up to 14 inches in diameter. Other plastics processing services include extrusion welding, flame polishing, heat bending, gluing, and bonding. The facility includes 2 new additional Onsrud CNC Routers to meet our customer’s per print machining needs. Cut-to-size plastics and next-day delivery is available to customers in Grand Rapids.  Alro Plastics began in 1987 in Jackson, Michigan to provide Alro Steel’s existing customers with a wide range of plastic products. Offering next day delivery and cut-to-size processing, Alro Plastics maintains a large inventory of sheet, rod, and tube in standard, engineered, and high-performance materials. Alro Steel was founded in 1948 by brothers Al and Robert Glick. Alro is focused on offering cut-to-size metals and plastics with next day delivery to 25,000 customers in North America. Alro operates over 70 locations in 12…

R.W. Mercer Co. acquires assets of West Michigan Electrical Systems R.W. Mercer Co. has acquired the assets of long-time subcontractor West Michigan Electrical Systems Inc., the companies announced. West Michigan Electrical Systems is a full-service electrical contractor located in Cedar Springs, north of Grand Rapids. It was founded by owner Brad Kober and has served petroleum, industrial and commercial customers for over 20 years. Kober and his team will be based out of R.W. Mercer’s Grand Rapids-area office in Walker. They will combine with the existing electrical team at R. W. Mercer to enhance its current capabilities and to expand the company’s ability to self-perform electrical services statewide for customers. Kober will be taking on the position of project manager in the R.W. Mercer Electrical Department. Andy Mercer, R.W. Mercer president, said, “West Michigan Electrical Systems has built an excellent reputation, and we welcome their highly skilled electricians. Additionally, their expertise in installing electric vehicle charging stations will further strengthen our ability to support EV transportation infrastructure.” Kober said, “I have worked side-by-side with the team from R. W. Mercer for years and have been impressed with the company’s quality construction and ethics. This partnership is a great opportunity for…

The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Jackson County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (dba Experience Jackson) have announced that Craig Hatch has been named the President and CEO of both organizations effective March 23, 2020. The selection of Hatch as the new President and CEO comes after conducting a national search led by an industry leading executive search firm and the Chamber and Experience Jackson’s Search Committee. Kirsten Blackdeer, the Experience Jackson Board Chair said, “We are very fortunate to have someone with Craig Hatch’s experience and enthusiasm for our community accept the role of CEO and President of Experience Jackson.” “I’ve worked with and known Craig for years. His experiences, both personal and professional, will make him a great President/CEO of the Chamber and Experience Jackson. I am excited to watch him lead these great organizations into the future.” Said former Experience Jackson and Chamber President and CEO, Mindy Bradish-Orta. Hatch attended Hanover Horton Schools and went on to Central Michigan University, graduating with a degree in Business Administration and Commercial Event Management. After graduating he started his career at Michigan International Speedway as Operations Manager and in 1999 was promoted to Director of Operations for Auto Club Speedway…

Alro Steel has announced the expansion of its St. Louis, MO facility. The project, on Rider Trail in Earth City, MO added 54,180 square feet of space, bringing the total square footage to 162,450 square feet. The expansion includes the addition of a new plasma cutting machine and a new bay.  Additional racking was also added to allow for expanded inventories of plate, sheet, alloys, stainless, aluminum, and various red metals products. This will allow the St. Louis team to better service customers throughout their region. Alro Steel, based in Jackson, operates over 70 locations in 12 states and provides a broad inventory of products under the following companies: Alro Steel, Alro Metals, Alro Metals Outlet, Alro Industrial Supply, and Alro Plastics.

Members of the Ambs Call Center team pose with award.  Courtesy photo. Ambs Call Center has been awarded the ATSI 2019 Award of Excellence for Best Answering Service.  This annual award is presented by the Association of TeleServices International (ATSI) an industry trade association for telephone answering service providers. Now a 16-time winner, Ambs Call Center earned the Sapphire Award at ATSI’s 2019 Annual Convention held at the OMNI Dallas Hotel, in Dallas, TX. Call centers from across North America and the United Kingdom take part in the Award of Excellence program. Wherein, independent judges make random test calls to participating call centers. These 'secret shopper' calls occur over six-months and each call is scored on several criteria, including: Courteousness of call center agent Speed of calls answered Information accuracy Knowledge of account Overall impression of call “The ATSI Award of Excellence is a great way for our members and their employees to evaluate how they are providing service to their customers. It enables them to identify the things that make them great and also the areas that they can work on to get better. We have members that have been involved in the program for decades and are very…