Unpacking West Michigan's Economic Health: The Right Place's 2026 State of the Region Report (12-12-25)

In this episode, host Phil Tower welcomes back Randy Thelen…President and CEO of The Right Place.
He joined us for this segment of West Michigan Weekend to take a closer look at the economic health of our region as we head into 2026.
The Right Place—West Michigan’s leading economic development organization—just released its annual State of the Region report in early December. It provides a detailed look at trends in jobs, wages, business growth, population, and more across our 13-county region.

Randy helped us unpack some of the key takeaways from the State of The Region Report, which measured several economic benchmarks, including the local job market, wages and cost of living, housing affordability, industry strengths, and emerging sectors, the state of regional talent and population trends, the small business climate in the region, and the state of local infrastructure.

Online-The Right Place

Download the complete State of the Region from The Right Place.