Michigan truck companies aren't the only ones with complaints against the Michigan Business Tax.

Canadian auto parts and trucking interests and governmental officials are protesting the MBT's application of a modified gross receipts tax if Canadian trucks operate here or actively solicit sales and have gross receipts of $350,000 or more sourced to Michigan.

Continue reading "Canadian truck firms feel Michigan Business Tax sting, too" »

NEW YORK -- Regional bank National City Corp. on Thursday reported a $1.76 billion loss for the second quarter, as mortgage loans soured and it took a big charge related to previous acquisitions.

Over the past year, mortgages have increasingly defaulted, forcing banks to set aside more cash to cover current and future losses. National City was no exception as its geographic footprint -- mainly the Midwest and Florida -- has been among the hardest hit by the downturn in the housing cycle.

Continue reading "National City posts $1.8B loss for 2nd quarter" »

• Regional Michigan jobless rates for June

LANSING -- Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates rose in nine of Michigan's 17 regional labor markets in June.

State officials said Thursday the jobless rates worsened in some areas because it is difficult to find summer employment. In other areas, the end of auto industry labor disputes helped improve the jobless rates.

Continue reading "Jobless rate changes mixed in Michigan markets" »

GRAND RAPIDS -- As an employee of the local courier business her husband started 15 years ago, Bessie Miller relies on transportation, but she feels crippled by high gas prices.

At Jd's Courier Service, a delivery vehicle's tank sometimes is filled two or three times a day. Fifteen years ago, Miller and her husband spent 30 percent of their income on fuel. Now, it's more like 50 percent.

"It's a tough business, but you have to try to keep your head above water for sure if you're driving anywhere these days," she said.

She is one of many who are raising the question: If crude oil prices are dropping, why aren't gas prices falling, too?

Oil prices fell nearly $4 per barrel Wednesday, continuing a downward slide and tumbling below $125 a barrel for the first time since early June. Crude for September delivery dropped $3.98 to settle at $124.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The August contract expired Tuesday at $127.95.

Continue reading "Why don't gas prices fall as fast as oil prices?" »

Jackson County's unemployment rate in June jumped to its highest level in five years, according to state data released today.

The area's unemployment rate stands at 8.6 percent, up from 8.3 percent in May. Last June, the unemployment rate was 8 percent.

According to the Department of Labor and Economic Growth, the local manufacturing sector added about 100 jobs in June, but the total number was offset by an employment decline of about 900 in private and public education.

Battle Creek Health System President and CEO Pat Garrett will leave after a successor is found to take a new position with Trinity Health.

Garrett, Battle Creek Health System's chief executive since 1999, will become vice president of the Trinity Health's operations performance leadership unit.

Continue reading "Battle Creek CEO moving to Trinity Health" »

Two Michigan hospitals ranked first and second as leaders in quality and safety in a recent survey.

Munson Medical Center in Traverse City earned the top spot and University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor placed second for the AHA-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize.

The award, given by the American Hospital Association, recognizes hospitals that have made the greatest strides toward fulfilling six quality and safety goals laid out by the Institute of Medicine: that health care should be safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable.

Continue reading "Michigan hospitals take first and second in quality award" »

With a stiff increase in provisions to cover loan losses at a bank acquired a year ago, Alma-based Firstbank Corp. reported sharply lower income in the second quarter.

Earnings dropped from 27 cents per share to 4 cents. Net income was $292,000 for the quarter, compared to $1.74 million a year ago, the bank company said.

Continue reading "Firstbank Corp. earnings lower on loan loss provisions" »

Home construction continued its steep decline in West Michigan during the second quarter, although a few builders say there are signs of renewed activity.

Single-family home starts through the second quarter in Kent and Ottawa counties dropped 31 percent compared to a year ago, according to Ada-based Builder Track.

That marks four years of declines since the building boom ended in 2004.

Continue reading "West Michigan home sellers try different tactics to lure buyers" »

Things happen because of fortunate accidents, hard work and a lot of planning, Mike McBreen believes. When you look carefully, there's a connection that ties everything back together, he says.

McBreen credits his mechanical inability and sub-Arctic Iowa weather for sending him from the family farm outside Spirit Lake to college. The youngest of nine, McBreen was the only one still at home when his father needed help one frigid day in November making an emergency machine repair. He wasn't much help.

Continue reading "An interview with Mike McBreen, Wolverine World Wide Inc." »

U.S. Small Business Administration lending in Michigan is up and down through three-quarters of the fiscal year, as banks respond to their own credit-quality issues.

While one SBA lending program is down considerably, another may set a record high in Michigan this year.

Continue reading "SBA lending reflects current banking environment" »

As wind and coal grow as energy sources globally, K&M Machine-Fabricating Inc. outside Cassopolis is poised to be an even bigger supplier to those industries. Agile manufacturing will aid it in that mission.

K&M has focused for years on building parts for huge products -- 400-ton mining trucks and 2.5 megawatt wind turbines, for example. There are few competitors working with ductile iron and steel on that scale.

Continue reading "Alt. energy opportunities continue, agile manufacturers say" »

Ernst & Young in Grand Rapids is telling its clients to get started on transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards now, said Chris Rosmarin, partner at that office. The option to use IFRS could have as much impact as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act did a few years ago, he said.

Observers expect the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin considering a timeline soon for U.S. companies to file financial reports under either the present accounting rules or IFRS.

Continue reading "International standards or GAAP for accounting?" »

• Read Dow Chemical's earnings announcement

Dow Chemical Co. said Thursday that despite record sales and two double-digit price increases unveiled in the second quarter, its profit for the period fell 27 percent, in large part because of sharply higher costs for energy and raw materials.

The world's second-largest chemical company said its net income for the three-month period ended June 30 was $762 million, or 81 cents per share, compared with $1.04 billion, or $1.07 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue rose 23 percent to a company record $16.38 billion.

Analysts expected Dow to report earnings of 85 cents per share on sales of $14.9 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.

Continue reading "Dow Chemical reports decline in 2Q profit" »

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Daimler AG says its second-quarter profit slipped 25 percent, mainly on charges related to its minority stake in Chrysler LLC.

The automaker says Thursday that profit in the April-June period fell to 1.4 billion euros ($2.2 billion) from 1.8 billion euros in the same quarter a year ago. The company posted a 6 percent increase in sales to 25.4 billion euros ($40 billion) from 24 billion euros a year earlier.

The Stuttgart-based maker of Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Maybach cars said it continued to assume that its divisions would make their respective sales goals for the rest of the year.