What Thousands of Entrepreneurs Call 'Home'

West Michigan's thriving life sciences and biotechnology firms are built on the expertise of scientists who came to work in the pharmaceutical and bioscience industries and drive late-stage growth in companies that employ thousands, as well as the researchers who sought, and found, the ideal location to launch fledgling startups that have yet to commercialize their first product. Each is equally important to the greater community where people get excited about creative thinking and cutting-edge ideas.

And alongside the high tech businesses are the fashion boutiques and farmers markets, the specialty bakeries and ethnic restaurants, the neighborhood pubs and microbreweries, the consignment shops that take recycling to new levels and the avant garde art galleries, all of which create a sense of place, an identity that makes each bustling business district a unique community with its own flavor, its own appeal.

West Michiganders have made buying local a passion, and it's this passion that has fueled the growth of entrepreneurship on every level, whether it's a neighborhood supporting the local take-and-bake pizza restaurant down the street or it's the leaders of a Fortune 500 company ensuring that their supply chain uses local manufacturers.