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Steelcase numbers best in five years Thursday, March 29, 2007 By Rob Kirkbride The Grand Rapids Press GRAND RAPIDS -- For the first time in five years, Steelcase Inc. today posted yearly sales topping $3 billion while profits surged 110 percent over the previous year. It was another sign of a robust office furniture industry after Herman Miller Inc. reported surging quarterly profits last week. In this morning's announcement, Steelcase said this was the fourth-best year in its history for sales. The company's best year was 2001, when it had sales of more than $4 billion. The Grand Rapids office...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Steelcase Inc. announced Monday that it will cut 600 jobs over the next two years as it shuts down its remaining manufacturing operations in the city and consolidates work at other plants. The furniture maker said it will vacate the remaining factories at its sprawling Grand Rapids campus. Much of the work from the chair and panel plants will be moved to plants in Kent County's Gaines Township and Kentwood. About 30 jobs will move to Steelcase's plant in Mexico, The Grand Rapids Press reported. One hundred...

Showing its first real hint of recovery in years, Steelcase Inc. this morning announced financial results that spurred talk of a "positive turn in the economy" at the world's largest office-furniture maker. In terms of profits and losses, it is the best start of a year since 2001. After being battered for three years by the worst recession in the industry's history, Grand Rapids-based Steelcase reported quarterly results that showed sales gains and smaller losses than the same period last year. West Michigan's largest manufacturer posted sales of $597.7 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2005, up nearly 8...

They move in powerful circles, sit on important boards, contribute to charitable causes. Still, when it came to politics, they felt powerless, without a voice. There were few outlets for women with progressive views in West Michigan. So, one night last summer, five like-minded women got together in a living room with little more than frustration over how politics were going and a dream of how they could change things. They named themselves the Progressive Women's Alliance (PWA). Nine months later, they have a political action committee, 200 members and bold visions. With Gov. Jennifer Granholm keynoting its first fund-raiser...

What a difference a day makes. Jerry Vernon, 48, of Asheville, is one of the 480 workers facing unemployment in the near future following the decision to close the Steelcase plant in Fletcher. Tuesday afternoon the parking lot at Steelcase in the Cane Creek Industrial Park was covered in snow and only a few cars were there. Wednesday most of the snow and ice had melted and workers at the office furniture production plant were back on the job, but many were reeling from the announcement that by this time next year all 480 workers at the factory will be...

Herman Miller cuts 255 more workers Monday, March 10, 2003By Rob KirkbrideThe Grand Rapids Press ZEELAND -- The worst for Herman Miller Inc. was supposed to be over, but the office-furniture depression that shows little sign of easing is expected to cost at least 255 workers their jobs at the Zeeland-based furniture company. The Press learned today that Herman Miller is preparing to announce that 140 to 150 white-collar jobs are being eliminated and 115 production workers laid off in response to the sluggish economy and threat of war that has kept furniture buyers on the sideline. A Herman Miller...

Some of the country's biggest corporations, concerned about their ability to recruit women and minority applicants, are supporting the University of Michigan in its court battle to preserve affirmative action in opposition to the Bush administration. Dozens of companies, including 3M, Microsoft, Bank One, Steelcase, PepsiCo and Exelon, plan to tell the Supreme Court that universities should be allowed to consider race as a factor in admissions. In the lower court cases against the university, more than 30 companies argued that diversity in college was essential because future employees need the experience of working with people from different backgrounds. Though...

Steelcase drops dental coverage for its retirees Tuesday, July 23, 2002By Rob KirkbrideThe Grand Rapids Press Like a toothache that will not go away, rising health-care costs and slumping office-furniture sales are forcing Steelcase Inc. to make deep cuts in retirement benefits. Among the most significant is the elimination of dental coverage for the 2,400 retirees. The Grand Rapids-based company mailed letters Monday to current and former employees explaining the move, expected to save at least $9 million a year from the company's annual $30 million health-care budget for retirees. Steelcase also is increasing medical-care deductibles from the $50 to...