GRAND RAPIDS - They're found in nearly every hospital room in America - the plastic devices used to catch and measure body fluids. A Michigan company that used to make auto parts is finding new life by shifting its work to the medical sector, producing these and other devices.
It didn't happen overnight and it wouldn't have happened without the mentoring and guidance of a large customer, Spectrum Health, and a large national purchaser of medical products, VHA.
Spectrum wanted to grow its base of minority-owned suppliers, and WJG Enterprises fit the bill. Until recently, the Charlotte, MI company was nearly 100% dependent on the auto industry. A few years from now, it hopes to reduce that to 35%, with the rest focused on medical and consumer products. In the process, they expect to hire 100 more employees. Bill Grice of Kentwood, the company's owner, told WZZM 13: "If we had not entered into other market sectors, I don't think we would have survived the downturn in the auto industry."
Some of that growth was supported by state incentives to encourage manufacturers to diversify away from the auto industry.
Learn more about how this company is surviving the economy watching the attached video report.
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