These schools stand apart: Six elementaries earn Literacy Leader Awards
February 27, 2025

These schools stand apart: Six elementaries earn Literacy Leader Awards

TalentFirst has announced the 2025 winners of its Literacy Leader Awards: six West Michigan elementary...
Main Message

Making West Michigan a leading region for talent

Our CEO Council drives workforce innovation, strengthening the regional talent supply chain.
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Illuminate. Evaluate. Advocate.

TalentFirst is a catalyst working to ensure an ongoing supply of world-class talent for West Michigan. Composed of over 100 CEOs from the region, TalentFirst illuminates gaps, evaluates leading practices, and advocates for the implementation of those leading practices to make West Michigan a top 20% employment region.

Unmatched Collaboration for Regional Impact

TalentFirst serves 13 counties in West Michigan, engaging the industries, businesses, and nonprofit and educational institutions of each county. We chose this region — Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola and Ottawa counties — because it provides the talent pool from which local employers employ 83.6 percent of their workforce. We convene stakeholders from across sectors and facilitate efficient and effective collaboration.

Our Working Groups:
Where collaboration drives solutions

Ensure children have access to quality childcare and preschool that prepares them to enter kindergarten at…

Increase academic and college and career readiness measures and advocate for schools to adopt…

The Postsecondary Education Working Group aims to increase the number of students graduating from West…

The Workforce Development Working Group aims to create a best-in-class workforce system to engage and…

The Workforce Analytics Working Group aims to advance alignment across West Michigan’s talent…

Significantly reduce the racial and ethnic disparities in labor force participation, employment, and…

TalentFirst will be recognized as one of the most trusted resources for talent solutions among West Michigan…

Our Members

TalentFirst’s membership represents an array of the region’s business, educational, and civic leaders — a group as diverse as the region we serve. Together, they are a powerful force for meeting the talent demand of today and tomorrow. 

Our Insights

Two young students in foreground are reading books at a table in a library. Another student is in the background.

TalentFirst has announced the 2025 winners of its Literacy Leader Awards: six West Michigan elementary schools whose excellence in reading instruction and accomplishment will be...

Children with books seated on risers, teacher at front.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Grand Rapids, MI (February 10, 2025) — An alliance of business, K-12 and teaching-college leaders today announced an unprecedented agreement to increase...

An infant in the foreground, with a caregiver and other toddler-aged children.

Successful business leaders don’t tolerate broken components of their operations. When a department fails to deliver, when costs overrun revenue, when a system breaks down?...