Michigan’s AI workforce data is flashing clear signals. Manufacturers who ignore the skill gap now will pay for it in production later.
Continue readingMichigan Just Told Manufacturers Something They Can’t Afford to Ignore
Turnover Is Expensive. You Know What’s Cheap? A Bike.
A Bike Changed Everything. Seriously.
For most people, getting to work is an afterthought. You grab your keys, maybe stop for coffee, and show up. For a growing number of workers, though, the gap between having a job and keeping a job comes down to something far simpler — how to get there.
Transportation barriers are one of the most underreported drivers of workforce instability in America. No car. No bus route that works. No money for an Uber at 5 a.m. These are not excuses. They are the daily math that millions of people do before they ever set foot on a job site. And when the numbers do not add up, they call off. And when they call off enough, they lose the job. And the cycle starts over.
At WSI, we see this play out in real time. A reliable associate goes dark. A client calls frustrated. The reason, more often than people expect, traces back to a busted transmission, a cancelled ride, or a bus that does not run that early.
So when our Senior Account Manager Ben Heyn met Upcycle Bikes Executive Director Rick Armbruster at a Resource Fair at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, he did not just shake hands and move on. He saw a solution.
Upcycle Bikes is a Grand Rapids-based nonprofit that takes donated bicycles, refurbishes them, and distributes them free of charge to adults facing financial hardship. The numbers behind their work are striking — 87% of recipients come from households earning less than $35,000 annually, and 83% use that bike as their primary transportation for basic daily needs. In 2025 alone, they placed 1,214 bikes through a network of 44 distribution partners, backed by more than 3,100 volunteer hours.
These are not recreational riders. These are people getting to dialysis appointments, grocery runs, and yes — jobs.
Ben spent the better part of several months building a formal partnership between WSI Grand Rapids and Upcycle Bikes. The result is straightforward and powerful. When a WSI associate misses a shift due to a transportation issue, we now assess the situation and, where it makes sense, offer them a free refurbished bike — complete with a helmet, lights, and a lock.
That is not a perk. That is infrastructure.
National Bike Month 2026 | Grand Rapids, MI
A free bike.
Your job.
Both secured.
Your job.
Both secured.
WSI associates in Grand Rapids facing transportation barriers can now receive a free refurbished bike through our partnership with Upcycle Bikes.
Upcycle Bikes
WSI Talent GR
Every bike includes -- at no cost
Refurbished bicycle
Helmet
Front + rear lights
Bike lock
Talk to your WSI contact
Transportation trouble affecting your shifts? We have a solution.
→
1,214
bikes placed in 2025
83%
rely on bike as primary transport
44
distribution partners
upcyclebikes.org | wsitalent.com
The cost of turnover to employers is well documented. Recruiting, onboarding, lost productivity — it adds up fast. If a bike worth a few hundred dollars keeps a solid worker employed and a client’s line staffed, that math is not complicated.
What Ben built reflects something we believe at WSI — that being a workforce partner means more than filling orders. It means understanding the real barriers people face and doing something about them when you can. Upcycle Bikes is doing extraordinary work in the Grand Rapids community, and we are glad to be part of extending that reach.
Transportation should not be the reason someone loses their shot. Now, for some WSI associates in Grand Rapids, it will not be.
To learn more about Upcycle Bikes, visit upcyclebikes.org
From Chaos to Clarity: How to Transform Your Team Meetings
Discover how structured, disciplined meetings turn unfocused conversations into aligned, accountable, and results-driven leadership sessions.
Continue readingGoogle NotebookLM Unleashed! Webinar
A year ago, WSI showed our team, friends and clients why Google NotebookLM stands out: it stays grounded in the sources you trust, so your AI outputs are more reliable without AI hallucinations. Since then, NotebookLM has evolved from a “smart notebook” into a necessary and practical production tool for building client-ready media assets, training tools, and executive reports fast.
Join WSI’s Jade Johnson and Mark Keady on Wednesday, April 8 at 2:00 PM ET for a focused, one-hour workshop designed for hiring and operations leaders.
Live demos will include building slide decks and correcting them on the fly, creating illustrated infographics, turning a YouTube video into instructional graphics, drafting SOPs, producing explainer-style training content, building structures with mindmaps, and generating study guides and data tables that can be moved into tools like Google Sheets.
You will see how to use Google’s Gemini Gems alongside NotebookLM to standardize your outputs, reduce rework, and keep deliverables consistent across teams. We will also cover using Deep Research and built-in web search capabilities to build a strong source set quickly, so your summaries, recommendations, and training materials stay well-researched and on-message.
This is a free client webinar. RSVP is required to save your seat.
When: Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at 2:00 pm
What to Expect: Practical, ready-to-use AI techniques to work smarter.
This isn’t about becoming a developer. It’s about staying ahead of the curve, using AI as your creative partner to uncover the stories inside your data.
What you’ll get:
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Leveraging resources to illuminate your presentations
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Step-by-step guidance to build unique graphic materials to support your data
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A new confidence with AI you didn’t think you’d have
Save your spot now — seats are limited.
Cheapest Day to Get Gas in Michigan: 10 Proven Ways to Save Money Now
Michigan gas prices are spiking again. Here’s why Sunday matters most, plus 10 practical ways drivers and employers can save.
Continue readingOne Day of Appreciation Won’t Fix Your Culture — But Ignoring It Will Break It
Employee Appreciation Day reminds manufacturing leaders that real recognition, respect, and opportunity drive retention more than pizza ever could.
Continue readingWhat 60% of Gen Z’s Career Plans Mean for the Future of Manufacturing
Gen Z is turning toward skilled trades for stability, pay, and AI-proof careers—manufacturers must modernize recruiting to win them.
Continue readingTurning Your Employees Into Brand Ambassadors
Turn shop-floor credibility into a recruiting engine: build a real EVP, fix candidate experience, enable ambassadors, measure outcomes that matter.
Continue readingAI Dashboard Magic Webinar
With our WSI AI Training Webinars this year, you’ve learned how to prompt. You’ve played with AI tools. Now it’s time to make them work for you.
Our next webinar, AI Dashboard Magic, shows HR professionals how to turn everyday data into interactive dashboards using tools you already have — Google Sheets, Looker Studio, and Microsoft Excel. No coding experience required.
Join Mark Keady, WSI AI Integrationist, on December 3 at 2 PM for a free, fast-moving webinar as we walk through how to add scripts in Google Sheets, preview how your data comes alive in Google Looker Studio, and explore the best and easiest ways to build dashboards in Excel. You’ll see how AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini can “vibe code” alongside you — writing scripts, automating updates, and visualizing your data in real time.
When: Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025, at 2:00 pm
What to Expect: Practical, ready-to-use AI techniques to work smarter.
This isn’t about becoming a developer. It’s about staying ahead of the curve, using AI as your creative partner to uncover the stories inside your data.
What you’ll get:
- Live demo using real HR examples like payroll and retention
- Step-by-step guidance to build your first dashboard
- A new confidence with AI you didn’t think you’d have
Save your spot now — seats are limited.
SNAP on Hold. Why Factories Will Feel It First
Two factory workers in hi vis jackets stand in a staggered line facing a mobile food pantry truck at dusk, watching the volunteer inside as warm light spills onto the cold factory lot.
Continue reading
