When one of our team members mentioned a new fiber Internet provider coming to Downtown Grand Rapids, our team at Springthrough was automatically intrigued. Fiber Internet is known to provide better business Internet speeds, and we thought it was worth investigating to see the cost difference. Who doesn’t want better value from their Internet Service Provider (ISP)? It was perfect timing when we came acrossLightSpeed Communications.

As the Manager of Talent for Springthrough, I have the opportunity to talk to a lot of people. This is pretty perfect for me because I like to talk a lot… just ask my family or the people lucky enough to sit by me in the office. One of my main responsibilities at Springthrough is the hiring of fantastically talented people who help us solve complex problems for our clients. I love interviewing candidates for open positions in our office. I truly do. No two interviews are alike, and whether we decide to hire the person or not, I learn something new in every interaction with a candidate.

My interests often lie in workforce trends and challenges. Many community groups share my passion, but Talent 2025 has stood out to me with its focus on talent development and job attraction in West Michigan. Recently, I joined their working group for the Diversity and Inclusion Community of Practice, representing Springthrough.

About a year ago, Springthrough’s President, Jeff Williams, approached me with a new idea. He wanted to implement a leadership development program - something where team members could learn about themselves, learn about each other, and learn how to be valued leaders. Being our organization’s Controller (“the money guy”), my first instinct was to push back due to the cost.

On January 22, Springthrough officially closed the door on 2015 and looked forward to 2016. We celebrated our annual Year in Review event: a mixture of retrospection and discussing strategy with a heavy emphasis on fun. The Year in Review is one of our more popular events in the office.