Matthew J Kuiper Email & Phone Number

United States

Representing home owners and home buyers in the Greater Grand Rapids area.

Making home ownership a reality for hundreds of happy buyers, SOLD homes for top dollar.

Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan Area

Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan Area

Production Specialist with experience in inventory control and packaging.I took this position because I needed to make money while I continued searching for a Business career. Factory work was not my first choice, but Royal was hiring and I had heard good things about the company. This was proven to be true, as Royal Technologies is extremely generous to their employees, offering incredible dental and health insurance, profit sharing and ESOP programs. In my time with Royal, I did everything I could to make myself invaluable to the company (and my supervisors). I renewed my Hi-Lo license, became auditor for the bays I worked in, and volunteered for a lot of Saturday morning shifts. It was definitely not work related to my BA degree, but it was still a good experience and it built some character. It also gave me first-hand knowledge of the production/shipping side of companies.

Detroit, Michigan

When Kamps Pallets purchased a vacant warehouse facility in the Detroit area, I was elected Project Manager to get the facilities back to working order. This was no small matter as the factory had been dormant for a few years, and almost EVERYTHING needed attention: broken windows, crumbling concrete, outdated fire extinguishers, filthy office and restroom areas, inactive plumbing, dangerous electrical circuitry, leaking roof, jungle-themed parking lot weeds, and a thick layer of graphite dust that covered every square inch of the building. As Assistant Project Manager, I met with groups of electricians, plumbers, concrete crews, parking lot stripers, and a power-washing team. I gave tours of the facility, giving a detailed summary of the scope of work, and what our timetables were. Since I speak Spanish, when our first Hispanic employees began employment, I acted as a translator between management and employees. My Spanish isn't perfect, but it IS passable, and it really helped out a lot. It also meant a lot to the employees that I worked hard to learn more of the language, as it had been a few years since I took classes in Spanish.It was only a 4 month position, which ended once all Administrative personnel had moved in and the supervisors took over. However, I learned a GREAT DEAL about project management, meeting deadlines, budgeting for various improvements, and managing people. I greatly improved my time-management and organizational skills, and enjoyed the opportunity to oversee various work crews.

Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan Area

I spend a good amount of time on the road, meeting with General Contractors and business owners with the purpose of raising awareness and increasing sales. Our company has completed thousands and thousands of projects over the years and have a long list of very happy clients. My goal is to lengthen that list as far as I possibly can.If you or your business are looking to update flooring, GRI has you covered.I teamed up with Grand River Interiors for 6 months, increasing GRI's visibility in the Grand Rapids/West Michigan area, analyzing blueprints for competitive bids, and also giving their website a major makeover. Due to company downsizing, I wasn't able to continue on with them, but I was able to accomplish a good deal while in their employment.At the time of my hire, GRI's website was at least 6 years old, with only a small handful of project pictures to showcase their talent. I immediately set to work visiting places which GRI had done work for, taking a slew of pictures at each location. I then collaborated with James from Mikrut Design, a website development business in the downtown area. With James' tech-savvy abilities and my multitude of photographs, we put together a very nice gallery that painted a much more flattering picture of what GRI is capable of. I also put together a professional portfolio, with full-page, high resolution project photographs that our salesmen could take along on sales calls. This turned out to be a very useful tool and a great conversation piece with potential clients. In addition to the website, I learned blueprint take-off techniques, finding precise square footages for various projects GRI was bidding on. These take-offs had previously been completed using paper and colored pencils, but after some research, I found a faster, more efficient method in the form of Cloud Software online. I also made many sales calls to potential and existing clients, over the phone and in person.

Zeeland, Mi

I was hired on at ZL to manage the creation and implementation of the new company logo. I used Photoshop and CorelDraw to make the necessary changes to all of the company letterhead, mail outs, company newsletters, and all advertising materials.I met with a variety of suppliers who competitively bid the project cost for all promotional products - everything from hats and notepads to t-shirts and hats. I was able to find a company who actually beat ZL's and saved them a little money. After all the changes had been made to advertising and promotional products, I was put in charge or organizing the company rollout event, which many of our valued clients and all employees attended. It was an opportunity for everyone to see the new company logo, hear about some new company policies, and eat some great food. We gave away a lot of shirts and hats with the new company logo, and everybody had a good time. One of the last projects I managed was the "Customer Appreciation Day" at Whitecaps Stadium. I put together all of the flyers, mail outs, and invitations to valued clients and their families. I kept track of all attendees and their guests with databases I created using Microsoft Excel. My time at Zeeland Lumber gave me some hands-on experience with purchasing, competitive bidding, database management, editing and proofreading, and managing a company newsletter

Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan Area

Utilized WordPress to draft student and employee newslettersProofread/edited mail-outs, brochures and other office documentsConstructed news releases, columns for DU ReviewProject Managed Davenport's 2009 New Years On The Grand eventAs Marketing and Communications Assistant, I managed a variety of operations. I was chosen to proofread and edit all of our outgoing newsletters, news releases, and website articles. After a time I was also put in charge of writing many of these articles myself - Student Newsletters, Employee Newsletters, News Releases, and a multitude of articles which were published on our websites. I also co-managed our Facebook page, where DU connected with students, informing them of upcoming events on campus and off. I often assisted with giveaways, trivia, and uploading the most recent photos from around campus to keep our website fresh. I attended most of the athletic and business events on campus, reported on them and took many pictures for our archives - I used this information to write up new articles for our multiple student websites. In 2009 I was elected Project Manager of "New Years On The Grand," which was sponsored by Davenport University. I led a team of employees throughout the evening, kept everyone on task with their responsibilities, and kept three big-name bands happy all night. I also managed the on-stage activities, where t-shirts were thrown out and announcements made pertaining to the rest of the night's events. I also photographed the event, and many photos were used on our websites.This position enhanced my leadership skills, developed Project Management & Organizational abilities, and further cultivated my editorial talent.

Bachelor Of Business Administration, Marketing

Activities and Societies: 2010 Student Ambassador, 2011 Project Manager for "New Years On The Grand" concert at Rosa Parks Circle. Member.

Associate Of Arts, Business

Activities and Societies: Deans List, leading World History class in absence of professorStudied Business Administration and Marketing.

Graduated With Honors, Business Prep

Activities and Societies: Varsity Basketball and Varsity Cross CountryStudied Business Prep classes, played varsity basketball and ran.

Associate'S Degree, Business Administration And Management, General

Activities and Societies: Dean's List. Volunteer work at inner city elementary schools where I taught Hispanic children how to read.