Kendall grad in 2004 here. I didn’t know you were one too Kungfu!
Kungfu touched on most of the major players in the area. West Michigan has a fairly good job market for ID. I got out after graduation to work for a furniture company in Chicago though, and now I’m in NE Wisconsin working for another one.
Of places worth mentioning: Izzy Design (contract furniture), Curious ID (consultant firm), and Whirlpool has a large opperation in Benton Harbor (by the IN border). I think Atwood folded a few years ago. I work with a guy that used to work for Milsco in Milwaukee, and he said Atwood folded and his company bought them to add a boat division to their opperations. I think Trent Eckoff (sp?) might still be there in fact. Not sure of who else would be though.
I would highly recomend that you pound the pavement at Neocon in Chicago, and even High Point if you want to get accquainted with the furniture market. I had great luck approaching companies there and speaking to marketing or design managers if they were present. I got my first job after meeting one company at High Point, and my new one after meeting someone at Neocon. I also had some companies at Neocon tell me they would give me some consideration for accepting contract work too.
In my experience though, most companies are looking for contract designers, not in house people. Larger companies like Steelcase, Hayworth, and their subsidies will take people on staff, but most small companies (especially those relying upon mostly foreign manuf. or strickly importing) simply don’t have the workload to keep a designer on staff.