The crime-ridden world of office furniture

In a profile by the Grand Rapids Press, bestselling author Joseph Finder reveals why he decided to set his upcoming novel, COMPANY MAN in Western Michigan amongst the fun-and-games of a Staples-style world:

Finder visited West Michigan several times to research the thriller, which revolves around Nick Conover, chief executive of Stratton Corp., and his efforts to cover up a murder. A dogged homicide detective is determined to uncover the mystery.

The setting is fictitious Fenwick, a small town dwarfed by the massive furniture company. It has nothing to do with the real Fenwick, a blip on the map northeast of Belding.

The author spent several hours interviewing Steelcase CEO James Hackett and Steelcase North America President Frank Merlotti Jr. at company headquarters. Finder also toured the Steelcase chair plant and visited Herman Miller Inc.’s Design Yard in Holland.

Finder discovered West Michigan after deciding to write a book about a metal-bending Midwest company going through painful layoffs.

Interestingly, Finder got the idea to use Steelcase from the current writer du jour, Malcolm Gladwell, and pretty much ran with it. But in case people are worried that using Grand Rapids as setting will upset the locals, have no fear:

Finder acknowledged that making an office-furniture executive into the book’s hero might ruffle a few feathers in Grand Rapids.

"I know that having such a hero may make some people in Grand Rapids a bit uncomfortable — may even make the book somewhat controversial for that reason," he said. "But I thought it would make for a far more interesting story to present the side of the story most people never get to see: the perspective of a CEO who’s had to wrestle with the terrible dilemma of having to lay off thousands of people in the town where he lives."

"I’d encountered so much vitriol about Steelcase in Grand Rapids, heard such hostility, that I was astonished by how sensitive and impressive I found Jim Hackett."

Finder’s also a fan of West Michigan-made furniture.

After meeting with Steelcase executives, Finder said he turned in his old desk chair for a Steelcase Leap chair.

Look for COMPANY MAN to hit stores in mid-April.