Growing with Greater Grand Rapids

All good things must come to an end.
I never gave this much thought until I was old enough to realize that an ending seems to always bring the opportunity of a new beginning. So it is with mixed emotions that the Rapid Growth staff says a fond farewell to departing managing editor Andy Guy, whose ideas and influence have guided Rapid Growth from its inception nearly three years ago. Andy himself is seizing a new beginning as a senior consultant with Grand Rapids-based communications firm Wondergem Consulting, leaving behind 114 issues of Rapid Growth and his role as local project director for the Michigan Land Use Institute.

Daniel Schoonmaker, who brings his experience as a local corporate communicator and an award-winning former staff writer for the Grand Rapids Business Journal, succeeds Andy. He comes aboard with fresh ideas and a passion for our efforts to capture the great things happening in West Michigan. Expect to see some subtle and exciting changes in the months ahead, some new faces and some welcome surprises on the pages of Rapid Growth.

Grand Rapids, Meet Rapid Growth 
Just over two years ago, Andy sat down to talk with Issue Media Group’s Paul Schutt, Brian Boyle and Deepa Ramsinghani, some visionary folks from Southeast Michigan, about their idea to launch a new kind of public conversation centered on Grand Rapids’ growth, economic development, and the revitalization of its unique neighborhoods. Their vision was to create a platform based on a pair of e-magazines the company had successfully launched in Detroit (Model D) and Pittsburgh (Pop City). This would be a “public conversation” or “alternative narrative” that would spotlight the growth and investment in Grand Rapids through a concentrated editorial focus on the quantity and value of developments in the urban core—and do it in a hip, multimedia format with a variety of development and revitalization stories and photography depicting real and vibrant urban life.

“When they told me their plans I thought ‘This is exactly what we need,’” Andy says. “Mainstream media tends to focus primarily on the death of the old economy. But West Michigan is writing a compelling new narrative about urban revitalization, environmental stewardship, and innovation to compete in the modern economy. Rapid Growth is designed specifically to tell that story.”

Rapid Growth started as an idea with zero sponsors, zero writers, zero readers. Andy’s skill as a journalist, his land-use expertise as project director for the Michigan Land Use Institute, and his involvement in community endeavors propelled Rapid Growth from idea to a successful, forward-thinking publication with 130,000 monthly readers, a stable of professional writers, and a continuously growing impact on our community.

Coverage began with a handful of Grand Rapids neighborhoods and quickly expanded to 26 neighborhoods and cities across West Michigan. As it became increasingly apparent how important innovation was to our region’s economic growth, we added a news section devoted specifically to innovation and job news letting readers know that local innovation is constantly underway and new jobs are continuously being created in growth fields such as health care, manufacturing, alternative energy and technology.

Thanks to Andy, the “public conversation” now includes the economic impact of modern mass transit. We have added stories highlighting arts and music, and even became a truly multimedia publication with the addition of RGTV, a video series featuring local movers, shakers and cool places to live, work and play.

“All these things sort of happened organically and in a fun way,” says founding Managing Photographer Brian Kelly. “There is the work and the direction and the vision, but it’s also a lot of fun. Andy brought his expertise on environmental issues and sustainability, and that made RG a hip, sort of green-lifestyle/entrepreneurship publication.”

“In the 21st Century, the environment is the economy,” Andy adds. “The quality of our globally unique natural assets, particularly our Great Lakes waterways, in my view are one of the region's most important competitive advantages. One of my goals was to elevate that idea more prominently in the civic dialogue. It’s been a great ride.”

Same mission. Fresh ideas.
As you’ve seen over the past two years, Rapid Growth is a different type of media outlet. We shoot for hip, uplifting and edgy. Our multimedia format provides a weekly dose of quick-read articles on development and revitalization, what you might call info-snacking. The photography, like the feature stories it illustrates, strives to show the everyday sites, sounds and neighbors of West Michigan in a light that demands appreciation—we’re asking you to stop and look around you.

Why do we do this? Because someone needs to. Our vision is to create a conversation that will eventually change the way people think about our home. We want to create demand for this place and a stir around the revitalization of its neighborhoods. To generate excitement about downtown residential and employment venues made possible by developers investing in the downtown core and transforming once-vacant buildings into environments teeming with life. To bring to the public consciousness the billions of dollars invested in cutting-edge health care facilities and life sciences research.

And so here we are, some 319 features and videos, 612 Development News stories, 457 Innovation and Job News stories and an untold number of photographs later, and we’re just getting started.

“If you pick the great cities in the Midwest and you look at their newspapers or TV, you’re not going to get a true perspective of life there,” says Daniel Schoonmaker, our new managing editor. “You’re going to get what journalists are trained to shine a light on. People miss the great things in a community, and spotlighting the happenings that really merit attention has been the mission of Rapid Growth from day one. 

“Before I came along, Rapid Growth was already in the process of making some exciting changes,” Daniel says. “The changes will be subtle but very noticeable, with new people coming on board and new features for our readers.

“This is a perfect opportunity for me to promote and assist in the growth of Greater Grand Rapids.”

Deborah Johnson Wood came on board as one of Rapid Growth’s first freelance feature writers in May 2006. Four months later she became editor of development news and now also covers innovation and job news. She’s grateful to Andy Guy for 1) hiring her, 2) being a steadfast mentor and 3) being a reliable friend. She looks forward to having Daniel Schoonmaker join the Rapid Growth journey.