The calendar shows three weeks until the end of the year, but Rapid Growth can't wait that long to serve up some of its best stories for 2009 -- and to give you a preview of things to come. In this issue, we have hand-picked four features that share a common theme: the honest-to-goodness rise of the creative class in metro Grand Rapids. Pundits have visited our area to tell us how we can attract and retain the young and smart, but the individuals highlighted in these four stories were too busy making things happen to heed the advice of outsiders. These stories celebrate individuality and new partnerships, cross-pollination of ideas and new ways of doing business, all done with a distinctive West Michigan flair. We're not in a struggle to attract the young and smart -- they're already here. We've also included the most noteworthy items in development news, innovation and jobs, and In The News columns run throughout the year.
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