As part of a month long statewide tour of the state's entrepreneurial hotspots, representatives from Beringea -- Michigan's largest venture capital firm -- will be holding "office hours" at Grand Valley State University on March 29. According to Michael Gross, managing director, the "office hours" concept is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to have 15 minutes to pitch their ideas and get immediate feedback from investment veterans. Gross indicates that Beringea "does not anticipate to make any deals, but is an initial reach out and the beginning of a relationship." He says it is crucial that participants keep their pitches to 10 minutes. This will then allow five minutes of feedback at the back end of the meeting. Beringea is not looking for any specific industry for investment purposes, but is interested in "innovation and transforming Michigan's economy." The event will be held at the DeVos Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation from 10 a.m. to noon. If interested, use this link to schedule a time. Source: Michael Gross, Beringea Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs Editor

The building now known as 56 Grandville used to be two factories until a dozen years ago when they were connected and renovated into office space. Now, the Grand Rapids-based CPA and business consulting firm Beene Garter, which purchased the building last year and will move its 75 employees into it in May, has plans to rechristen the four-story structure with the company's name. The purchase is the first time Beene Garter has owned its own offices since the company's founding 62 years ago. "We advise our clients from time to time to own their own buildings," says Tom Rosenbach, managing partner. "Our lease (at 50 Monroe NW) was up the end of May, and we're committed to staying in downtown Grand Rapids, so since there was a good opportunity to buy, it made sense to do so."According to Kent County property records, Beene Garter purchased the building for $4 million. Rosenbach says they've invested another $1.2 million in the renovation, which includes constructing conference rooms and kitchen/cafeteria space that Beene Garter will share with the building's only other tenant, Advantage Sales and Marketing, a national food broker that already occupies the upper floors. Creating the shared spaces frees up room for projected growth by Advantage, a company that employs 143 in West Michigan, Rosenbach says. A number of Beene Garter's construction clients are handling the interior buildout. "One of our biggest niches is construction and real estate, so we have a large client base of contractors and subcontractors," Rosenbach says. "We approached them all to see if we could get them some work, and I think we got about 90 percent of them something to do. Now we have competitors working side by side in this building -- mechanical, electrical, general contractors -- and they're all having fun." Source: Tom Rosenbach, managing partner, Beene Garter; Craig Clark, Clark CommunicationsWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News EditorRelated ArticlesGrand Rapids accounting firm acquires tax consulting services for future growth

Both Suzanne Velarde of the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce and Dave Stradal of Muskegon Community College are quick to say the evidence is anecdotal, but they and others in the lakeshore community say they have been busy fielding an increased number of inquiries about how to start a business in the region. Some of the interest, they say, has come about since announcing the launch of the e-merge Entrepreneur Network in February, a network of organizations and business leaders ready to help entrepreneurs connect with the resources they need to be successful. The web site, www.e-mergewestmichigan.org will launch in mid-April and will feature an entrepreneur/mentor matchmaking option. "Many people thinking about starting a business are not aware of everything that's out there for them," Velarde says. "Since we announced it, the SCORE office inside the Chamber has seen a bump up in those calls, and they have seen more people in the first quarter than at the same time a year ago."MCC has also been busy, spending the past several months developing and piloting a core group of classes on entrepreneurism as well as a proposed new associate's degree, the Entrepreneur Associate of Applied Science, that will be offered in all 41 of its education departments. "We wanted to carry our message to students that you can be an entrepreneur whether they're in business programs or music programs," says Stradal, entrepreneurship program coordinator and MCC's representative on the e-merge council. Ten students are in the pilot program of the entrepreneurship core curriculum that gives students a chance to "stick their toe in the water and gauge their own skill sets," says Stradal. The curriculum helps students develop their own business idea into a business plan and strategy.In addition, Stradal expects the college to approve the proposed degree in entrepreneurism in time for the first departments to offer it this fall. "By working with people from the community like SCORE, the Chamber and the MI-SBTDC, the students will already have made contacts and built relationships to enhance their probability of success long before they graduate," Stradal says. Source: Suzanne Valarde, Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce; Dave Stradal, Muskegon Community CollegeWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

According to WWW executives, barefoot running is more than a fad. As a result, WW has announced new brand for their Merrell line of outdoor products. According to excerpts from MLive Wolverine World Wide Inc. is betting a shoe that mimics going barefoot will be a runaway hit for its outdoor brand, Merrell. "Merrell Barefoot is going to be important for helping Merrell become our first billion-dollar brand," Chief Executive Blake Krueger said. The Rockford footwear company recently introduced the Barefoot Collection -- lightweight high-tech shoes with such style names as Trail Glove, Pace Glove and Pure Glove -- created with the intent to be the go-to brand in the barefoot outdoor shoe category. You can read the entire article here.

After a 10-day festival filled with laughter, the Grand Rapids Press reports that LaughFest's participating businesses and Gilda's Club leaders report bigger than expected crowds and enthusiasm for next year's event.According to excerpts from the story:Nearly 300 LaughFest staff, volunteers and attendees raised yellow and black placards above their heads into rainy conditions Sunday afternoon on Calder Plaza to create one giant LaughFest-logo smile -- and with good reason. The first-year event, a 10-day laughter-focused fundraiser and celebration of Gilda's Club Grand Rapids' 10-year anniversary, has a lot to smile about having been both "seriously funny" and seriously successful for participants, local businesses and its comedians. LaughFest attracted 55,000 attendees from 25 states and Canada with many throwing around the adjective "world-class" in describing the event. Read the complete story here.

Keith Brophy is a very enthusiastic about the future health care solutions that are being developed in West Michigan as the result of the "energy of the medical mile" and the application of technology. Brophy is especially enthused when there is an extremely compelling business model when the ability to operate a profitable and sustainable business is combined with a product and service that will be touching lives. Brophy, a veteran of the west Michigan technology scene is CEO of Ideomed and is very excited about their first product, Abriiz.com, an online platform and mobile application that Brophy states is "the world's first holistic pediatric asthma solution". Concerning asthma, Brophy cites several statistics; it's the number one pediatric condition with over eight million cases in the US.  There are over two million emergency room visits due to asthma and over four thousand deaths.   "The interesting aspect about asthma is that is often challenging for parents and kids to weave daily adherence to prescribed medication into their lives. By some research, over fifty percent of emergency room visits could be prevented if the patient had taken medication". Through Abriiz, registered users will have access to both a web-based platform and mobile application that will assist in reminding users about their medication needs along with providing an ongoing record for caretakers. Several of the online components of Abriiz are still evolving and Brophy states they are would like get more feedback from families that have children with chronic asthma.  Brophy asks for families to contact him at [email protected] for more information on this program. Source:  Keith Brophy, Ideomed Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs Editor