John Rumery

MomsinTow.com is an online community in West Michigan providing area merchant discounts and information on networking opportunities to mothers interested in maintaining an active lifestyle.  

MomsinTow.com Founder Jenny White, 29, came up with the idea for the online venture soon after she moved back to Holland, MI from Colorado with her husband, a professional cyclist, and their newborn son, Macen.

While in Colorado, White had been involved with a group of young mothers that got together for hiking and biking and supported kid-friendly stores.  Wanting to meet other new mothers in Holland, who were interested in active lifestyles with their children, White had an idea for a website that would serves a platform for these moms to interact and to share ideas, plus serve as a catalyst to meet offline as well.   

Taking it one step further, White felt that besides being a resource site, why not use this community of active moms to approach local businesses to see if they would provide discounts on their products or services in exchange for patronage by this customer base?

According to White, "merchants have loved this concept," and she has very positive and encouraging feedback from everyone she has discussed this with. 

Which is good, because White, who has no background in sales, admits to being  "very nervous" when initially approaching the business community with the idea. But, local businesses immediately saw the benefits of direct marketing to young families early in developing their purchasing patterns.

White now has a core listing of select businesses that provide discounts to members of MomsinTow.com. There is no cost to the merchant to become part of the first level of the network. White also has a paid sponsorship program for businesses that will provide them extra visibility to this community.

For the moms, in order to get these discounts, there is a $30.00 annual membership fee, soon increasing to $48.00.  White says the primary benefit of membership is to "save money at local businesses." 

White is also quick to point out these businesses are not just mom-related, but family-related. For example: "We just partnered with a plumbing firm," White says. "Moms are usually the ones at home and have to deal with the plumber."

White will be relying heavily on word-of-mouth and social media to spread the word. She points to their Facebook page as key source of marketing. 

White also is very appreciative and amazed at the help she has received from the entrepreneurial community. She recently pitched MomsinTow.com at pitch night at Startup West Michigan and took first place.

"I am just discovering the support groups for entrepreneurs," she says. "Pitch night was terrific evening."  

For more information, you can visit the MomsInTow.com or attend their launch party on Thursday, October, 14, details on their Facebook page.

Source. Interview with Jenny White

 

John Rumery is the Innovation and Jobs Editor for Rapid Growth Media. He is an educator, board member of AimWest, WYCE music programmer, entrepreneur, raconteur and competitive barbecuer living in Grand Rapids, MI.  He can be reached at [email protected]

 For story tips you can e-mail [email protected]

Deborah Johnson WoodTwo West Michigan business competitors, Kharmai Video Productions and Fresh Look Video & Multimedia, have discovered that collaborating on projects and sharing resources is a great way to make money and have fun doing it. And now, owners Navin Kharmai and Casey Stormes have moved the video production companies from individual home offices to a shared space at the Goei Center's International Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, 818 Butterworth St. SE, Grand Rapids. The Goei Center is a renovated furniture factory that houses Eastern Floral, a banquet facility and collaborative workspaces designed to provide growth opportunities for startup businesses owned by women and minority entrepreneurs. "I am the first generation East Indian-American born here, and I was born in good old Butterworth (Hospital)," says Kharmai. "I grew up in Grand Rapids, so I like to tell people that I'm as Dutch as the next guy. Ninety-five percent of the time my skin color is not an issue with clients, and I've been really able to expand my interests in the film and video industry."Stormes operated Fresh Look for seven years in Hudsonville before moving to Grand Rapids on September 1. "Navin and I met about 10 years ago, and we've found it's beneficial to collaborate and share resources and equipment. We hire each other when we need help on projects, and offer advice on projects and a second set of eyes."Both companies provide similar services, such as HD video production for corporate clients, public relations videos, and live event production services, like video recording and playback, projection, and staging, sound and lighting. "We're a one stop shop in terms of creative new media storytelling," Kharmai says. "We looked at office spaces downtown, but they had very stark spaces with white walls, and we really liked the feel that's here – an old building that's very artsy with an urban feel."Source: Navin Kharmai, Kharmai Video Productions, LLC; Casey Stormes, Fresh Look Video & Multimedia, LLCRelated ArticlesAbandoned GR furniture factory now bustling International Entrepreneurial CenterDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].

Federal grant money is to be awarded to a local brewers guild to help promote local hop production.  Guild organizers feel Michigan has an opportunity to supply breweries throughout the region with high-quality hops.

According to excerpts from the story in the Kalamazoo Gazette:

The Michigan Brewers Guild will receive $74,000 in federal dollars to help promote Michigan-grown hops. Guild president Scott Graham said he learned Thursday his organization, which represents more than 60 breweries around the state, would get the funding. The MBG is one of 21 projects selected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture to share$1.4 million in grants to create, enhance or expand agriculture development ventures across the state.

Read the complete story here:

http://www.mlive.com/kalamabrew/index.ssf/2010/09/michigan_brewers_guild_receive.html

An article in Art Showcase Magazine brags up Grand Rapids as one of the premier art and cuisine destinations in the Midwest.According to excerpts from the story:Hop in your car, point it west and in a couple of hours you'll be in one of the most progressive and welcoming cities in the Midwest—a city bursting with galleries and avant-garde outdoor art, shaded parks and some of the most impressive farm-to-plate restaurants found anywhere. The city? Grand Rapids, Michigan—a thriving, walkable destination of 192,000 on the banks of the Grand River; a river crisscrossed with bridges connecting downtown in European style.Read the complete story here.

John Rumery Chris Ziebarth has a passion for music and West Michigan, and he wants to share it with others. In fact, he decided to start something that combines those two passions into one venture. Ziebarth, "30-something" and a bartender at The Winchester is the founder of halfwayhousemusic.com. His belief is that Grand Rapids is in an interesting position.  On one hand, it's positioned "half way" between two major cities that feature great music, shows and venues.  On the other hand, he wonders why anyone in a metropolitan area of this size should need to travel to shows when there are great local venues and an already vibrant music scene.  His solution to this quandary is halfwayhousemusic.com, a website devoted to increasing the awareness of the many talented musicians in Grand Rapids and also to showcasing the region as a destination for bands from around the country to schedule a tour stop. Ziebarth's site features several sections that serve as a clearinghouse listing the different venues, open mics, and festivals in the area. The landing page also showcases new videos of independent bands.  Perhaps the most distinctive feature of his site is "sessions," where local and artists "passing through" are videoed and recorded in an intimate, unique setting at the musical studio, Stone House Recording. After the three-song session, the music is then made available as a free download on his site. In Ziebarth's opinion, this opportunity to showcase the local music scene to the rest of the country is critical to building the music scene beyond our region.   Matt Jarrells, program director at WYCE, is also enthused about what this type of collaboration and what these sessions can mean to the local music scene. "Stone House  and halfwayhousemusic have already coordinated a number of visits from touring artists such as Cadillac Sky and Caravan of Thieves, giving them some bonus local exposure," Jarrells says. Jarrells further explains that the format of the halfwayhousemusic Sessions "captures an intimate, immediate portrait of the artist. It cuts straight to the essence of their music and the performance aspect let's you know if you need to see more in a live setting." Both Ziebarth and Jarrells feel that for local acts that may not have much in the way of an advertising budget, these sessions can be a big deal. The videos are social media ready, so  "it's like an EP with no stamps necessary," says Jarrell. With the site less than six months old and a new Facebook page, Ziebarth is planning his next steps, hoping to become more involved in promoting shows and helping venues book bands.   "There aren't many in our community who are more passionate about contemporary music (than Ziebarth)," concludes Jarrells. Source: Interviews with Chris Ziebarth and Matt Jarrells John Rumery is the Innovation and Jobs Editor for Rapid Growth Media. He is an educator, board member of AimWest, WYCE music programmer, entrepreneur, raconteur and competitive barbecuer living in Grand Rapids, MI.  He can be reached at [email protected] For story tips you can e-mail [email protected]

Deborah Johnson WoodLaFontsee Galleries/Underground Studio was one of the first businesses to brave Monroe North's collection of abandoned warehouses back in about 1992, with the hope that the district would become a Mecca of art galleries and boutiques. Instead, developers turned the warehouses into condominiums and office space. So gallery owners Scott and Linda LaFontsee seized the opportunity to purchase a 2.5-acre property and the former Network 180 building at 833 Lake Drive and join four area galleries – Byrneboehm Gallery, Richard App Gallery, Mercury Head Gallery and Gallery 154 – in creating an art lover's destination."I personally walked into each of those galleries and talked to them about our move to the district," says Scott LaFontsee. "They were all very open-armed." LaFontsee's founded the gallery 24 years ago as a small frame shop and now has 14 employees and two interns. "A gallery our size is not this common," he says. "So we're a little different than most places because of that." The 24,000-square-foot building will retain its mid-century modern outside, but LaFontsee plans to gut the entire inside and open it up for display space, framing and for working on large projects, such as the framing and installation of the artwork for all 13 floors of the new Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, opening soon.LaFontsee hopes to create an outdoor sculpture garden on the property in the future. He says he'll open the building as-is to the public on October 22 when Site:Lab (of "Land of Riches" fame) will take over the building for a one-day art installation that will be open to the public. The current gallery, 820 Monroe Ave. NW, will remain open until its move in spring 2011. For the next few weeks, it will be an ArtPrize venue for 21 artists. "It's easy right now to be afraid of this economy, but it's not all bad," LaFontsee says. "We just bought a building we could not have afforded a year ago. I believe in this community. I believe it's not going to get worse, it's going to get better."Source: Scott LaFontsee, LaFontsee Galleries/Underground Studio Related ArticlesLong Live LaFontseeAmenta -- A Man of RichesDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].