Several West Michigan downtown developers shared ideas and visions for recruiting new businesses and building the economies of their downtowns at a recent conference in Grand Rapids. Developing relevant marketing materials and relationships with commercial real estate brokers topped Grand Rapids developers' list.According to excerpts from the story:In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was doomed to push a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down and have to start over every day.Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. Business Recruitment and Retention Director Rob Peterson compared Sisyphus' fate to the task of attracting retail businesses to central business districts."There are days we all feel that way," Peterson joked at the International Council of Shopping Centers West Michigan Alliance program last week in Grand Rapids.He led the roundtable "Sisyphus Speaks: Recruiting Retailers to the Urban Environment" with Anne Marie Bessette, development specialist for the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority.With the current economy, and the struggles of retail especially, it has become even more important for downtown development organizations to work closely with brokers and property owners to attract and retain businesses.A few years ago, the Grand Rapids DDA decided to make retaining and attracting businesses downtown a priority, Bessette said. One of its efforts last year included building a database of available storefronts, and the DDA works with brokerage firms to keep that up to date.Read the complete story here.

Grand Valley State University has tapped Linda Chamberlain, a director of a Grand Rapids technology incubator, to be the leader of its newly created Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

Deborah Johnson WoodThese aren't your ordinary business incubators: small spaces gathered in one building. These are full storefronts available in three Grand Rapids' neighborhood business districts for below-market lease rates. And they come with free accounting, legal and marketing support, business training and business plan development. "What we're doing is creating a 'scattered site' incubator model," says Darel Ross, president of Lighthouse Communities, the nonprofit behind the idea. Lighthouse is the developer behind the proposed Lighthouse Development Center that will house six retail incubator spaces. "We thought, what can we do, not just in an incubator property but throughout all our commercial properties, using the properties as a tool for economic development in the neighborhood business districts," Ross says. "We found as we filled our business incubator (Development Center) there was a demand for flexibility and affordable space. The need was larger than what we could deliver." Urban Pizza, a take and bake pizzeria owned by Malika Pimpleton, is the first business in the new incubator model. Her retail space in the new Uptown Village building, 950 Wealthy, Grand Rapids is slated to open by April 1. "Lighthouse pays for her first four months' rent so he can use that money to do her build-out," Ross says. That, along with 12 months of subsidized rent allows the owner 16 months to build clientele, and to get her accounting, legal and marketing needs in order. Lighthouse has commercial properties in three neighborhood business districts – Madison Square, Wealthy Street and Grandville Avenue – and plans to roll out the new incubator program in all three areas."If we can take away some of the expenses and surround you with support, we know you have a legal entity that's best for your business, a solid business plan, and you're working with an accountant all from day one," Ross says. "That makes the neighborhood business districts stronger and lets the business owner concentrate on the business, instead of worrying about overhead and rent."Source: Darel Ross, Lighthouse CommunitiesRelated ArticlesMadison Square business incubator has community backing for $1.7M projectBusiness incubators coming to new $1.6M project in Madison SquareDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Have a development news tip for Rapid Growth? Contact us at [email protected][email protected].

Deborah Johnson WoodMuskegon developer Gary Post says that even in good economic times, traditional lenders might not finance the idea behind the proposed $2 million Russell Block Market – and right now getting the money is impossible. So he's trying a different angle: Post has formed a nonprofit organization, Russell Block Market, Inc., to oversee the market and to help the project vie for grants and donations not available to traditional commercial ventures. Post's plan for the Russell Block Market, 360 W. Western Ave., is a retail incubator on the first two floors, set up as an open market, then possibly a business community center or arts center on the upper two floors. The main purpose of the nonprofit, he says, "is to get things started again downtown with a plan to provide some type of support (to the new businesses) and hopefully spin them off into other locations downtown and reestablishing some of the retail we lost a few years ago when the downtown mall was torn down."The building has been gutted, and has a rebuilt stairway tower and elevator shaft. The removal of 1940s exterior cladding damaged the façade. Post says it needs $175,000 in repairs and historic renovation. Existing funding includes some $25,000 from a Cool Cities grant that also went toward renovation of the nearby Century Club and Savings Bank buildings. "The nonprofit allows us to attract other funding sources we might not be eligible for," Post says. "Many grants go to nonprofits and we hope for private donations as well."Post applies this week to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. through the city of Muskegon for an $85,000 Urban Revitalization grant toward the façade improvements. The grant requires a $90,000 match. Post says the city doesn't have the matching funds, so he is raising the money. The city will administer the matching funds and the grant if the grant is approved.Source: Gary Post, Port City Construction and DevelopmentDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Have a development news tip for Rapid Growth? Contact us at [email protected].