Stories

GRCC awarded $4 million grant to train low-income Grand Rapids residents for green jobs

"Absolutely thrilled" is the way Grand Rapids Community College's Judith Larsen described her reaction last week when she learned the college was one of only 30 applicants among hundreds in the nation to receive a coveted "local" $4 million grant to train urban residents for "green" jobs of the future.

Grand Rapids development company moves from 'burbs to new building on Medical Mile

Deborah Johnson WoodWhen Third Coast Development Partners constructed the 30,000-square-foot building near the Women's Health Center of West Michigan, the company planned to lease all of the space. Several tenants now occupy the building at 545 Michigan, and the lure of a third floor workspace overlooking the Medical Mile convinced Third Coast Development's Dave Levitt and Brad Rosely to relocate the company from leased space near Centerpointe Mall. Levitt, 45, and Rosely, 42, are the founding partners of Midtowne Village, a multi-acre development that includes 545 Michigan (completed in 2006), the Women's Health Center, Park Row Condominiums, a pocket park and two undeveloped lots. "We wanted to be in our own building in the midst of one of our biggest projects," Levitt says. "We wanted to be closer to our clients and the area where we've done most of our business, which is along Michigan Street."The 3,000-square-foot office features private offices, open workstations, a reception area, conference room and a kitchen – all accented with cherry-stained wood trim. Windows open the view to the east down Michigan Street and to the north. "The activity in the neighborhood is a lot of fun," Levitt says. "It has a cool urban feel, there's lot of (auto) traffic, and people coming and going. The Omelette Shoppe downstairs opens early and brings activity into the neighborhood then, and there are people out walking their dogs to the pocket park."The move brought five workers downtown, and Levitt says they patronize nearby restaurants, drycleaners, hardware store, banks and credit unions. "I'm mad at myself for not having done this a couple of years ago," Levitt says. "We assumed the space would rent and then the economy took a hit, so we're glad to have it now." Source: David Levitt, Third Coast Development PartnersDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Grandville Avenue's Clinica Santa Maria soon to showcase $120K renovation

Deborah Johnson WoodSaint Mary's Health Care has nearly completed extensive renovations of its Clinica Santa Maria, adding exam rooms in anticipation of serving more patients. Clinica Santa Maria, 730 Grandville Ave. SW, specializes in providing health care to Grand Rapids' Spanish speaking community and logs some 22,000 patient visits annually. The renovation of one-third of the 10,000-square-foot facility adds two patient examination rooms, expands the pharmacy and medical records areas, and improves patient flow within the office. "We now have about three-and-a-half full-time-equivalent (FTE) physicians," says Bradford Mathis, Saint Mary's director of community benefits. "The two new exam rooms will allow us to accommodate five FTE physicians. That translates into accommodating about 2,000 additional patients a year."The two new exam rooms bring the total number to 15, plus two private consultation rooms: one for financial assistance services and one for handling doctor referrals. "Last fall we had two dental chairs, but we partner with Cherry Street Health Services for the dental so patients now go there," Mathis says. "We also had a maternal/infant health program that the Kent County Health Department provides at the patient's home, so we moved out that staff. Those changes freed up space."Mathis says 95 percent of Clinica's staff members speak Spanish. "A lot of our clients come from the neighborhood, but many come from farther out," Mathis says. "If they don't feel comfortable enough with their English, especially for medical care issues, they're willing to travel for that convenience."The renovations include wiring the clinic for electronic healthcare records capabilities that will tie into the Saint Mary's Health Care system. The date for launching the service is undecided. Some $110,000 in federal stimulus money funded most of the $120,000 renovation. The clinic is open during construction. The renovated space will open by February 1. Source: Bradford Mathis, Saint Mary's Health CareDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Eco-conscious stylists open hair salon on East Fulton

Deborah Johnson Wood Two Grand Rapids hair stylists have opened what they're calling an eco-conscious hair salon in the city's East Fulton business district. After attending Chic University (now Empire Beauty School) together, then working together at Bottega Salon, Amanda Powell and Joy Anderson said it was time to open their own shop. Salon Re: opened October 1 at 940 East Fulton, in the former From The Heart Yoga location. Besides doing an eco-friendly build out using low-VOC paints, bamboo products and reusing furniture, the women also use environmentally safe cleaning products they purchase from The Green Life Market next door. But the main emphasis is on organic and eco-safe hair and styling products. "We use mostly organic products like Surface and Phyto," Powell says. "Our products are sulfate-free and paraben-free. If you were to truly get an organic shampoo it would need to be refrigerated and would spoil in a couple of weeks, so it needs a preservative and we're researching the preservatives and avoiding sulfates and parabens."The salon offers full-service hair care, makeup services and lip, chin and brow waxing. Including Powell, 26, and Anderson, 32, the salon has 10 stylists, eight of whom rent chairs. "We're trying to do our part, we're trying to make a difference," Powell says, adding that the salon recycles "absolutely everything. We hooked up with Matter of Trust in Seattle and we send them our hair from our hair cuts; they create hair mats used to clean up oil spills."The salon's hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 9 to 5, and Saturday 9 to 4. Source: Amanda Powell, Salon Re: Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Young Grand Rapids professionals launch social media management company

Deborah Johnson WoodThree young professionals have launched a social media management company in Grand Rapids and they say word about their services is spreading fast. Jordan Sipperley, 22, Patrick Szabo, 20 and Joelle Workman, 21, launched Social Net Mgmt in December after striking up a conversation with Betsy Borden, owner of Peninsula Trading Travel Gear, 972 Cherry SE. "Patrick made a connection because he was a customer in her shop," Sipperley says. "They chatted about ways to get people into the store. Patrick said I can help you with that, are you on Facebook and Twitter?"Social Net Mgmt built Peninsula Trading a Facebook page, created a Twitter identity and is rebuilding the store's web site. They gather information from Borden about store specials, new products and things going on with travel and backpacking, and then update the store's social networking sites with the information. Borden says she was so pleased with the results she spread the word. "Since December we've landed clients like Wealthy at Charles and Gaia Cafe," Sipperley says, "and we're negotiating with six other clients who plan to launch web sites, and Facebook and Twitter accounts by mid-February."The three owners work from their homes or coffee shops until they can set up offices in a space together, an event Sipperley hopes will happen by early summer. All three live in or near the East Hills business district. "We know how we feel when social networking is targeted at us; we don't like feeling tricked into things," Sipperley says. "More people are on Facebook and Twitter, so we're meeting people where they already are, sharing info they might want and giving them ideas."Szabo and Workman do much of the graphic design that's needed. The company partnered with Drew Melton of justlucky for expertise with client branding campaigns. Source: Jordan Sipperley, Social Net Mgmt; Betsy Borden, Peninsula Trading Travel GearRelated ArticlesNew East Hills store is a traveler's paradiseDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Downtown Whitehall's Cool Cities program spurs thousands in redevelopment

Whitehall's Cool Cities designation a few years ago brought an influx of funding for revitalization of the downtown that has paid off in thousands of dollars of investment and some new businesses. According to excerpts from the story:The City of Whitehall is seeing visible results of its efforts to revitalize the downtown through the state's Cool Cities Blueprints for Michigan Downtowns program. Last Tuesday, Muskegon Area First representatives gave an update on the implementation progress of the program which began locally in 2006 with the HyettPalma Whitehall Downtown Blueprint study. Muskegon Area First was hired by Whitehall's Tax Increment Financing Authority to lead the city through the Blueprint process. This past year, several downtown businesses took advantage of TIFA's facade matching grant program, pumping in nearly $100,000 in private investment to match the $23,000 in TIFA funds.Read the complete story here.

Grand Rapids to get share of $224M earmarked for Michigan to revitalize neighborhoods

Michigan needs money to demolish blighted buildings and revitalize neighborhoods. Last week the federal government came through with some $224 million, of which Grand Rapids will get a share. According to excerpts from the story:The federal government awarded Michigan $223.9 million on Thursday to help tear down blighted buildings and revitalize neighborhoods in a dozen cities including Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the money as part of $2 billion in Recovery Act funding to states, local governments and nonprofit housing developers. Michigan's proposal won it the largest single grant — 11 percent of the total awarded nationwide, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said at a news conference with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and dozens of other officials. Some other states got more money in total, but it was in grants to several communities or groups that applied separately. Under the "New Michigan Urban Neighborhood" plan, money would be allocated to acquire and redevelop more than 6,000 foreclosed, abandoned and vacant properties in Michigan, demolish 2,500 structures and rehabilitate or build 1,500 homes.Read the complete story here.

Right Place's outreach initiative increases awareness of West Michigan's real estate, workforce

An outreach initiative by a Grand Rapids economic development organization generated 31 percent more new business prospects for the region than last year. That translates into millions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs for the area.According to excerpts from the story:Stepping up outreach to consultants who help corporations decide where to locate new facilities generated increased inquiries for The Right Place Inc. last year.The economic development organization worked with 117 prospects in 2009, a 31 percent increase from the 89 prospects in 2008.Fifteen of the 117 prospects ultimately made a decision to remain in the area or to locate a facility here, generating investments of $213.4 million, retaining 555 jobs and creating 3,643 new positions in 2009, Right Place Business Development Manager George Bosnjak said.Read the complete story here.here

West Michigan Chamber Coalition releases new minority and women-owned regional business directory

Forget the soft cover directory. The newly released 2010 Minority- and Women-Owned Regional Business Directory published by the West Michigan Chamber Coalition is now available online only.

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Planning to move more people more places faster: You in?

Few people disagree that good mass transit is a key to the vitality of a metropolitan area, and The Rapid is sponsoring a series of articles and videos that promotes conversation about what will serve metro Grand Rapids best.

Poll shows business leaders point to the economy as their biggest concern


Textbook rental experiment at GRCC expands to other colleges


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Home Run

Home-based entrepreneurs in the metro Grand Rapids area are scoring big as the nation's economy goes through some fundamental changes. Who wants to drive to work in a blizzard when you can stay home?

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Right Time and Right Place

The Right Place enjoyed a record year of retention and expansion projects in 2009. Rapid Growth sat down with its President and CEO Birgit Klohs to learn about its keys to success and what it sees for the coming year.

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Sneak Preview of the new UICA

Grab your hardhat and tag along with Brian Kelly and Jeffrey Meeuwsen as they tour the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts museum that is under construction at the corner of Division and Fulton streets in Grand Rapids. When it's done in September in time for ArtPrize, the museum will immerse people everyday in art.

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G-Sync - Sometimes It Takes Lipstick

The lengths people will go to get your attention, and how G-Sync's Tommy Allen applied some serious fun at the Juice Ball this past weekend.

Startup Weekend launches in Grand Rapids for creative, entrepreneurial, problem-solving "idea" folks

Inventive passionate "idea" people with a knack for solving problems, creating time-saving solutions, developing new businesses or who are simply funny and creative are invited to attend the region's first annual "Startup Weekend: West Michigan" the weekend of Feb. 26-28 in downtown Grand Rapids.

GRCC to offer new wind energy technology class starting in February

In keeping with its commitment to innovation and sustainability, Grand Rapids Community College is introducing a new class: Wind Energy Technology (ER 145) starting in February.

Owners of Ralph's Market hope to rebuild on same Westside Grand Rapids site; create about 15 jobs

Owners of Ralph's Market, a long-time fixture on the lower Westside of Grand Rapids, hope to give the aging grocery store a whole new face.