West Michigan News
May 27, 2010
Harlan Byker is offering a window to the world that's a lot more efficient than yours or mine.
After 12 years of painstaking steps and blind alleys, Byker is ready to scale up manufacture in metro Grand Rapids of a film for windows that automatically dims when heated by sunlight -- potentially saving property managers of office buildings vast sums of money spent on air conditioning.
Category: AlternativeEnergy, Community, Design, Entrepreneurship, GrandRapids, Innovation, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Technology, WestMichigan
May 13, 2010
Grand Valley State University has launched a new website,
www.gvsu.edu/businessresource, to help entrepreneurs, business owners and economic developers find helpful community resources to grow their companies.
Category: Community, Education, Entrepreneurship, GrandRapids, Innovation, Technology, WestMichigan
March 18, 2010
If you didn't know it was there, as you approach Studio 246 on the north end of the Kalamazoo Mall, you could be forgiven for not recognizing the downtown storefront as Kalamazoo's newest home for theater.
If you do know it's there, you could be forgiven for asking, "isn't this the old home of theater in Kalamazoo?"
Both are true. This is the home of the Kalamazoo's newest theater collaboration, located in the space at 246 N. Kalamazoo Mall, a spot on the far end of the outdoor pedestrian mall in the heart of downtown.
Category: Arts&Culture, Community, Design, Education, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Kalamazoo, WestMichigan
March 11, 2010
PORTAGE – Like the frozen expanse of West Lake that stretches out from beyond the glass walls of MAVCON Properties' Portage headquarters on the east end of the lake, James Dally's dreams for Kalamazoo are expansive.
Category: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Kalamazoo, WestMichigan
December 10, 2009
When pitching your company, always sell like you’re talking to your grandma.
Category: Community, Education, Entrepreneurship, GrandRapids, Innovation, Technology, WestMichigan
August 06, 2009
Armed with a new name and a new book, Sarah Kallio and Stacey Krastins think they have hit on a successful recipe for business with their unique meal creation system.
Kallio and Krastins, two
Grand Haven moms with engineering degrees and a love of home entertaining, are scheduled to release their second book this week,
The Stocked Kitchen. Formerly called The Stocked Host,
The Stocked Kitchen details a system that speeds up grocery shopping and meal preparation. The book releases this week online and at four
West Michigan retailers.
Category: Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, Food, Innovation, WestMichigan
July 23, 2009
A longtime vision of husband and wife optometrists Scott Hieneman and Stacy Davis came true this year when they opened an optometry office in Ada, enabling them to work together in the same practice.
Category: Community, Entrepreneurship, GrandRapids, Healthcare, Innovation, WestMichigan
November 13, 2008
Fifteen years ago, when Jack Groot founded JP’s Coffee and Espresso Bar in downtown Holland, coffee shops weren’t on every corner in every town, and they didn’t have the aura of “cool” they have now. Groot had a vision to serve great coffee and baked goods, and his entrepreneurial ideas didn’t stop there.
Category: Community, Entrepreneurship, Food, Holland, Innovation, Technology, WestMichigan
July 31, 2008
Grand Rapids’ Heartside neighborhood west of South Division is fast shaping up as the city’s hippest entertainment district, boasting a variety of pubs, eateries, specialty beer havens, a wine bar, the Van Andel Arena, and live music venues. But it has its challenges—like a lack of parking, no apartments for downtown dwellers, and no destination shopping. “38” could change all that.
Category: Community, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, GrandRapids, Innovation, WestMichigan
July 24, 2008
During a night on the town, the short jaunt from one side of downtown Grand Rapids to the other hardly warrants the time and cash it takes to call a traditional taxi. Nor does it justify the hassle of fetching the car from a ramp and finding a new parking spot. Walking is always an option, but then there’s the friend who is too tired, or the one who wore stilettos.
Category: Community, Entrepreneurship, GrandRapids, Innovation, Technology, WestMichigan