PedalGR Bi-Weekly Ride
Rapid Growth's resident vlogger Andy Dragt rides along with PedalGR on a free-wheeling tour of Grand Rapids.
Andy Dragt's Latest Articles
RGTV — The Fulton Group
When Josh Smith visits homes with boarded up windows and bad plumbing, he envisions opportunities to reclaim neighborhoods and improve substandard housing -- all the while making a profit. A partner in The Fulton Group, Smith says his company has achieved a 100 percent occupancy rate of its properties near downtown Grand Rapids by turning foreclosed home into the most expensive properties on the block. He talks with Rapid Growth videographer Andy Dragt about "breathing the next 100 years of life" into homes that only need some tender loving care and elbow grease.
RGTV: Atomic Object
Atomic Object in Grand Rapids typifies many things that can go right with a company -- knowledge workers who are applying agile business practices in a 21st century economy of few boundaries. Carl Erickson talks about his search for the holy grail of exporting services from Michigan to the rest of the country, and what that can mean for the local community...
RGTV: Evo Coffee Company
Evo Coffee was launched with the idea that maybe consumers in Grand Rapids can help support a remote village in Guatemala -- if only a company could make the link.
RGTV: Grand Raggidy Roller Girls
With a sell-out in the books already in 2009, the roller derby girls of Grand Rapids are off to a strong start.
RGTV: Projection Initiative
If a fledgling group of local artists have their way, downtown Grand Rapids could become a new type of canvas. Check out Brian Kelly's Projection Initiative.
RGTV: Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Founded in 1873 and now in its fourth building, Bethlehem Lutheran Church is spreading the good word and touching needy lives from its new home in Heartside.
RGTV: Corez Wine Bar
Inspired by travels though-out the United States and Europe, Corez Wine Bar is meant to be shared…its food, its wine and its proprietor’s dreams of a perfect neighborhood place.
RGTV: Religious Meeting Capital?
It’s been called the convention of all conventions. The Religious Conference Management Association’s annual meeting may have established West Michigan as the place to be for religious meetings and conventions.
RGTV: Rowster Coffee
Because coffee roasting wasn’t meant to be an industrial operation: Rowster Coffee is showing how a labor of love is blooming into a bustling local wholesale operation.
