Michigan’s Blue Bubble
Clean fresh water and, more specifically, the Great Lakes, is Michigan's most important and strategic natural resource. Will we ever start acting like it?
Andy Guy's Latest Articles
One Hundred and Counting…
Tired of all the talk about job losses, busted budgets, and dying cities, Rapid Growth Media began broadcasting in April 2006 to catalyze a more future-oriented civic conversation about West Michigan's strengths and opportunities. This week we celebrate our 100th issue
The Guitar Man
Musician Brian Vander Ark plays Aquinas College later this month in a show that's about appreciating art and music, not boozing and smoking. The local boy sat down to field a few questions from Rapid Growth
The Super Civic
Chris Brown is dedicated to 10 different community groups, five professional associations, three kids, one wife, and a full-time job at a major law firm. Graciously, he found time to field a few questions from Rapid Growth.
Ted Talks
Architect Ted Lott designs some of the more modern, urban, and inviting spaces you'll find in Grand Rapids today. He sat down to field a few questions from Rapid Growth.
Home Girl
Jessica Onan, one of the energetic young leaders of the city's sustainability movement, grew up in Burton Heights, graduated from City High and Aquinas, and today lives in Midtown because, she says, GR is in her heart. She sat down to field a few questions from Rapid Growth.
“I’m here for opportunity”
Darren McKnight grew up in Tennessee, wrestled at Michigan State, and moved to Grand Rapids because, he says, the city is ripe with potential. He sat down to field a few questions from Rapid Growth.
Energy + Innovation = Jobs + Investment
Skeptics say expanding Michigan's interest in wind, solar, and other green power technologies will drive up electricity costs, chase away new companies, kill jobs, and weaken the economy. Turns out the opposite is true.
The Game Changer
Kysha Frazier embodies many of the traits that define the creative people West Michigan needs to succeed in the 21st century. She's young, motivated, deeply involved in community affairs, and originally from another a state. She sat down to field a few questions from Rapid Growth.
Beating the Boom
Entrepreneur grocer Jason Wheeler talks about being fashionably early to Grand Rapids' revival and what attracts Millenials like him to the urban lifestyle.
