By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Organizers of the inaugural West Michigan Regional Policy Conference have seized every opportunity to showcase a revitalized, vibrant downtown Grand Rapids to as many of the 500 attendees as possible. Besides encouraging every attendee—even those who live in Grand Rapids—to stay at a downtown hotel, events for attendees include an evening on the town and a 5K walk/run tour of the city.
The evening of September 18, the Grand Rapids Trolley Company will transport lawmakers, business leaders and civic leaders from all over the state from the JW Marriott to special After Glow parties at Grand Woods Lounge, McFadden’s, Kendall College of Art and Design, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place to discover the city from distinctly different venues.
“The goal is to bring people to different places than they typically get a chance to go to, to have some fun along the way,” says Mike VanGessel of Rockford Construction, the trolley sponsor.
On the trolley, a trivia game will spotlight Grand Rapids housing, transit, work environment, entertainment, higher education and diversity.
A 5K walk/run at 6:30 a.m. Friday guides participants from the JW to the west side, north along the riverwalk, across the Sixth Street Bridge to Monroe and circles back through downtown to the JW.
"The Early Bird City Walk/Run is really a chance to see the city in a brief walking tour," said Jerry Tubergen of RDV Corp, the event sponsor.
“The conference is all about making an impact on the future, and Grand Rapids is doing a lot of things right,” VanGessel notes. “We have 52,000 Millennials within 20 minutes of downtown. We want to show that we have the city that’s young and vibrant.”
Source: Mike VanGessel, Rockford Construction; Jerry Tubergen, RDV Corp
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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