Grand Rapids entrepreneur credits GROW as catalyst for local business development

One Grand Rapids business development organization helped local entrepreneurs launch dozens of businesses and nearly 100 jobs in the past year. With entrepreneurial training in high demand, this nonprofit continues to raise the bar for standards of excellence.

According to excerpts from the story:

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) — Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women, or GROW, is a non-profit developmental organization.

Now in its twentieth year, it continues to positively impact West Michigan’s economy by providing education in areas like financing and marketing. Last year, 2,100 people took advantage of GROW’s services, 27 businesses were able to open within the Greater Grand Rapids Community, and 77 new jobs were created.

GROW Executive Director Patricia Duthler says, “I firmly believe that GROW is a catalyst for the types of businesses that remain local. The types of products and services that are created cannot be exported. They tend to be recession proof, they tend to be lifestyle, retail, service oriented.”

She adds, “We’re finding that our client population is changing. It’s historically been those underserved populations of minorities, women and so forth that haven’t had services to be able to become self-sufficient. But it’s also hitting the middle income population now.”

Read the complete story here.