At the turn of the 20th century, at end of a streetcar line that stretched from downtown Grand Rapids to Reeds Lake, the city of East Grand Rapids was born. This community earns national recognition for its quality education, walkable neighborhoods, stately homes, and ever evolving and vibrant Gaslight Village shopping district.
Few people disagree that good mass transit is a key to the vitality of a metropolitan area, and The Rapid is sponsoring a series of articles and videos that promotes conversation about what will serve metro Grand Rapids best.
Deborah Johnson WoodDan Socie is an all-around guy – a freelance graphics and web designer by trade, and an amateur endurance athlete by hobby. And now he's an inventor. Socie has invented an embrocation for use by runners and cyclists to warm up their muscles before they run outside in cold weather. An embrocation is a warming liniment that's applied topically. Socie's embrocation consists of shea butter, capsaicin, black pepper and menthol. He and his business partner Geoff Kuyper are marketing it under the brand and business name Soigneur (swan-yer). "Soigneur is French for 'an assistant,'" Socie says. "In professional cycling, a soigneur is an assistant that gets water, arranges for or does massage therapy, gets the food, and is basically the athlete's personal assistant. I wanted to make a product to take the soigneur role for amateur athletes."Socie says cyclists who bike in cold weather have used European embrocations, but he plans to market his product to runners and skiers as well. He says athletes apply the embrocation to their legs before running, biking or skiing. The shea butter keeps the product on the skin, and body heat activates the capsaicin that warms the skin. That warmth penetrates to the muscles. "Your legs are warm and it's nicer to go out in the cold with warm legs," Socie says. "It enhances the experience. When you go for a run or ride in the cold weather, it takes 20 minutes, half an hour to warm up. This product speeds up that process and you can get to the more enjoyable part of your workout sooner."Socie says he spent the past year working with a Scottsdale, Ariz. laboratory and manufacturer to develop the product. The embrocation is available for advance order online at www.soigneur.net and will begin shipping at the end of February. A launch party to introduce the product is planned for February 24 at Richard App Gallery from 6 to 10 p.m.Source: Dan Socie, SoigneurDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Have a development news tip for Rapid Growth? Contact us at info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.
Deborah Johnson WoodPhase 2 of the Reeds Lake Trail will break ground as soon as weather permits, providing an off-street walking and cycling path along the east side of Reeds Lake when completed in July. The path will connect the existing Reeds Lake Trail at Kate Avenue SE between Reeds Lake and the East Beltline and run 0.75 miles northwest along Reeds Lake Blvd. to Manhattan Road SE. Users can then connect to sidewalks to complete the loop around Reeds Lake. "This phase involves both East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Township and has been over five years in the works," says East Grand Rapids City Manager Brian Donovan. "It's taken so long because of fundraising and the wetlands plan."The wetlands plan involved having to eliminate one-half acre of wetlands along portions of the trail. Donovan says the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality required creation of a full acre of wetlands to replace it. The project will create that acre of wetlands near Waterfront Park on the west side of the lake. The city has five years to make the wetlands changes. Completion of the trail loop allows users to travel off-street for the entire four-plus miles of the loop around the lake. Just north of the trail along the East Beltline, users can connect with Grand Rapids Township trails. In East Grand Rapids, bike lane markings on Wealthy Street run from Gaslight Village to the west city limits, where Donovan says Grand Rapids officials propose to continue the lane markings to downtown Grand Rapids. Nearly $600,000 of the trail completion's $790,000 price tag is from private donations. Donovan says the project is within $3,000 of its goal. Those interested in providing a donation can contact the city of East Grand Rapids for more information. Source: Brian Donovan, City of East Grand RapidsDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Have a development news tip for Rapid Growth? Contact us at info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.
If you ask Josh Cearlock and others, job multi-tasking is becoming more common in West Michigan, with some people holding down five or more. Is it just the economy, or is there a new, "creative class" emerging?
The mastermind of Elevator Up, Aaron Scaap questions whether the old concepts of competition remain true for local software developers who do work nationally, or even globally
Marie-Claire Camp and others in the metro Grand Rapids region hope to level the playing field for the disadvantaged by providing them with computers -- the new necessity for daily living
Paul Stansbie thinks the Grand Rapids metro area is more than holding its own when it comes to hosting visitors: it's taking on larger cities in the hospitality industry
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