Garfield Park-Alger Heights-Grandville Ave

Diversity is the celebrated strength of the Garfield Park-Alger Heights-Grandville Avenue area. With African Americans, whites, and numerous Latino groups – Mexican Americans, Cubans, El Salvadorans, Dominicans, and Guatemalans – the area is a highly inclusive environment and business district. And the combination of cultures is represented with pride in public art, local cuisine, and neighborhood businesses.Located on the city's southwest side, the Garfield Park district is roughly bounded by Cottage Grove Street to the north, 28th Street to the south, Division and Century Streets to the west, and Eastern Avenue to the east. Alger Heights is generally defined by Eastern Avenue on the west, Kalamazoo on the east, Burton on the north, and 28th Street on the south. And the Grandville district is generally defined by Wealthy Street on the north, Burton Street to the south, Century Street on the east, and Clyde Park and Godfrey to the west.

Candy Shop Cafe owner says Alger Heights is a sweet spot to do business

By Newsroom

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March 11, 2010

Deborah Johnson WoodKathleen Jackson doesn't sugar-coat the story when she says finding the right location for The Candy Shop Café was an answer to prayer – the words come straight from her heart. Jackson and her husband Michael, both 29, opened the combination coffee shop/café/candy store at 2404 Eastern Ave. SE in February. Michael, a former personal chef and a food services manager at Saint Mary's Health Care, operates the catering side of the business. "About three years ago I met Barb Bush, the owner of the building," Kathleen Jackson says. "The first café in this spot had just closed down and I heard about the fire with the hardware store next door. Once I saw the space, I thought this would be an amazing place for us to continue what we were already doing, which was catering. I said, Lord, if you open the doors, we'll walk through." The shop is in the same building as Sundaes in the Heights, directly behind the popular ice cream spot. Both spaces were damaged in 2006 when Alger Hardware caught fire."My husband and I worked for a candy company and loved it. We loved people coming in and seeing the candies they used to get when they were kids," Jackson says. "So we have a small retro candy store inside the shop that sells Dots, Mary Janes, Slo Pokes Suckers, Gumballs, Jaw Breakers. We also carry fudge and gourmet popcorn from Pentwater Popcorn."The café offers breakfast sandwiches including vegetarian wraps, coffee, lattes and cappuccinos. The lunch menu includes gourmet sandwiches – ham and cheese, Reuben, club – and a build your own sandwich option with a selection of breads, meats and cheeses. Taco salad and a chicken Caesar salad are popular picks right now, Jackson says. Customers can keep up with store events on Facebook at The Works Candy and Catering Company. Store hours are 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Source: Kathleen Jackson, The Candy Store Café Related ArticlesNew café in Alger Heights revitalizes vacant building, brings jobs to neighborhood40 years of business resumes after Alger Heights store fireDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

GR Chair Company owner credits company expansion to thriving West Michigan

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March 11, 2010

Deborah Johnson WoodTom Southwell says the untold story of West Michigan is that the region is thriving, and he points to his company's recent manufacturing expansion as proof. Southwell is a partner in the Grand Rapids Chair Company, which just added a 28,000-square-foot table top manufacturing facility to its properties. The company, headquartered in the old McInerney Spring and Wire plant on Chestnut St. SW, added the former Studio Ink / StudioCraft building, 837 Godfrey Ave. SW, in response to increased customer demand for tables for healthcare, education, hospitality, corporate and government environments. "We've always made tables," Southwell says. "We saw the opportunity to enhance our production in both volume and flexibility, and to make other types of tabletops and chair components. This new plant allows us to increase our volume capacity, our throughput and our quality while lowering our prices for customers."The cost reduction and increased quality control come from bringing the entire manufacturing process in-house, Southwell says. That process uses both modern CNC equipment and traditional woodworking machinery – both of which require skilled employees for operation. "Dave Miller, one of my partners, had his eye on the Cadillac of machinery, which is generally real old pieces of machinery," Southwell says. "We were able to purchase 20 of those machines for the new building and clean them up with new bearings, new knives."The company hired 12 skilled employees who already knew how to operate the equipment. "The craftsmen that are available for employment in West Michigan you can't find anywhere else," Southwell says. "The work ethic of the people is such that the people care about the products they produce." "Michigan kind of gets a bad rap, primarily due to the auto industry," he says. "Grand Rapids and West Michigan is a thriving place for us to do business and we encourage other companies to do the same."Source: Tom Southwell, Grand Rapids Chair CompanyDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Kent County Habitat for Humanity renovates space for new HQ using green techniques

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March 11, 2010

Deborah Johnson WoodHabitat for Humanity of Kent County has constructed 65 LEED-certified affordable homes in Kent County since the organization built the first one in the United States back in 2006. Now the nonprofit has applied the same green philosophy to the rehabilitation of its future Grand Rapids headquarters, shooting for Silver LEED-NC in renovating the former Adelante High School, 425 Pleasant St. SW. Half of the 9,000-square-foot building is contemporary open offices for the departments that oversee housing construction, family services and fund development. The other half contains executive offices and an 84-seat multipurpose conference center. "Our current building is humble to say the least, we've always made do," says Chris Hall, director of construction. "To be able to design a building around how we work, we anticipate we'll be able to carry out our mission much more efficiently."Inside, the eco-friendly features include high-efficiency HVAC systems and skylights that allow natural light to flood the workspace. Outside, two rain gardens will keep stormwater on-site. "On the property behind the building, we will put in a nursery to grow plants we can use for landscaping the (Habitat) homes," says Mindy Miner, fund development associate. Hall says Habitat's existing building, which is kitty-corner from the new facility, will become a storage warehouse for lumber and construction supplies. Some of the current offices will become a bunkhouse-style room where out-of-town student and other volunteers can stay overnight on cots. The space includes an existing kitchen and showers. Hall says construction of the new facility will run about $880,000. He says a $3 million capital campaign includes funding to add a loading dock and other updates to the existing building.Christman Construction is the general contractor. Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber is the project architect and engineer. Source: Chris Hall, Mindy Miner, Habitat for Humanity of Kent CountyRelated ArticlesHabitat teaches high school, college students LEED-construction ropesDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

GR’s Lighthouse Communities launches on-location retail incubators in neighborhood business district

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Development

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March 4, 2010

Deborah Johnson WoodThese aren't your ordinary business incubators: small spaces gathered in one building. These are full storefronts available in three Grand Rapids' neighborhood business districts for below-market lease rates. And they come with free accounting, legal and marketing support, business training and business plan development. "What we're doing is creating a 'scattered site' incubator model," says Darel Ross, president of Lighthouse Communities, the nonprofit behind the idea. Lighthouse is the developer behind the proposed Lighthouse Development Center that will house six retail incubator spaces. "We thought, what can we do, not just in an incubator property but throughout all our commercial properties, using the properties as a tool for economic development in the neighborhood business districts," Ross says. "We found as we filled our business incubator (Development Center) there was a demand for flexibility and affordable space. The need was larger than what we could deliver." Urban Pizza, a take and bake pizzeria owned by Malika Pimpleton, is the first business in the new incubator model. Her retail space in the new Uptown Village building, 950 Wealthy, Grand Rapids is slated to open by April 1. "Lighthouse pays for her first four months' rent so he can use that money to do her build-out," Ross says. That, along with 12 months of subsidized rent allows the owner 16 months to build clientele, and to get her accounting, legal and marketing needs in order. Lighthouse has commercial properties in three neighborhood business districts – Madison Square, Wealthy Street and Grandville Avenue – and plans to roll out the new incubator program in all three areas."If we can take away some of the expenses and surround you with support, we know you have a legal entity that's best for your business, a solid business plan, and you're working with an accountant all from day one," Ross says. "That makes the neighborhood business districts stronger and lets the business owner concentrate on the business, instead of worrying about overhead and rent."Source: Darel Ross, Lighthouse CommunitiesRelated ArticlesMadison Square business incubator has community backing for $1.7M projectBusiness incubators coming to new $1.6M project in Madison SquareDeborah 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.cominfo@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Grandville Avenue’s Clinica Santa Maria soon to showcase $120K renovation

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January 21, 2010

Deborah Johnson WoodSaint Mary's Health Care has nearly completed extensive renovations of its Clinica Santa Maria, adding exam rooms in anticipation of serving more patients. Clinica Santa Maria, 730 Grandville Ave. SW, specializes in providing health care to Grand Rapids' Spanish speaking community and logs some 22,000 patient visits annually. The renovation of one-third of the 10,000-square-foot facility adds two patient examination rooms, expands the pharmacy and medical records areas, and improves patient flow within the office. "We now have about three-and-a-half full-time-equivalent (FTE) physicians," says Bradford Mathis, Saint Mary's director of community benefits. "The two new exam rooms will allow us to accommodate five FTE physicians. That translates into accommodating about 2,000 additional patients a year."The two new exam rooms bring the total number to 15, plus two private consultation rooms: one for financial assistance services and one for handling doctor referrals. "Last fall we had two dental chairs, but we partner with Cherry Street Health Services for the dental so patients now go there," Mathis says. "We also had a maternal/infant health program that the Kent County Health Department provides at the patient's home, so we moved out that staff. Those changes freed up space."Mathis says 95 percent of Clinica's staff members speak Spanish. "A lot of our clients come from the neighborhood, but many come from farther out," Mathis says. "If they don't feel comfortable enough with their English, especially for medical care issues, they're willing to travel for that convenience."The renovations include wiring the clinic for electronic healthcare records capabilities that will tie into the Saint Mary's Health Care system. The date for launching the service is undecided. Some $110,000 in federal stimulus money funded most of the $120,000 renovation. The clinic is open during construction. The renovated space will open by February 1. Source: Bradford Mathis, Saint Mary's Health CareDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Showing the Ropes

By Dan Calabrese

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May 28, 2009

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

Festival at Forty

By Stephanie Doublestein

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May 28, 2009

Like a beacon, Alexander Calder’s La Grande Vitesse sculpture calls hundreds of volunteers to take part in Festival, a West Michigan tradition in celebrating the arts

Closing the Digital Divide

By Keith Essenburg

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May 21, 2009

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

Be His Guest

By Bona Van Dis

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May 7, 2009

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

Food For Thought

By John Hogan

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May 7, 2009

Jim Osterhaven says it was worthwhile to build a $1.5 million addition to Superior Foods' refrigerated facility if it means getting fresh produce from area farms to local restaurants. Here's what Superior Foods Co. and other local businesses are doing to keep the fresh food flowing