As the big winner of the inaugural 5X5 Night, Brian Gerrity recalls that the real pressure was not from winning the night's big prize, a $2,000 grant. Rather, Gerrity cites the pressure of presenting his idea to an external audience. "Many chefs don't have the opportunity to speak in front of groups," he says.Now, just over two months later, Gerrity's dream of "kicking the local food culture in the pants" with his concept of Fire & Knife, an underground supper club, is becoming a reality with the sale this week of the first tickets to a dinner."This announcement would never have taken place without the help of 5X5 Night," he says. He further elaborates that the 5X5 Night team have been very helpful -- "Hands off, no pressure, but very supportive."Gerrity explains the $2,000 was helpful (he still has the majority of the cash in the bank), but the real value came from the exposure given to his venture at 5X5 -- the subsequent public relations, positive buzz (the Facebook page was launched just prior to event and now has over 250 fans) and, most importantly, the "validation of his idea."With the first Fire & Knife dinner ready to launch, Gerrity is looking to play a role in making the city more friendly to the local food culture. "Corporate restaurants are a concern," Gerrity says. "Communities need their own food culture, but the city does not make it easy for food entrepreneurs." He references regulations limiting the use of food trucks, a prime, lower-capital opportunity.But first things first, as Gerrity acknowledges this type of change will take time and his focus, for the time being, will be on the first Fire & Knife event and planning for the second.Source: Brian Gerrity, Fire & KnifeWriter: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs Editor

The music scene in Grand Rapids continues to expand, with the opening of new venues,  multiple concert series and local bands garnering national exposure.   With all that going on it should be no surprise that independent community radio continues to thrive and grow. 88.1FM,  WYCE just completed their most ambitious operating campaign in the station's history.  With a goal of $88,100 the station raised just over $80,000 and has plans to hit their target before their fiscal year is complete with additional fundraising activities According to Kevin Murphy, Station Director, despite the disruptive forces that have battered the music industry in recent years  "You would think that with all the competing technology (Pandora, iTunes) it would be difficult to able to differentiate our services but in some ways, it is a better time for us.  We are in a unique position". Murphy states that from the music side of the business "there is no algorithm that describes WYCE playlists. You may or may not like it, but we will expose a wide variety of music to you.  So if you are interested in being challenged by new music, just sit back and enjoy". From an operational side Murphy states that a strength of their station is their niche as a "lean, volunteer-drvien, non-profit model. We don't have funding from the government. No one can pull the rug from under us". The money from this year's campaign will be used to make incremental changes to the station as such as allowing expanding coverage to communities currently on the edge of the signal such as  Saugatuck and Hastings. It will also be used to provide listeners more opportunities to consume the music by adding needed technology to make online streaming better and allow for more digital access of archived shows. To learn more about the programming and operations of WYCE you can visit their website here. Source: Kevin Murphy, WYCE Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs Editor

Irvine, California-based private equity firm Blackford Capital has relocated its headquarters to Grand Rapids' Heartside business district (15 Ionia SW) to be closer to its Midwestern clients. That move has generated seven new jobs for financial and market analysts, researchers and support staff, says owner Martin Stein.Blackford invests in mature businesses with $20M to $100M in revenue and earnings that range between $2M and $10M. The company works with business owners who want to retire or leave the company. Stein says his current portfolio of companies have about 750 employees and create some $200M in revenue."Seventy percent of our investments are in the Midwest and on the East Coast, so it was redundant to have an office in Irvine and one in San Francisco," Stein says. "Ninety-five percent of our investments have been in manufacturing, and while we have investments across the U.S., there's an abundance of manufacturing here in the Midwest."Blackford Capital has leased some 1,800 square feet of office space at 15 Ionia SW and is conducting "business as usual," even though the dust is still settling. Stein says that when he graduated from Forest Hills Northern High School in 1990, there were no jobs in West Michigan for the type of private equity investing he wanted to do. "We're looking to hire analysts, staffing support and fund administrators," he says. "We made offers to all eleven of our employees to come with us, and three considered it but decided to stay in sunny California. We've been recruiting from local colleges, looking for students who wouldn't otherwise have opportunities to start a career in the type of finance we do."Source: Martin Stein, Blackford Capital; Kristie Burns, Lambert, Edwards & AssociatesWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

Amy VanZoeren says she's always thought about owning a vintage clothing shop. When she had the opportunity to get the inventory from the former Coat of Many Colors vintage shop, she decided the time had come. VanZoeren opened The Brass Owl (1127 Wealthy St. SE) about three weeks ago, offering both vintage and contemporary men's and women's clothing, shoes and accessories. "The vintage clothing I have dates from the 1990s back," VanZoeren says. "We have suits and sport jackets for men from the '70s and '80s. I get a lot of people who are looking for costumes for '70s- and '80s-themed parties."VanZoeren says the storefront sat vacant for quite a while before she decided to lease the 900-square-foot space for the shop. She describes the store as having a "warm and cozy feel," which attracts a lot of foot traffic from nearby Uncle Cheetah's Soup Shop and Wealthy Theatre across the street. And while VanZoeren hopes to put some of the store's profits in her pocket, she is working to hatch an idea for a possible scholarship fund for neighborhood kids using some of the store's earnings. "I live right around the corner, so the neighborhood is very important to me," she says. "I'm very committed to being part of the lives of my neighbors. I had this idea that I could make a difference by putting profits into scholarships for art and music for the kids. I'm still trying to figure out the best avenue, but my vision is to make an investment back into my community."Besides clothing, the store offers handmade jewelry by local artists including Rose Beerhorst's button bracelets and Lisa Portenga's The Empty Nest Kitsch Jewelry. Store hours are Weds. and Thurs. 12 to 5, and Fri. and Sat. 12 to 7. Source: Amy VanZoeren, The Brass OwlWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

Believing that strong leadership is critical to healthy communities, the Center for Community Leadership announces a series of programs designed to train community-minded individuals. According to an excerpt from WZZM13: 'Center for Community Leadership is holding three programs to enhance community leaders: "Leadership Grand Rapids," "Inside Grand Rapids," and "Emerging Leaders." "With the variety of programs and experiences and by connecting to other individuals who have that same passion," says Kevin Stotts, Vice President of Community Leadership. "We really think it helps to keep people here and attract people here because it really has been about decades of outstanding community leadership that has gotten this community to this point in time." "Leadership Grand Rapids" is a nine-month commitment to enhance one's role as a community trustee. The program will examine public safety, social services, quality education, philanthropy as well as many more important topics. You can read the complete story here:

Two Grand Rapids colleges are among a handful of Michigan campuses identified by The Princeton Review as the most sustainable campuses in the nation.According to excerpts from the story:For three consecutive years, The Princeton Review has been researching issues of sustainability as they pertain to college. In April 2011 we partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council to produce The Princeton Review's Guide to 311 Green Colleges. And every year we publish our Green Ratings in The Best Colleges. The Princeton Review's third annual Green Rating evaluates colleges and universities on their environmentally-related policies, practices and academic offerings. The result is a numerical score on a scale of 60-99. You will find each college's (703 of them) Green Rating on the Campus Life / Facilities tab of their profile. We salute 18 schools for their commitment to sustainability. These schools received our highest Green Rating of 99 and a place on The Princeton Review'sGreen Honor Roll. Read the complete story here.View the list of colleges by state here.

"Many people are under the false impression that email is a secure way to send information," says Mac Fowler, one of the developers behind SecureFileExchange.com. Fowler, a board member of aimWest and one of the four team members of InetSolution says the inspiration for SecureFileExechange came from the work they have done in the financial sector. "We do a lot of existing work with banks and credit unions and found that many individuals, especially on the marketing side, don't necessarily understand the need for security," he says. Their solution is a product that allows people to securely send data to one or multiple users. The software is designed to be in compliance with banks, credit unions, insurance companies and other regulated industries. Time-intensive customer education of the security issues in online communication and transactions remains one of the biggest hurdles for the growth of SecureFileExchange. As Fowler points out, "we're only four guys."   However, he says their company has already launched a companion product, which they hope will help with the education initiatives. "SimpleFileExchange.com is a free product that features an easy way to send large files, securely, but without the compliance-based features," he explains. By offering this free service, Fowler expects that customers will be impressed with the usability of their software, which will provide their team a platform to sell their premium services. For more information on SecureFileExchange, you can visit their site here. Source: Mac Fowler, InetSolutions Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs Editor