Deborah Johnson WoodGhost hunters get ready! Some of Grand Rapids' most noted shops and nightspots could be haunted and soon you'll have the chance to find out if it's real. Cityscape Adventures, a fun and friendly way to discover Grand Rapids with walking tours, will launch on October 1 with Paranormal Investigations – a tour that taps into the city's nightlife while visiting some of the city's top paranormal sites. Cityscape teamed up with the West Michigan Ghost Hunters Society to film videos of paranormal activity in local establishments and to procure magnetic field indicators and other equipment tour-goers can use.Cityscape's nearly two dozen tours will give locals and visitors the inside scoop on Grand Rapids. Tours include Urban Bites, a weekly (Saturdays) tasting trek of seven downtown restaurants; Napa Valley in River Valley, a discovery of the area's wine destinations; Hometown Heritage, a trip through time with Grand Rapids' people, architecture and history; and River's Rage, looking back on the history of development along our riverbanks.Group tours, called City Slickers Conquest, are customized tours that can include scavenger hunts, trivia contests and interaction with a variety of businesses downtown."I didn't want to bring just another tour company to Grand Rapids because when I look around I see innovation," says Brenda Dyer, owner and founder. "I had a lot of collaboration with the history department at the library, Grand Rapids Historical Commission and members of the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council. We don't have to go to Chicago for fun anymore."Tours range from 90 minutes to five hours and $15 to $27 per adult, depending on the tour. Children aged 10 to 16, $3; children under 10 tour free. Source: Brenda Dyer, Cityscape AdventuresDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].

Business Review West Michigan reports that Grand Rapids Public Schools has won a national architectural design award for its new design geared to improving education and student life on campus. According to excerpts from the story:Later this month, Burton Elementary and Middle School in Grand Rapids will receive national recognition for its design. The Richard Riley Award — Schools as Centers of Community for the 21st Century honors schools that "illustrate both community collaboration and school design excellence." The American Architectural Foundationand KnowledgeWorks Foundation will present the award to Burton around the end of September or beginning of October, said Genaro Bravo, president of Ada-based Bravo Architects Inc., which worked on the renovation."It's a national award," Bravo said. "That doesn't happen every day." Burton reopened for the 2008-2009 school year after a major renovation of the school, which was built in 1925. Read the complete story here.

BuffaloNews.com features ArtPrize 2010 as a destination vacation, following up on the successful 2009 festival and anticipating an even greater event. According to excerpts from the article: ArtPrize, the Grand Rapids art show and competition that surprised locals by drawing tens of thousands of visitors when it debuted in 2009, is back for a second year. And it's expected to be even bigger this time. The southwestern Michigan city's vibrant arts scene will get an infusion of energy from 1,713 artists displaying their works for 19 days in 192 venues, from plazas, hotels and museums, to restaurants, coffee shops and parks. Read the complete story here.

John Rumery The City of Grand Rapids and Local First recently announced their collaborative program, MyGRCity Points. The innovative and free program rewards customers who use the city's Single Stream Recycling Program and volunteer in the community. Points earned can be redeemed at local businesses for discounts on products and services. "This is the first time Local First has partnered with the city of Grand Rapids," says Elissa Sangalli Hillary, executive director of Local First.    While working on the details of this program behind the scenes for several months, national organization CEOs for Cities learned of the program and wanted to get involved.  CEOs for Cities is a non-profit organization that works with urban leaders to "catalyze the advancement of the next generation of great American cities." With CEOs for Cities' support, this program has the opportunity to be recognized on a national level.  This, in turn, then can elevate Grand Rapids' profile as an innovative leader in community engagement. According to Sangalli Hillary, many of the Local First members are "excited by the support the city is showing to locally owned businesses." Besides the positive benefits of recycling and volunteerism, this program has the potential to increase visibility and foot traffic for locally-owned businesses in the various neighborhoods throughout the city. Blending technology and incentives, the program is fairly simple to understand and administrate. Within the next few months, customers will be able to go online and register for a free MyGRCity Points account.  Once registered, participants can start earning points by participating in wide variety of activities such as using the single stream recycling program, helping to organize community events and volunteering for a wide variety of activities, which will be identified through the website. Individuals then can redeem points at participating local businesses for discounts on products and services. The entire program will be administered online. The program is scheduled to roll out in three phases, beginning with the recycling program.   The goal is to be fully implemented by the end of 2011. For more information you can visit the website http://points.grcity.us Source: Interview with Elissa Sangalli Hillary, City of Grand Rapids Media Release and CEOs for Cities website. John Rumery is the Innovation and Jobs Editor for Rapid Growth Media. He is an educator, board member of AimWest, WYCE music programmer, entrepreneur, raconteur and competitive barbecuer living in Grand Rapids, MI.  He can be reached at [email protected]  For story tips you can e-mail [email protected]

John RumeryAfter leaving a local software firm three years ago, Joe Johnston, soon became the first Grand Rapids employee of Universal Mind, a technology company with its headquarters outside of Boston, MA and with offices in Colorado and California.  With expertise in user experience design, the Grand Rapids office soon become Universal Mind's hub for that specialty and within those three years, the Grand Rapids office grew to eleven employees. User experience design helps create the experience a customer has with a product or service. In the case of software, it is often time making programs more user-friendly, eliminating redundant features and integrating the program with other parts of an organizations technology programs.Johnston explains that the team at Universal Mind is roughly made up of three groups: specialists, designers and technologists.  As a team their time is spent on discovery and trying to understand how customers work with various devices.  After that begins the development and implementation process.To showcase their unique talent, the group began the development of a consumer application that focused on creativity and collaboration.  In a relatively short time, the team developed and introduced iBrainstorm.  Launched in late July of 2010 it quickly rose to become the #3 free download of iPad applications.   Johnston estimates that there have been almost 500,000 downloads.  Although the application is free, Johnston states that the popularity and success of this program is essentially advertising for their firm and indicates that they have landed several projects because of iBrainstorm. Beside consumer application tools, where in the last six months opportunities "are exploding" due to the popularity of the Android, iPad and iPhone, Universal Mind also works on enterprise applications that help businesses to be more efficient and effective. Johnston cites the development of better customer relation management programs as an example.  In some cases the applications they develop are used internally and in other instances an application might become a retail product for their client.   Johnston shared a recent YouTube video that captures some of the work of Universal Mind.  Like the user experience team, Johnston is proud to state that both the video and music are local talent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SKCJNb-CooJohnston states that Universal Mind are always looking for talented people but acknowledges that finding individuals locally with a user design background in not always easy.Source: Interview with Joe Johnston, www.UniversalMind.com, John Rumery is the Innovation and Jobs Editor for Rapid Growth Media. He is an educator, board member of AimWest, WYCE music programmer, entrepreneur, raconteur and competitive barbecuer living in Grand Rapids, MI.  He can be reached at [email protected].  For story tips you can e-mail [email protected]

Deborah Johnson WoodThe City of Grand Rapids approved two proposed development projects with a combined investment cost of $39 million for brownfield redevelopment tax abatements last week. The $24 million entertainment and retail complex, Bobville, proposed by The Gilmore Collection, and the $15 million Health Park Central proposed by Health Park Central, LLC could generate an ongoing economic boost to the city, as well as dozens of jobs. Plans for the project dubbed "Bobville" include a new four-story mixed-use building adjacent to The B.O.B., and will feature retail, entertainment venues, hotel condos and packaged food manufacturing. The parcel, currently a parking lot, is contaminated "probably due to urban fill," says Kara Wood, city economic development director. The complex could create 150 jobs. "The lot was city-owned and sold to Greg Gilmore with a very specific development agreement," Wood says. "We're hoping Bobville will increase density in the downtown area and will provide a unique entertainment venue the downtown currently doesn't have."Health Park Central plans propose the renovation of an existing medical office building at 245 Cherry SE and construction of a second medical building. The large land parcel across from Saint Mary's Health Care includes 216 and 236 State St. SE and 114 and 120 Jefferson Ave. SE. The project is less than a block away from the $30 million Heart of the City Health Center currently under construction, and it will increase the availability of medical services and medical office space within steps of Saint Mary's Health Care campus."The city may be investing in this project with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act bonds we received," Wood says. "We got a total of $25 million and Health Park Central is asking for $8 million in bond allocation." The Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority will support both projects with an as yet undetermined amount of tax increment financing, Wood says. Both projects will apply to the state for tax credits. "It's important to mention that even in these tough economic times, we're still able to put together strong public-private partnerships," Wood says.Source: Kara Wood, City of Grand Rapids Economic Development Office; Craig Clark, Clark CommunicationsRelated Articles Heartside's $30M Heart of the City Health Center breaks ground on national healthcare modelGrand Rapids sells property to Gilmore for proposed $5M festival marketplaceDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].

The Daily News reports that a Stanton firm will receive $26 million in federal funds that will ultimately lead to the creation of 150 technology jobs.  Applications are now being accepted. According to excerpts from the story Casair Inc. may not receive $26 million in grant funds until November, but applications for dozens of jobs are being accepted right now.??The Stanton computer business currently employs 20 people and is looking to hire 33 direct hires and 150 total hires, including subcontractors, for a major project. All levels of employees will be hired, including administration project management and technicians of all calibers. ?? Read the complete story here. http://www.thedailynews.cc/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=11&ArticleID=35833