40 Under Forty - 2014 - Grand Rapids Business Journal

H O N O R E E C E L E B R AT I O N OCTOBER 20, 2014 G R A N D R A P I D S C I V I C T H E AT R E

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RESEARCH BY

Record number of nominations produce sterling class A record 171 nominations were made for the 2014 40 Under Forty class. The previous record was set in 2011 when 140 individuals were nominated, and that number has remained almost constant in recent years. Each of the 171 nominations this year represents an achieving and communityminded individual, a fact which bodes well for the future of the greater Grand Rapids area.

Grand Rapids Business Journal began focusing on emerging business and entrepreneurial leaders 19 years ago. Each class has been distinctive in unique ways, which has often been reflective of new categories in the regional economy. This group has been increasingly involved, not just in new technologies or ideas but also in the greater Grand Rapids community. While in decades past serving on community and nonprofit boards was a manner of networking, the under 40 class is increasingly creating those organizations or forming new alliances. Such endeavors create community energy and impact.

Sam Cummings, managing partner of CWD, was recognized in 2013 as the first Grand Rapids Business Journal 40 Under Forty Distinguished Alumni. He told the sold-out crowd, “If you’re not a participant, you’re a passenger.”

Nominations in 2014 included a greater number of individuals in the medical, health and construction industries, as well as new technologies, retail and service categories.

Nominations from the greater community were encouraged with nomination survey forms, but each individual must respond with their willingness to participate and provide additional crucial information. Mentors, friends and co-workers often only know a part of the story.

Each nominee is evaluated on business success, professional recognitions or awards, new endeavors, breaking stereotypes or new industry emergence. The business evaluations consider the success of the business and the leadership provided by the individual. Additional evaluations are given to community involvement and leadership indications in that involvement. Repeating 40 Under Forty class members have a greater task, and must demonstrate additional new capabilities, acumen and involvement.

The 2014 40 Under Forty Distinguished Alumni is Jeff Lambert, owner and partner of Lambert Edwards & Associates. Lambert was among the classes of 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 when he was recognized again for his business operations growth into Detroit and Chicago.

The task of judging does not get easier, either. Judges review every one of the nominations and have a commitment to the process. They are advocates of the under-40 crowd. Judges included Carol Lopucki, the retiring state director of the Michigan Small Business Development Center; Bob Thomas, executive director of Michigan Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which includes Leadership Michigan in Lansing; and Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future, in Ann Arbor.

Congratulations to all the nominees, and the Class of 2014.

—Carole Valade Editor

AUDITED BY

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Congratulations TO THIS YEAR’S 40 UNDER FORTY honorees and our Distinguished Alumnus, Jeff Lambert. We look forward to following your progress in the future!

THANK YOU TO THIS YEAR’S 40 UNDER FORTY SPONSORS, WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT!

Luis Avila, 32

Jeff Barrett, 29

Title: Attorney Company: Varnum Law

Title: CEO Company: Status Creative

Luis Avila left his dream job in Geneva, Switzerland, working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to return to Grand Rapids.

Avila said he and his wife wanted a balanced life and knew the city could provide the life they were looking for.

“We are certain we made the right decision,” he said.

“In fact, I firmly believe Grand Rapids’ future is very bright and am committed to contributing to its success and continued growth.”

Avila is an attorney at Varnum Law, where he focuses his practice on employment litigation work and traditional labor work. He also is invested in immigration law, providing pro bono services to help immigrants navigate the immigration system to obtain or retain legal status in the United States.

Avila spent 14 years living in Mexico City, and worked for a large corporate law firm during his time there.

In addition to his professional career, Avila believes in contributing to the community, and said he and his wife hope to dedicate their skills to several West Michigan organizations.

“He serves on the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce board and the Wedgwood Christian Services board,” said Kim McLaughlin, Grand Rapids Chamber Center for Community Leadership. “He is also involved with Grand Rapids Ballet and the Community Engagement Committee for Grand Rapids Symphony. Luis is an upand-coming leader in the Grand Rapids community.”

Gov. Rick Snyder also recently appointed Avila to the State of Michigan Board of Medicine.

Jeff Barrett has been recognized internationally as a leader in public relations and social media.

Barrett has been developing his social media expertise since he was in high school, when he utilized his knowledge to grow his father’s photography business from 60 clients to 450 in a year.

He continued to excel during his time at United Way, where he served as the national organization’s digital media manager, increasing its online presence 10 times in less than a year and helping the organization increase its donations for the first time in five years.

In 2011, he founded public relations firm Status Creative, which has grown to include teams in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and London.

Barrett has been recognized as a Forbes Top 50: Social Media Power Influencer, Business Insiders No. 1 ad executive on Twitter, and PRNewswire Earnie Winner for Best Use of Video in Social Media.

As an expert in his field, he’s been asked to contribute articles to several national publications, including Mashable and The Washington Times.

Despite his growing presence on “best of” lists, Barrett continues to call Grand Rapids home.

“Instead of leaving West Michigan to be successful, I’m trying to bring more success to West Michigan,” Barrett said.

He has served on the Grand Rapids Young Professionals advisory board and been involved with LaughFest, United Way and Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan.

“I don’t like to look back, but rather look forward,” he said. “I know that I’m only as good as my latest achievement.”

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Rosalynn Bliss, 39

Brian Burch, 36

Title: City Commissioner/Director, Residential Services Organization: City of Grand Rapids/D.A. Blodgett-St. John’s

Title: Managing Partner Company: Burch Partners

Rosalynn Bliss, a Grand Rapids city commissioner since 2005, is most proud of her work in the past year to fund reconstruction of streets and sidewalks. The campaign to extend the temporary city income tax increase to cover those projects faced opposition but ultimately prevailed in the May election.

Bliss also is director of residential services at D.A. Blodgett-St. John’s and an adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University in graduate social work.

As a key staff member at Blodgett-St. John’s, she is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the Michigan Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. She also serves on the Michigan Performance Based Funding Task Force and chairs the Michigan Federation for Children Residential MIN. As a board member of the Interurban Transit Partnership/The Rapid, she celebrated the launch of the Silver Line in Grand Rapids. She is a mentor for the GVSU Hauenstein Center, and holds board memberships on the Dyer-Ives Foundation, Kent County Land Bank, and advisory board of the Michigan Economic Center.

She is also the recipient of the Tim Pope Memorial Award for Outstanding Young Governmental Leader.

Bliss has been included in the Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty every year since 2010. Her qualifications for inclusion include her drive to be an example to young people — women in particular, encouraging them to be more actively engaged in shaping the future and making a positive impact on the community.

Brian Burch has lived in West Michigan for 32 years, making an impact on nearly everything he touches.

Burch is the managing partner of Burch Partners and a member of the Holland City Council, which has seen five balanced budgets during his tenure and has hired a new city manager, city attorney and assistant city manager.

Through the city council, he also serves on the Holland Planning Commission and the Neighborhood Advisory Committee.

At one time, he considered helping to launch Chicago’s Millennium Park early in his public relations career as his biggest professional break, but it has since been surpassed by starting his own public relations agency, which services both ArtPrize and Start Garden.

Burch also is proud of the accomplishments of his clients. In the past year, clients have been featured on HGTV, TechCrunch and Forbes.

Burch has been named to the Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty class twice previously, in 2012 and 2013, and also to the 2013 Next City Vanguard 40 Under 40.

He was the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park Employee of the Month in May 2006 and has won two Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvils.

He’s the father of three children, which sometimes can pose challenges for a man trying to build a successful career. He instead finds that his family propels him to higher levels.

“I am constantly finding new ways to balance the needs of a growing family with the needs of growing a business while telling stories that are redefining the perception of West Michigan,” he said.

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Frederick Bw’Ombongi, 37

Shannon Cohen, 36

Title: Director of Patient Care Services Organization: Spectrum Health

Title: Owner/Principal Organization: Community Ventures

Born in Kenya, Frederick Bw’Ombongi moved to Grand Rapids in 1999 and has been positively influencing lives ever since.

As director of patient care services at Spectrum Health, he oversees system-wide development and implementation for language services and spiritual care programs for patients and staff.

Bw’Ombongi is also co-founder and board president of the West Michigan Refugee Education and Cultural Center and has overseen the approval for more than $750,000 in grants from local foundations. He was recognized in 2010 as a Community Champion in the Leadership Skills platform by Center for Community Leadership for his work with WMRECC. “I am proud of the work that I do at Spectrum Health of meeting our communication and spiritual needs of our patients and families so they can have high-quality care,” he said. “I am also proud of the work that we do at WMRECC, making sure we support refugee kids academically so they can succeed in school and in life.”

He is a member of numerous professional associations, including treasurer and vice chair of certifications of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters.

Bw’Ombongi was also involved in establishing the Open Village Doors Foundation to fight poverty in Kenya through the development of micro businesses, and serves on the board of the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan.

“It is an honor to be included,” said Bw’Ombongi. “I have not done the work alone; so many have worked with me to make the work a reality.”

Her mother was the biggest influence in the life of Shannon Cohen. Growing up in an impoverished Detroit neighborhood, her mother always reminded her and her siblings, “There will always be someone whose lot in life is worse than your own, and no matter what, we all have something to contribute to improve the lives of those around us.”

For the past 15 years, Cohen has been an active member in philanthropic and community development organizations in Metro Detroit and West Michigan. In 2009, she launched Community Ventures, which provides contract services to several not-for-profit entities including Network180; the GVSU School of Public, Nonprofit and Health Administration; Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services; Wyoming Public Schools; Genesis Corporation; and Living Water Ministries.

One of her most recent accomplishments was development of a course she teaches, Community Coalition Building. It was first offered this fall at GVSU. Cohen graduated magna cum laude with a master’s degree in public administration and nonprofit management from GVSU in 2011. She is married and the mother of a 6-month old son. She was recently selected as a charter member of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Fellows program, which includes 120 community leaders from around the nation working to improve the quality of life for vulnerable children and families.

She is a member of the Advisory Board of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy — National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, and the K-12 Educational Television Association.

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Jason Dodge, 32

Mike Goorhouse, 28

Title: Owner, Chief Strategist Company: Black Truck Media + Marketing

Title: President and Chief Executive Officer Organization: Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area

When the company he was working for went under, Jason Dodge turned the unfortunate circumstance into a positive, launching his own company, Black Truck Media + Marketing.

The company is entering its fifth year of business this November.

Adrienne Wallace, 834 Design & Marketing, lauded Dodge’s honesty in an industry she said sometimes takes advantage of clients and remarked on his experience.

“He puts his 13 years of online marketing experience to work for clients with forward-thinking, proactive strategies that are collaborative and an integral part of the work team,” she said.

His leadership extends beyond his company to the West Michigan marketing industry. Dodge is the immediate past president of the American Marketing Association of West Michigan, having wrapped up his term earlier this year.

“My achievements with the American Marketing Association of West Michigan are the ones I am most proud of — working alongside the executive board, seeing them grow into a more cohesive group that is focused on the betterment of the marketing community,” Dodge said.

He also serves on the Marketing Advisory Council for the Maine College of Business at Davenport University.

“We serve the board to assist them with real world marketing concepts, challenges and strategies that can then be applied in the classroom,” Dodge said.

Anyone who loves Michigan’s winter season might know Dodge from his award-winning Michigan Ski Report, which he founded in 2008 and is the go-to site for Michigan skiers and snowboarders.

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Mike Goorhouse is an emerging force in the field of philanthropy.

As president and CEO of a $53 million foundation distributing $4 million in annual grants in the Holland and Zeeland area, Goorhouse plays an instrumental role in impacting the West Michigan region.

“Professionally, I am most proud of being one of the youngest community foundation president/CEOs in the country, and for the results from my first year leading the fundraising efforts at the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area,” said Goorhouse.

At 28, not only does Goorhouse manage community impact strategies and facilitate the organization’s resources, but also, as director of the Association for a More Just Society, he works directly with the president of Honduras to implement a more transparent and accountable government.

Goorhouse has been active as: co-founder and co-chair of the Michigan Chapter of EPIP; trustee of Learning to Give; chair of the Independent Sector NGen Advisory Board; Kids’ Food Basket; and Project Clarity Advisory Board.

“I take part and lead strategic and high-level conversations on community issues and priorities,” said Goorhouse. “Both professionally and personally, I am involved in most of the major initiatives in the Holland/ Zeeland area and my involvement in Grand Rapids and regional initiatives continues to grow.”

In 2013, he received a Catalyst Award from Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy and was named one of the top 30 Civic Leaders under the age of 30 in 2011 by the National Conference on Citizenship.

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John Helmholdt, 39

David Hill, 31

Title: Executive Director of Communications and External Affairs Organization: Grand Rapids Public Schools

Title: Partner/Attorney Company: Kreis Enderle

As the communications and external affairs director at Grand Rapids Public Schools, John Helmholdt is most proud of working with the team there to successfully implement the first year of its Transformation Plan to support the future growth and success of the local school system.

“My parents, Jerry and Judy Helmholdt, instilled a deep love for the city, our schools and West Michigan as a whole,” said Helmholdt. “Since Superintendent (Teresa) Weatherall Neal was appointed, I’ve been fully empowered to really run, organize and help build momentum and energy around the GRPS transformation.”

As an experienced professional in communications, he has been involved in the planning process for the future of Smart Zone, approving and implementing a Montessori expansion plan, and developing an aggressive marketing plan to fill preschool seats in the county.

Although he served as finance director for Michelle McManus during her Congressional campaign and John McCain during his presidential candidacy, and as a consultant for Bill Schuette for the Court of Appeals race, Helmholdt is torn between his political experience and current work at GRPS when it comes to his biggest professional break.

“It’s a tough call,” said Helmholdt.

Helmholdt has served on various committees including Grand River Restoration Steering Committee, Grand Rapids Downtown Master Plan, Smart Zone, DGRI Alliance for Livability, Montessori Advisory Council and Kent Preschool Advisory Board.

He was also a co-founder of the West Michigan-based public relations firm Jones, Gavan & Helmholdt.

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Just five years out of law school, David Hill became a partner at law firm Kreis Enderle.

“David, at 31, became the youngest shareholder in the 40-year history of this firm,” said Sean Fitzgerald, an attorney at Kreis Enderle.

Hill has also been named a Super Lawyers’ Rising Star.

Hill has distinguished himself professionally as well as through his community service, which includes board positions with Grand Rapids Young Professionals, Boys & Girls Club of Grand Rapids, and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., among other volunteer commitments.

“I am most vested in those accomplishments that are community-based, not necessarily professional,” Hill said.

As director of the community involvement committee for GRYP, Hill has helped connect young leaders with nonprofits through monthly volunteer events and expanded its footprint in the community.

“Without these activities, many of the connections would not happen organically,” he said. “It is exciting to have an opportunity to have such an influence on a large segment of Grand Rapids’ up-and-coming leaders.”

He is also helping to shape the future of Grand Rapids through his role with DGRI. As an Investment Alliance board member, he has worked to identify and implement specific goals to maintain and improve downtown Grand Rapids, with a specific focus on walkability, connectivity and safety within downtown’s public spaces.

“I find it rare, in today’s business climate, to have the privilege of working with someone this young who has learned to set himself apart from other attorneys in his age group,” Fitzgerald said.

BENEFITS · BUSINESS · LIFE · PERSONAL · TITLE L I G H T H O U S E G R O U P. N E T · 8 0 0 . 3 4 4 . 3 5 3 1

John Inhulsen, 39

Andy Jasper, 33

Title: Partner/Attorney Company: Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC

Title: Vice President Company: Andy J. Egan Co.

Attorney John Inhulsen distinguished himself in 2013 when he represented a client in an antitrust case, winning a $5.15 million unanimous jury verdict. Michigan Lawyers Weekly ranked the verdict the third largest in Michigan.

He has also distinguished himself within the Republican Party. He serves on the Kent County GOP executive committee, and in 2012, he threw together a fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney with only a week’s notice.

“It was a lot of work, but it was an opportunity for me to learn from some of the great Republican leaders and activists in West Michigan in a compressed timeframe and has led to many other opportunities,” he said.

Inhulsen also supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of West Michigan as the newly appointed chairperson, Broadway Grand Rapids as vice chairperson, and just wrapped up five years as March of Dimes chair. He said being able to have an impact through these various roles gives him the most pride.

He said he gets his inspiration from his wife, Monica.

“She is not just my biggest influence; she is a role model to me,” he said.

Inhulsen also is proud to be part of Grand Rapids’ success: “Communities don’t just happen,” he said. “It takes the commitment of people, their time, talent and funds to build and sustain a wonderful community like ours. I’m immensely proud to be a part of that process and to call Grand Rapids home.”

Grand Rapids native Andy Jasper has been working to keep his family legacy alive since he was 14 and sweeping floors at his dad’s construction company. He is now vice president of that company, Andy J. Egan Co. “I take a lot of pride in having earned the entire company’s trust in the next generation taking over the company. We have many employees that have been with us for two to three decades, and they have no plans to leave Egan,” he said.

“I’m very proud of our track record with the 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For award program.

For eight years in a row, we’ve made an appearance on the list, including four elite awards and one national award.”

When Jasper isn’t helping run the company, he’s usually traveling on mission trips, working with his kids’ school or volunteering at his church, Orchard Hill, where he serves as a deacon. He is on the Honorary Committee of the Make-A-Wish Foundation; his employees are actively involved in raising and donating money through company events and fundraisers.

Jeff VanderLaan, CEO of Kent Companies Inc. and Jasper’s friend and colleague through their participation on the board of directors for the American Subcontractor Association of Michigan, called Jasper a standout leader in Grand Rapids’ building and construction community.

“I’ve seen Andy’s commitment to the success of his company firsthand through his respectful and inspiring interaction with his employees in both good times and bad,” he said.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2014 CLASS OF 40 UNDER FORTY BUSINESS LEADERS

THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY! DAN T. VOS President, Dan Vos Construction Company Inc.

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CONGRATULATIONS To Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.’s Kristopher Larson and the other 40 Under Forty leaders for bringing a brighter future to Downtown.

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Sara Julius, 36

Nick Koster, 35

Title: Managing Partner Company: Edify North

Title: Vice President of Operations Company: CWD Real Estate Investment

Sara Julius didn’t wait to graduate from Davenport University before starting her first business. She launched Edify North with business partner Michael Hill while completing her degree.

The business is an employee benefit consulting firm located in Holland.

“I design and implement health risk management programs that improve the lives of community members, which benefits not only their employer, but also their family and the community alike,” Julius said.

In five years, Edify North has grown into a business with nine employees and $1.25 million in annual revenue.

“I am honored and extremely proud to work with a team that is willing to invest their time and talents to help our business grow,” Julius said.

In that same time period, Julius graduated with high honors from DU. She also graduated from the West Coast Leadership program, and served as the co-chair for the organization’s Economic Development Day. She serves on the board for the West Michigan Association of Health Underwriters, where she was cochair of the legislative committee from 2012-2013. She held the position of recruitment chair for HeartChase Holland, the American Heart Association’s annual local fundraiser.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as her community and volunteer positions.

Julius also is a member of the Lakeshore Human Resources Management Association, has contributed to the Holland Youth Advisory Council’s Healthy Holland event, and the Stretching Your Dollars and Slimming Your Waistline community health event.

“Sara is the definition of an overachiever,” Hill said.

It was Nick Koster’s sophomore year of college and he thought his future in business was over.

Koster, now vice president of operations at CWD Real Estate Investment, had been rejected from U-M’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

“I met with the admissions department the next day, then the dean, and then formally appealed my rejection.

I completed my winter term with a 4.0 GPA in various core classes weighted so heavily by the Business School and also submitted various recommendations, essays and responded to many questions and inquiries,” he said.

“Ultimately, I was accepted that summer.”

Koster worked in California for the city of Grover Beach as a special projects consultant before returning to Michigan in 2004 to become business manager at Roersma and Wurn Builders Inc. Since joining CWD in 2007, he’s spent his time developing and managing real estate. Some of the major projects he’s been involved with have been renovation and restoration of historic downtown buildings at 40 Pearl, 125 Ottawa and 50 Louis, and development of the Bucktown retail center in Grandville.

Along the way, he said he’s learned that “we do impact the events of our lives, that extra effort makes a difference, that there is always a way.”

Since returning to Grand Rapids, Koster has served on a number of boards, including Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. and Grand Rapids DDA and, in particular, Camp Henry, where he was a camp counselor before, during and after college.

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Miranda Krajniak, 31

Kristopher Larson, 36

Title: Executive Director Organization: Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts

Title: President and CEO Organization: Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.

Leadership and collaboration are at the heart of Miranda Krajniak and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts.

“She has established strong programming, a network of supporters, and hired and mentors a robust team,” said Sarah Abel of Rockford Construction. “She is very involved in the community.”

Krajniak is the executive director of the UICA, and was an integral part of the merger between the arts organization and Kendall College of Art and Design in August 2013.

“We worked within a very tight deadline with limited resources, but at the end of the day, the UICA survived to continue its role as a contemporary, cultural hub in downtown Grand Rapids,” she said.

As a member of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs’ New Leaders Arts Council, she’s helped grow the budget from $40,000 to $67,000, helping support more youth-initiated arts and cultural projects.

Krajniak is a founding member of the DisArt Steering Committee, which is planning to launch a disabilities arts festival in spring 2015. She also was a Family Day committee member for Celebration on the Grand from 2009 to 2011.

Her road to the UICA was fortuitous. She was the manager of education and exhibitions and teaching a summer camp at Saugatuck Center for the Arts when she received a call from consultant Bill Johnson. Five minutes into the conversation, she was offered the role as interim executive director, which put her on a new trajectory.

In his early 20s, Kristopher Larson decided his mission in life was to create an urban lifestyle in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C. With no experience in urban planning, he landed a job on the staff of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.

While working there full time, he earned a master’s degree in 2006 in public administration at North Carolina State University, specializing in urban management, planning and economic development.

An award-winning planner by trade but an economist at heart, since 2012, Larson has headed Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., which administers the Downtown Improvement and Tax Increment Finance districts in Grand Rapids within the city’s Downtown Development Authority.

Larson studied at Oxford University in England the summer of 1999. Later he made the Dean’s List at NCSU, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in applied sociology in 2001. From 2002 to 2004, he was general manager at an Irish pub in downtown Raleigh. Then came the Downtown Raleigh Alliance until 2007, when he joined the Raleigh Urban Design Center as a senior planner.

From 2009 to 2012, Larson was with Downtown Long Beach Associates in California, where he was vice president.

As head of the DGRI, he manages an annual budget of $13 million and has a staff of 10, working on urban planning, incentives for development, transportation demand management, marketing and event production, all to bring more people downtown for entertainment and cultural edification, thereby creating economic value in downtown GR.

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Kyle Los, 28

Michael Marsiglia, 34

Title: Program Manager Company: Rockford Construction

Title: Managing Partner, Grand Rapids; Vice President Company: Atomic Object

All the Grand Rapids business world’s a stage for a talent like Kyle Los. Los, program manager at Grand Rapids-based Rockford Construction, is not only a young professional who’s had a major impact in developing the innovation and design hub that is GRid70, he’s also an awardwinning performer who serves on the board of Actors’ Theatre Grand Rapids.

Whether in acting or in business, he enjoys most the moment when he sees a light bulb come on in someone’s eyes, he said.

“At GRid70, I see people get excited about a work project because of new perspectives. … With Actors Theatre, a theater that exists with the purpose of doing thoughtprovoking theater, I see individuals being challenged to think differently,” he said. “High-impact, communityimproving work makes me the most proud.”

Hannah Schierbeek, coordinator for alumni and parent relations at Kuyper College, said she has known Los professionally for seven years.

“He has taken GRid70 from where it began and helped build it into one of the most influential creativity hubs in Grand Rapids. From marketing, to project management, to personnel scheduling, to making coffee, there is not a task too big or too small for Kyle to handle.

“The impact Kyle has had on the Grand Rapids community as a whole, and specifically the business community, has not gone unnoticed by his friends or his coworkers and employees. Kyle has a beautiful soul and incomparable sense for business.”

Michael Marsiglia credits the three-year hiatus he took from Atomic Object as his biggest break because it renewed his appreciation and commitment to the company and the Grand Rapids community.

Marsiglia left Atomic Object in 2005 to pursue a job in Boston. Though he enjoyed the area, he and his wife decided to return to West Michigan because they didn’t feel they could make a difference there like they could in Grand Rapids.

“We moved home to West Michigan with the utmost confidence that Grand Rapids is where we wanted to live, work and play,” he said.

Marsiglia is now a leader and owner in Atomic Object, a sign of his renewed dedication.

He said he is proud of the role he’s helped to play in the company’s growth.

“Our business has grown from $3 million in revenue in 2008 to a projected $8.6 million in 2014,” he said.

Marsiglia is the chair for the Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference, a member of Client 7, which is a national board of software consultancies, and a member and Develop Committee member of the West Michigan Technology Talent Council.

Other recent volunteer activities include serving as a technical advisor to Momentum and Start Garden, as a 2014 judge for Startup Weekend and as a judge for MWest Challenge at Grand Valley State University.

Carl Erickson, Atomic Object CEO and cofounder, called Marsiglia “a vital member of the next generation of leaders.”

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Ryan McCahill, 32

Mike Mraz, 33

Title: Vice President, Corporate Health & Wellness Company: The McCahill Group

Title: Vice President of Real Estate Development Company: Rockford Construction

Ryan McCahill spent his college years just outside Philadelphia at Villanova University and studying abroad for six months at the University of Cambridge in England. He then spent five years in Chicago as a real estate acquisitions analyst before moving back home to Grand Rapids to join The McCahill Group.

He serves on the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports subcommittee for Healthy Workplace Award, and is head coach for the Grand Rapids Catholic Central junior variety basketball team, following in the footsteps of his late father, Ray McCahill.

He also volunteers at First Tee of West Michigan, helping underprivileged youth learn the game of golf and the life lessons that can be taught through the game. He spent a year as part of Saint Mary’s Foundation’s Up Next group.

He credits a lot of his life influence to his father and his little brother, Champlin McCahill, who survived brain cancer. Above all, he said, his boss and mother, Peaches McCahill, is his truest influence, having helped him and his siblings through tough times.

“Peaches has been the biggest influence in my life because of her incredible work ethic, passion for life and daily example of what it means to never give up on your dreams,” McCahill said. “Working for her has been an inspiring adventure thus far and she pushes me to strive daily to do all I can to be successful in both business and life.”

For the past 11 years, Mike Mraz has used his time at Rockford Construction to reshape the urban core of Grand Rapids.

Mraz is vice president of real estate development at the Grand Rapids-based construction and development firm. A 40 Under Forty winner in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013, his career has involved redeveloping a large portion of Monroe Center, the Arena District and the city’s west side.

“My professional career allows me to revitalize the Grand Rapids urban core, which has grown significantly since I moved to Grand Rapids,” he said.

Mraz, who is currently lead development partner on the Morton House renovation project downtown and the Metro Health Professional Building expansion in Byron Center, serves and has served on a number of professional and community boards, including the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Metro Health Hospital Foundation and Broadway Grand Rapids. He has also volunteered for the Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding.

It’s been said that behind every great man stands a great woman who’s inspired him, and Mraz is no exception. He cites his wife, Rachel, as the biggest influence in his life.

“We push each other to work hard professionally, but also to enjoy our time away from the office,” he said.

“Philanthropy is an important part of our lives, and we share the common goal of giving back to our community.”

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Rachel Mraz, 33

Shawn Pacanowski, 39

Title: Wealth Management Advisor Company: Merrill Lynch

Title: Investment Consultant Company: CapTrust

At the start of 2008, Rachel Mraz had been on the board of the Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding for more than three years. That January, she decided to chair the organization’s capital campaign, even though she knew the target amount was “a stretch” because of the small size of the organization and the fact that it was relatively unknown.

Then the Great Recession set, adding to the challenge.

Today, the fundraising campaign is nearly completed and the main facility has been renovated; the campaign has transformed the Equest Center, enabling it to accommodate more riders.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this campaign and all the people who stepped forward to make it a reality,” she said.

Mraz has been with Merrill Lynch in Grand Rapids since 2003. She holds a degree from Cornell University and a Master of Science in financial services from The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. In addition to the Equest Center, her list of board memberships includes John Ball Zoo, Van Andel Institute, Davenport University Foundation, Family Business Alliance, Saint Mary’s Doran Foundation, YWCA of West Central Michigan, Council of Michigan Foundations, Opera Grand Rapids, Eventing Association of Michigan, Michigan Women’s Foundation and more.

In 2010, the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce presented her with the Athena Young Professional Leadership Award.

Her mother’s mentorship helped prepare her for the male-dominated world of investments, but she said her biggest influence today is her husband, Mike, who challenges her professionally and philanthropically.

Shawn Pacanowski’s biggest professional break came in 2010 while working at CapTrust in Holland, when people in leadership positions at some of the region’s largest corporations came to him for financial guidance for their families’ financial security.

Those relationships gave him the confidence to become more active in community leadership.

Pacanowski has more than a decade of experience in financial services, today serving mainly high net-worth individuals and organizations.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Calvin College and the Certified Investment Management Analyst designation from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He has also completed professional development courses in alternative investments, family wealth transition and business leadership transition planning.

Before CapTrust, he was with the Family Research Council for five years. It is a public policy think tank advocating for fair tax policies and family issues in Lansing and in Washington, D.C. Pacanowski has served on the board of the Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce in Holland and was the youngest board chairman it has had. The chamber has 1,300 business members and its representation stretches beyond Holland.

He has been an advisory board member at Lakeshore Advantage for five years, and is on the investment committee of the Holland-Zeeland Community Foundation.

One of his proudest achievements was helping his wife, Christy, open Embolden Studio in 2009. It is a busy photography studio with six professional photographers.

The Pacanowskis have three children.

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Well done. Well deserved.

Congratulations Mindy, Jason and Fred for being 2014 40 under Forty

Mindy Ysasi Consultant, Human Resources

honorees. Spectrum Health is proud to have people like you who are

Jason Slaikeu MD, RPVI, FACS, Vascular Surgeon

dedicated to the health and well-being of our communities.

Fred Bw’Ombongi Director, Patient Care Services

Sarah Rinsema-Sybenga, 38

Nicole Rodammer, 31

Title: Executive Director Organization: Community enCompass

Title: Director of Development Organization: Boys & Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth

As the executive director of the Christian-based neighborhood development organization Community enCompass, Sarah Rinsema-Sybenga’s approach of empowering people and restoring communities is built upon a foundation of lessons experienced while teaching English in Japan and traveling throughout Southeast Asia.

“I learned what being ‘in the minority’ means. Lessons from that world seep constantly into experiences in this world,” said Rinsema-Sybenga. “The creative spirit and hopeful strength of my neighbors is consistently inspiring and instructive to me.”

Recognized as a Woman of Accomplishment by the Muskegon Woman’s Club in 2008 and as a Muskegon Agent of Change by the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce in 2009, Rinsema-Sybenga has helped develop various initiatives through Community enCompass to restore downtown Muskegon neighborhoods and strengthen communities. Some programs include Sacred Suds, Healthy Neighborhood, CATCH Camp, Bethany Housing, Youth Employment Program, McLaughlin Grows Urban Farm and the Muskegon Learning Lab. “I’ve had an opportunity to build a life in Muskegon that more or less integrates family, community, work, faith and fun in one geography, one neighborhood,” she said. “I strive to be an open person who learns from the world and seeks to understand that which is different.”

Rinsema-Sybenga currently serves on various professional and community boards, such as World Renew, Great Lakes Urban, Hackley Community Care Center and Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore. In the past she served as board member of the Nelson Neighborhood Improvement Association.

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Nicole Rodammer helped put together Griffins Pink at the Rink benefitting the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which raised $10,000. That’s when she fell in love with working with community members and nonprofits.

Rodammer is now the director of development for Boys & Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth. She is also the president of Grand Rapids Young Professionals and leads more than 2,500 people through the programs the organization offers.

She’s the fund development chair at the Family Outreach Center and marketing sub-committee member of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Athena Steering Committee. She is also a diversity committee member of the WGVU Engage Committee. Rodammer has volunteered for Degage Ministries, WMEAC’s Mayor’s Annual Cleanup and the Stewardship Committee at Trinity Lutheran Church.

“I am constantly striving to make sure that we are creating the leaders of tomorrow here in Grand Rapids, whether it is giving them the tools to go to college through the Boys & Girls Club or creating a way for them to get involved,” she said.

She has garnered the support of many of her colleagues across the city.

“Nicole is a concerned and compassionate business leader who readily volunteers helpful information and her professional expertise to ensure that projects move forward and the best interest of the larger community is the focus,” said Dr. Veneese V. Chandler of Family Outreach Center. “Other young professionals under 40 would do well to follow this example.”

Congratulations,

Luis Avila!

A 2014 “40 Under Forty” Business Leader ■ ■ ■

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Chris Sain Jr., 31

Aaron Schaap, 33

Title: Coordinator of Retention/Founder Organization: GRCC/Grand C.I.T.Y. Sports

Title: Founder/CEO Company: Elevator Up

Chris Sain is an accomplished author and founder of a faith-based nonprofit supporting at-risk youth through sports and education, yet he feels his biggest break occurred when receiving a call in 2011 to become the coordinator of retention for Grand Rapids Community College.

“I can work at any college or university in the country, but nothing compares to those we serve at the community college,” he said.

Combining his academic background of social work and youth services, a continuing education in social psychology, his love of athletics and his drive to serve others, Sain works to inspire youth and young adults to pursue their education and connect with the community.

“I wake up daily with a desire to inspire people from all walks of life,” he said. “As a young leader in education and in the community, I believe I possess the skills, talent and compassion to restore hope to a segment of the community that needs it now more than ever.”

Sain volunteers with Grand Rapids African American Health Institute, Strong Fathers, Believe 2 Become and Blue Cross Blue Shield. He also serves as the third vice president for the NAACP Grand Rapids Chapter and is a member of numerous professional and community boards, including Grand Rapids Initiatives for Leaders, Grand Rapids Public Schools Grade to Grad School Initiative, Grand Rapids Urban League Impact Advisory Table Committee, Mayor’s Safe Neighborhood Task Force and the city of Grand Rapids’ To College, Through College Initiative.

It’s possible that the name Aaron Schaap will be mentioned a lot when looking back at Grand Rapids’ cultural shift toward entrepreneurial efforts in the wake of the Great Recession.

Schaap made his splash in the West Michigan community when he created the state’s first co-working space, The Factory, located on the fourth floor at 38 W. Fulton St. in downtown Grand Rapids.

Since then, he has been at the crux of many entrepreneurial and technological developments in Grand Rapids, including being lead organizer of The Factory’s popular Startup Weekend, and developing coLearning, its educational component that has created a 75 percent job placement success rate for workers.

The Factory is also where Schaap runs his business, Elevator Up, which creates web, app and mobile content for young companies.

“For 10 years, Aaron has been a changing force in the technology industry in Grand Rapids with projects he and the Elevator Up team have produced,” said Arryn Hansen, client partner at Elevator Up. “Raised in Holland, Aaron is active in everything technology and business-based you can possibly dream of.”

In 2013, Grand Rapids Business Journal awarded Schaap Newsmaker of the Year in technology.

“I hope to be as much of an example as possible for new leaders in the area — as others have helped me so much,” Schaap said.

“I’m hoping my stories show people they don’t have to follow a specific path and you can get ahead while also helping your community get ahead, as well.”

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Mark Schmidt, 35

Dan Scripps, 38

Title: Founder Company: BizStream

Title: President Organization: Michigan EIBC/ Institute for Energy Innovation

Since Mark Schmidt opened BizStream, a web design and development and custom software company, in 2001, he’s grown it from one employee to 22, plus contractors.

Three years ago, Schmidt also founded BizStream Academy, which has now taught 30 students coding fundamentals for free.

“With a technology company of more than 20 team members, growing annual revenue, and newly purchased and renovated headquarters, Mark is indeed giving back and having fun,” said BizStream’s marketing expert, Sandra Mitchell.

Schmidt is also the founder and a board member of Geek Aid of Michigan Inc. The culture at BizStream — “work hard, play hard” — is the accomplishment of which he’s most proud. The facility includes a fire pole, gym, foosball table and daily healthy snacks.

“I’ve worked really hard on the company culture,” he said. “People really can come to work and have fun.

People can stay engaged and keep growing. The culture also allows for all of us at BizStream to still have lives outside of work.”

While his company’s revenue has grown by leaps and bounds, what is most meaningful to him is being able to share the wealth.

“I don’t need to keep everything I’ve earned here to myself,” he said. “There’s enough to go around, so I send it around. It makes me unbelievably proud and happy to do so. Look what’s been accomplished just between my high school years and my mid-30s. I plan to just keep BizStream growing and to keep sending the good around.”

Dan Scripps has worn many hats, but says that 2009 and 2010 were his most challenging years as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives when the state’s unemployment rate was the highest in the nation, GM and Chrysler were in bankruptcy, and home foreclosure rates were skyrocketing.

Still, Scripps can say now he is proud of the Legislature’s efforts to avoid a complete economic collapse and help jumpstart Michigan’s recovery.

Scripps is an attorney and a cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Law School in 2005. Since October 2012, he has been president of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council as well as the Institute for Energy Innovation, both in Grand Rapids.

Since January, he has been senior advisor in energy finance for the Advanced Energy Economy Association in Washington. Previously, he served more than a year as vice president of capital innovation at Advanced Energy Economy.

After law school, he was with Washington-based firm Latham & Watkins in 2005 and 2006, and again from January 2011 through August 2012, focusing on finance and regulatory issues in energy and climate change.

Scripps is a board member at the Energy Finance Expert Advisory Group, National Association of State Energy Offices, and chair of the Electoral Advisory Board at the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

He has represented key financial people in the 550MW Desert Sunlight solar project, which was named the 2011 North American Solar Deal of the Year.

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Jason Slaikeu, 39

Ryan Smith, 36

Title: Division Chief, Surgical Specialties/Vascular Surgeon Organization: Spectrum Health

Title: Owner/Partner Company: Argus Financial Consultants

In 2011, Jason Slaikeu was recognized by the National Medical Association as a Top Physician Under 40. As the landscape of health care continues to change, Slaikeu has worked to improve the health of the community as a care provider, educator, researcher and leader.

“I will always be grateful for the confidence placed in me to be a physician leader at Spectrum Health at an early point in my career,” said Slaikeu. “With the support to be innovative and to develop new programs directly impacting West Michigan, I have never had greater career satisfaction.”

As chair of the Peripheral Vascular subcommittee of Frederik Meijer Heart and Vascular Institute, and the Clinical Excellence Council for SHMG, Slaikeu continues to pursue clinical research and influence the future generation of health providers as a clinical assistant professor at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine.

“I enjoy mentoring youth within the community who aspire to a career in medicine,” he said. “I have been blessed to have strong mentors throughout my life who have provided guidance and have modeled courage, integrity and leadership.”

Slaikeu serves on the boards of organizational committees and medical quality and safety subcommittees, such as: SHMG and Zeeland Hospital board of directors; Frederik Meijer Heart and Vascular Institute’s Growth and Business Development Committee and Quality, Safety & Clinical Innovation Committee. He is a member of five medical professional associations and is board certified in general and vascular surgery.

Ryan Smith says his career really took off in 2002 when the boss wanted him fired. He was working in financial planning, but his sales manager stuck his neck out and insisted that Smith stay.

Fast forward to 2006, when Smith, the sales manager and another individual formed a partnership and started Argus Financial Consultants on Spaulding Avenue in Ada. Smith attended Aquinas College, graduating cum laude in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration and Spanish. He also put in three years on the varsity soccer team at Aquinas.

His education continued at the school of hard knocks.

Right after he started his career in financial planning, the dot-com bust knocked out a lot of investors, and then, of course, the financial consulting industry took a big hit in the Great Recession. But despite the economic downturns, Argus Financial has experienced significant growth every year since it started.

In 2006, Smith qualified as a Chartered Financial Consultant and Chartered Advisor for Senior Living. He became a Certified Financial Planner in 2011.

He is an active member in the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, on the board of the Grand Rapids Lions Club, is past vice president of the Aquinas College board, and a member of the Grand Rapids Area Soccer Association. He currently coaches the Soccer Club of Rockford and has finished eight times in the Fifth Third River Bank Run. Smith lives in Rockford with his wife and four children.

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WE BELIEVE WISDOM SHOULD ALWAYS ACCOMPANY AGE. BUT SOMETIMES, WISDOM JUST REFUSES TO WAIT. Kreis, Enderle, Hudgins & Borsos would like to congratulate our very own David Hill as one of Grand Rapids Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty 2014. Honored for community involvement, leadership and legal acumen, David is proof that wisdom isn’t reserved for those higher up in years.

He’s quickly learned that the most effective way to get results is through listening closely to clients, then developing a collaborative plan of action.

This recognition is highly deserved and we are proud to have him as a member of our team.

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Andy Soper, 33

Tim Streit, 36

Title: Founder Organization: Manasseh Project

Title: Partner Company: Huron River Ventures

As a frontline social worker, Andy Soper saw a heartbreaking case that changed his life.

“I remember this girl — she was 13 — and I was just destroyed when I found that she was being trafficked just a few blocks from my house,” Soper said. “I would come home and think about my own family and children, who are so well protected. The experience changed how I felt about humanity — seeing much more clearly our unbelievable capacity for both love and violence.”

The year and a half following that incident, he worked, in addition to his job at Wedgwood Christian Services, to develop the center’s Manasseh Project/Trauma Recovery Center, the first such “safe house” in Michigan and the sixth in the country. The center can house up to 12 girls and provides special services, on-site education, life skills and more.

Soper is now director of mobilization at Mars Hill Bible Church, which connected him with 20 Liters, an organization that has brought water to 87,000 Rwandans.

Soper also owns Five Arrow Consulting LLC. He’s a member of the Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force, is on Sacred Beginnings Transitional Living Programs’ board of directors, and is president of the HQ — Runaway and Homeless Youth Drop-In Center.

“Andy Soper is determined to make changes to better the lives of those with whom he comes in contact,” said Kevin Van Den Bosch, Wedgwood’s senior director of clinical services. “Andy is able to rally people from various backgrounds to come together for a common cause.”

Tim Streit says he had a string of lucky breaks that led to his return to Michigan to start a venture capital fund.

The first one was probably growing up in Detroit as the son of teachers and grandson of a Lutheran pastor.

With those role models, he now dedicates his life to helping others achieve their dreams.

“Entrepreneurs came first because it creates jobs in the community and financial wherewithal for others, but eventually I hope to help build schools, churches and other charitable organizations,” he said.

Streit was high school valedictorian, earned a BSE summa cum laude in mechanical engineering at University of Michigan, and received high honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he earned an MBA. His dream to start a venture capital fund began in 2003, but he spent the first 10 years of his career in Chicago, first with J.P. Morgan Securities and then HSBC Card & Retail Services, where he was vice president and head of business development and program management.

After returning to Michigan, and despite the economic fallout from the recession, in 2010, he and a partner launched their fund, Huron River Ventures, which is based in Ann Arbor but has an office in Grand Rapids.

Streit is an advisor to The Factory, a Grand Rapids coworking space. Previously, he was a director and volunteer at the Off the Street Club, Chicago’s oldest Boys and Girls Club.

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Justin Swan, 34

Tami VandenBerg, 39

Title: Vice President of Sales and Development Company: Organicycle

Title: Co-owner/Executive Director Company/Organization: The Meanwhile and The Pyramid Scheme/Well House

Success is often bred from failure, and that is the case with Justin Swan.

“The (big) break came in 2011 when I fell flat on my face in a career that was going nowhere fast,” Swan said.

He credits Organicycle President Dan Tietema with taking him under his wing and allowing him to blossom. Tietema said Swan has been a vital ingredient to Organicycle’s success and in carrying the waste industry forward in Michigan.

Swan has helped the company double its customer base in one year through a local curbside recycling program and the development of composting facilities across the state.

“It’s night and day when I look back to one year ago,” Swan said. “My work throughout the state has exposed multiple communities to the benefits of composting. I honestly think what I do every day is going to change everything we know about waste management in Michigan, or at least I hope so.”

Swan is a West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum trustee, an advisory committee member for the Best & Brightest Sustainable Advisory Board and an advisory member for Gaslight Village Taste of East Council.

He has supported or volunteered at several zero-waste community events including Gazelle Girl Half Marathon, Green Gala and Taste of East Grand Rapids to promote the advantages of multi-stream recycling.

His Christian faith has been important to him and remains so.

“I have never acknowledged pride in my personal accomplishments,” Swan said. “The glory goes to God.”

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A good sibling relationship means a lot to Tami VandenBerg.

Her proudest accomplishment is having opened two businesses with her brother, The Meanwhile and The Pyramid Scheme, and having created more than 60 jobs between those businesses and Well House, which offers affordable housing to the homeless and the opportunity to earn an income.

VandenBerg gives credit to BarFly Ventures’ Mark Sellers for helping to scale up the idea for The Pyramid Scheme, and to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s $257,000 grant in 2013 for helping Well House bring 36 people out of homelessness.

She also serves as vice president of the Uptown Corridor Improvement District Board, secretary of Wealthy Street Business Alliance, president of Grand Rapids Red Project and secretary of Eastown Community Association, where she helped found Bizarre Bazaar.

She was named to the Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty list in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, and to its 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan list in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

In 2010, she was named Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s EPIC Award Young Entrepreneur of the Year and one of East Hills Council of Neighbors’ Women of East Hills. She earned the 2011 John H. Logie Business Champion Award from Neighborhood Ventures, the Good to Great Award by the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network and West Michigan Public Relations Society Communicator of the Year in 2014.

“I believe I have helped increase the vibrancy of the city,” VandenBerg said.

BRINGING MORE GOOD IDEAS TO THE TABLE.

hats off.

We salute the leaders who are building a vibrant West Michigan.

WWW.KENTCOMPANIES.COM

MICHIGAN | TEXAS | OHIO | CAROLINAS

40 UNDER FORTY 2014 | Grand Rapids Business Journal 33

Jeff VanderLaan, 37

Dan Vos, 39

Title: CEO Company: Kent Companies Inc.

Title: President Company: Dan Vos Construction

When Jeff VanderLaan assumed the role of CEO of Kent Companies in 2008, he knew filling the shoes of his father and grandfather, who had the built the company from its inception in 1957, would be challenging.

Thankfully, he’s a man who likes a challenge.

“They taught me one profound lesson: No matter the industry, no matter the economic environment, no matter the business climate … Kent Companies is in the people business,” he said. “These men taught me to put people first, and in doing so I have grown as a business leader, as a community leader and as a family man.”

VanderLaan received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Hope College before earning a law degree from Michigan State University. He spent a number of years as an associate at Smith Haughey Rice and Roegge and at Dykema Gossett before returning to Kent Companies.

He serves and has served on a number of professional and community boards, including the American Subcontractors Association of America, the American Society of Concrete Contractors, Dégagé Ministries, Grand Rapids Bar Association and Young Presidents Organization.

“Volunteering is my way of supporting the community that has given me so many opportunities to grow as an individual and as a professional. I believe that volunteering should extend beyond formal board of directors roles, so I directly seek out opportunities to support community organizations,” he said.

Few professionals are as uninterested in being in the spotlight as Dan Vos. Vos, of the Ada-based Dan Vos Construction, has served almost every position imaginable at his family’s company, rising to the rank of president in 2012.

He looks back on his breakthrough career moment as “the day my dad said, ‘Hey, Dan, do you want to earn a little money this summer?’ That was 25 years ago, and I’ve never wanted to do anything else,” he said.

“I feel that my whole career thus far has been a training ground for this,” he said. “It is very humbling to have the reins of something that my grandfather started so long ago and that my father ran for so many years before me.”

Under Vos’ leadership, Dan Vos Construction won the prestigious Michigan Contractor of the Year (MCOY) award in 2010 and again in 2013.

Vos sits on the board of the Jandernoa Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program. He has been actively involved with Baxter Community Center for several years and currently is vice president of its board of directors and a member of the executive committee.

“While working with Dan … I’ve had a chance to see a genuine and innovative style of leadership that he is beginning to create with his employees, leadership team, subcontractors, clients, and everyone we are connected to in the West Michigan community,” said Meg Sznaza, marketer at Dan Vos Construction.

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Lynee Wells, 39

Bridget Clark Whitney, 34

Title: Principal and Urban Planner Company: Williams & Works

Title: Executive Director Organization: Kids’ Food Basket

Lynee Wells has the distinction of being the first woman named to the role of principal at one of Grand Rapids’ oldest engineering firms.

Wells, an urban planner and principal at Williams & Works, has had a landmark career in West Michigan, including being nominated for the Athena Young Professional award in 2012.

“There is nothing sweeter than hearing a glass ceiling break,” she said. “It is humbling and intense to buy into a company and have a significant stake in its success.”

Wells, who received her master’s degree in community planning from the University of New Mexico, has been instrumental in a number of community planning projects, including the Skatepark Task Force, GR Urban Explorers, the redesign of Wilcox Park and the Arena South Vision Plan.

Steve Williams, a fellow principal at Williams & Works, spoke highly of her impact on local urban planning.

“Lynee has been a leader in urban planning in Michigan,” he said. “She has taken on numerous urban planning projects that have helped shaped Grand Rapids and the region.”

Brandon Mieras, also a Williams & Works principal, has worked with Wells since 2005 and said her leadership has transformed the company.

“Lynee is an extraordinary community planner and group leader. Her leadership of our planning group has seen it transform from more of a rural client base to more of an urban client base. She is caring, intelligent and passionate about her work, and it shows.”

A stay in Ireland helped change the way Bridget Clark Whitney looks at life.

She traveled to Ireland to study as an Aquinas College student in 2001, but stayed to volunteer at a nonprofit.

“The relationships that I made were rich and meaningful, and many still are a part of my life today,” she said.

That experience also connected Clark Whitney with now Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell, who at the time was a professor at Aquinas. Heartwell told her about a new local childhood hunger relief initiative. Upon her return, she joined up with Kids’ Food Basket, and the rest is history.

Kids’ Food Basket has grown from feeding 125 children per weekday to feeding more than 6,300 children a day in Kent and Muskegon counties. It has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Muskegon Chamber of Commerce Agent of Change Award, WGVU Nonprofit of the Year, Association of Fundraising Professionals Excellence in Fundraising, and 2014 Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce EPIC Award for Nonprofit of the Year.

Clark Whitney was recognized as the 2013 ATHENA Young Professional Award winner and has been featured in various Grand Rapids publications as well as Huffington Post and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

She serves on a variety of boards, including the Michigan Nonprofit Association, Indian Trails Camp and Aquinas College Community Leadership Advisory Council.

She was named to the Business Journal’s 2010, 2012 and 2013 40 under Forty lists, and to the 2012 and 2014 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan lists.

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CELEBRATING

40 UNDER

FORTY Thanks AQ grads for making a difference in our community:

FREDERICK BW’OMBONGI – BS ‘04 RYAN SMITH – BSBA ‘00 BRIDGET CLARK WHITNEY – BA ‘03

aquinas.edu • (616) 632-8900

FIND WITHIN Grand Valley State University and the Grand Valley State University Alumni Association congratulate our alumni named to the Grand Rapids Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty” list.

Frederick Bw’Ombongi, ‘06 Shannon Cohen, ‘00 & ‘11 Jason Dodge, ‘05 Mike Goorhouse, ‘11

Michael Marsiglia, ‘03 Nicole Rodammer, ‘06 Justin Swan, ‘09 Milinda Ysasi, ‘03

gvsu.edu/find 40 UNDER FORTY 2014 | Grand Rapids Business Journal 37

Shannon Wilson, 34

Milinda Ysasi, 34

Title: Executive Director/Assistant Vice President Organization: Grand Rapids African American Health Institute/Alliance for Health

Title: Human Resources Consultant Organization: Spectrum Health

Shannon Wilson feels her professional break came when she was asked to lead the Grand Rapids African American Health Institute in 2010. With limited organization-wide administrative experience, Wilson led its restructuring, rebranding and repositioning.

“The road has had some bumps along the way, but I have managed to take the organization from the brink of collapse to newfound stability,” said Wilson. “The opportunity also led to my involvement with the Urban Core Collective, which has been one of the most rewarding experiences to date.”

Wilson oversaw the founding of the Anchor Organization Network to improve the safety net of the urban core, and in collaboration with GVSU developed four graduate and one doctoral course as part of Urban Health Studies. She also is assistant vice president for Alliance for Health.

“I love living in West Michigan and work each day to make sure that West Michigan is an open, inclusive region,” said Wilson.

As one of the 2014 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan, Wilson has served on numerous professional and community boards, including: Health Net West Michigan, Community Benefit Committee at Mercy Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield Community Advisory Board, Greater Grand Rapids Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Network180 Substance Abuse Advisory Committee, and Spectrum Health’s Community Transformation Leadership Team. Wilson is also a founding member of the Michigan Minority Health Coalition and received the W.W. Plummer Humanitarian Award in 2014.

38 Grand Rapids Business Journal | 40 UNDER FORTY 2014

With expertise in employee relations, internal communications and social sustainability, Milinda Ysasi has taken her professional experience from the manufacturing sector into the clinical field of health care as Spectrum Health’s human resources consultant.

Initially starting her career as an intern at Cascade Engineering, Ysasi has worked in the human resources field with a drive to connect others to opportunities and foster inclusive networks for young professionals.

In 2011, Ysasi founded the Cascade Engineering annual Young Professionals of Color Conference and served on the board of BL2END for three years, most recently as vice president.

“I feel that my mission in life is to connect others to careers, education and relationships,” she said.

“I strive to take my privilege and opportunities and share them with others. I am driven by the desire to see the continued success of this community and I feel it is my duty to contribute.”

The accomplishment of which Ysasi is most proud is serving as volunteer manager in 2013 to elect Senita Lenear, the first African-American woman to serve on the Grand Rapids City Commission.

Ysasi was recognized in 2012 with a Young Professional Athena Award and a GVSU Alumni Service award. In 2013, she received the Young Nonprofit Professionals GR Do-Gooder award.

She also serves as a council member of the GVSU School of Public Administration, Non-Profit and Healthcare Administration; the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce; and Varnum Law Diversity Council; and as secretary of the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan.