Initial plans call for housing, commercial, light industrial and retail on 1,800 acres
By Kate Carlson
e Gun Lake Tribe has unveiled conceptual plans for a mixed-use housing project that will serve as the northern entrance to the tribe’s broader redevelopment of about 1,858 acres north of Gun Lake Casino.
Tech giant buys nearly 600 acres in Allegan and Kent counties for potential data centers
By Kate Carlson
Microsoft Corp. has purchased nearly 600 acres of vacant land in Allegan and Kent counties for potential data centers, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business has learned.
e parcels include two adjacent properties totaling 316 acres in Gaines Charter Township south of Grand Rapids that
the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant bought from Steelcase Inc. e irregularly shaped vacant property is located at the northwestern corner of the Patterson Avenue and 76th Street intersection.
Microsoft Corp. o cials say the company’s Kent County acquisition is part of the tech giant’s ongoing search for development opportunities in Michigan, add-
ing that project details will be forthcoming.
“ is 316-acre site was identied in collaboration with e Right Place as part of our ongoing search for development opportunities in the Michigan market,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“While project plans, capital investment, and potential employee numbers are yet to be nalized, we will provide updates as information becomes available.”
Watercraft, property and equipment among inventory to be sold
By Abby Poirier
Embattled Grand Rapids-based boat dealership group Tommy’s Boats LLC plans to liquidate all of its remaining assets over the coming weeks, e ectively ending a 43-year run as an operating business.
e U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas on Oct. 10 approved a motion by the
company’s trustee to hire a former Tommy’s Boats employee as a consultant tasked with selling o all the company’s remaining watercraft and its property, equipment and other inventory. e wind-down process aims to maximize the value the company receives for its assets, funding it ultimately will use toward paying its debts after ling for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May.
e move signals the end is near for Tommy’s Boats, which was founded in Denver, Colo. in 1981 by Wakeboard Hall of Fame member Tommy Phillips. e company was later acquired by entrepreneur Matthew Borisch and members of his family. At the time it led for bankruptcy in May, the company listed 15
City advances $565M incentives plan for riverfront project PAGE 3
e Match-E-Be-Nash-SheWish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, known as the Gun Lake Tribe, for years has been acquiring land along U.S. 131 in Wayland Township for a massive development. e project is being led by Gun Lake Investments (GLI), the tribe’s non-gaming economic development arm.
e Wayland Township Planning Commission approved rezoning a property for the project at its Oct. 9 meeting. e tribe plans to construct up to 130 units of low-income housing units on the parcel with an element of ground- oor commercial space that could house up to six businesses at the corner of West Superior Street and Reno Drive.
“ e township has always been really welcoming to the tribe, and they’ve been really excited just to understand what we’re trying to do with this proj-
ect,” Monica King, CEO of Gun Lake Investments, told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. e development team plans to apply for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in April, and hopes to break ground on the project at the end of 2025. Gun Lake Investments has been working with WBK Engineering, which is owned by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi’s Mno-Bmadsen investment arm, and is in the process of nalizing another
We’re celebrating the Grand Opening of our Novi and Chicago Branches! Take advantage of these
By Kate Carlson
A Bloomfield Hills-based developer is preparing a 151.5-acre agricultural property known as Patterson Farm in the city of Kentwood for a mixture of uses including residential, industrial and a range of commercial that could include hotels and indoor or outdoor entertainment.
The vacant property includes a vacant farmhouse and has been used for farming and agricultural purposes until recently. The site is
located on the southwest corner of 28th Street and Patterson Avenue, just north of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
Lormax Stern Development Co. is requesting to change the city’s master plan land use designation of the Patterson Farm property from “conservation oriented development” to accommodate residential, industrial and commercial uses. Planning consultant Jim Reminga presented conceptual land use plans on behalf of the developer to the Kentwood Planning
Commission on Oct. 8 during a public hearing. The commission did not vote on the proposal.
The development team is anticipating coming back to the planning commission to rezone the project site once it clears the approval process for changing the property’s master plan land use, Reminga said. After that hurdle is cleared, the team will come back with more detailed plans.
“The idea is to take this land and
By Kate Carlson
The Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority board approved an incentive package expected to total about $565.5 million for a $797 million, multiple high-rise tower project being constructed on the former Charley’s Crab site.
The project site includes 10 parcels of vacant land and surface parking across 6.9 acres along the
Grand River downtown. Fulmar
Property Holdings LLC, tied to the DeVos and Van Andel families, is behind the mixed-use project that calls for three towers of office space, retail, 76 luxury condo units, 595 apartment units, and a 130-room hotel.
The project, referred to as Fulton & Market, would also include two parking decks with a total of 2,500 parking spaces.
“It’s an incredible amount of in-
“It’s an incredible amount of incentives that we’re asking for today and I just want to re-emphasize the risk to the city being really limited because of how the program is structured and being a reimbursement-based program.”
Peers say Grand rapids is ‘a better community’ because of the former ceO’s leadership
By Elizabeth Schanz
A nonprofit organization leading the effort to restore the rapids in the Grand River is under new leadership following the retirement of its previous CEO.
Steve Heacock, 67, retired from the role of president and CEO of Grand Rapids WhiteWater on June 30. Following Heacock’s retirement, Matt Chapman assumed the position of executive director, after working with the organization for 15 years and most recently serving as project manager.
centives that we’re asking for today and I just want to re-emphasize the risk to the city being really limited because of how the program is structured and being a reimbursement-based program,” Grand Rapids Economic Development Director Sarah Latta Rainero said during the Oct. 16 brownfield authority meeting. “If this (project) is not realized, there is nothing lost.”
Most of the $565.5 million incentives package would be sourced from the state Transformational Brownfield Plan tool, which allows projects to withhold state income tax from people living in a development, the income tax of people working for businesses involved in a development,
Heacock said he felt that this year was an opportune time to retire because of where the Grand River WhiteWater project sits in terms of a potentially positive outcome in the approval process. He feels shifting leadership to Chapman is a promising move to continue the organization’s mission of shaping the Grand River to improve the environment and promote the waterway as an opportunity for tourism.
“We’ve kept the dream on this project. The dream of the project really was to, for the first time in 150 years or more, make the river accessible to folks so that they could get in and play, or get in and use it for fishing or other things — kayaking, canoeing, all of that,” Heacock said in an interview with Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. “It’s an environmental project that was going to improve the environment greatly and create a much better fish habitat and a much more natural river to attract enough tourism and use so that it would pay for itself effectively.”
Grand Rapids WhiteWater was founded in 2009 by Chip Richards and Chris Muller, a friend who initially got Heacock in-
volved with the nonprofit’s board. Originally, Heacock agreed to help with normal board work including legal and accounting tasks.
When Richard Bishop left the president and CEO position in 2018 after serving for approximately a year and a half, the organization approached Heacock to become its leader. He assumed the role in January 2019, leaving his position of nearly eight years as senior vice president of Spectrum Health, which went on to become Corewell Health.
Originally from Gaylord, Heacock began his professional career in Grand Rapids in 1984 working as a partner at corporate law firm Warner Norcross + Judd LLP for 13 years. Heacock went on to serve as chief administrative officer of Van Andel Institute and vice president of development and general counsel for Priority Health. Heacock was also active in the public sector, having served as
By Kate Carlson
The owner of Bridgewater Place in downtown Grand Rapids is seeking bankruptcy protection in an Israeli court as the company’s bondholders seek repayment on bonds used to finance the purchase of the 17-story office tower and nearly a dozen other U.S. office properties.
Building owner Hertz Properties Group, an arm of California-based Hertz Investment Group, filed the request on Oct. 13 in Tel Aviv District Court.
The company seeks the appointment of a trustee and a court-supervised reorganization to continue operations while addressing its debt to avoid immediate liquidation, according to the court filing, which attributes the widespread downturn in the office real estate market since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for its financial woes.
Bridgewater Place is one of 11 office properties across the U.S. in which Hertz Properties Group has majority ownership. The company financed its properties by issuing Series A and Series B bonds that are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Series A bondholders are now calling for the immediate repayment of the bonds, which total about $138.7 million, court filings show. CoStar News first reported that investors recently voted to call the bonds in an amount totaling
$168 million and pursue legal action against the company.
The bondholders’ move marks a shift in course after working with Hertz Properties Group over the past year to reach a debt restructuring agreement and find a resolution to the company’s insolvency,
according to court documents.
In an Oct. 10 affidavit, Hertz Properties Group CEO William Zev Hertz cites “historic economic and geopolitical events” over the past few years that have made it difficult for the company to stabilize its financial operations.
“The lower perceived future occupancy rates, in conjunction with the high inflation rates and the higher interest rate, have harmed the company but the real harm has been created from a general assertion by market players that work from home is a permanent shift,” according to the Oct. 10 affidavit. “This has materially limited the company’s options to take out new loans or refinance its loans on favorable terms.”
A Hertz Properties Group representative declined to comment, citing ongoing negotiations.
On Oct. 10, the Series A bond was delisted from trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
In Grand Rapids, the Bridgewater Place property has struggled in recent years, particularly in the wake of Corewell Health, one of its main tenants, opting not to renew its lease as it consolidated its offices to the new Corewell Health Place in the Monroe North neighborhood last year.
The loss of Corewell as a tenant triggered the building’s lender to demand a $1.52 million deposit in a “cash sweep” event, which Hertz failed to pay and defaulted on a $37.3 million loan.
As well, Midroog, the Israeli affiliate of credit rating agency Moody’s, cited the loss of Corewell Health and other tenants in the U.S. building portfolio in a Jan. 29 report downgrading Hertz Properties
Group to its lowest credit rating. Midroog reserves the rating level for companies that it believes “have the weakest creditworthiness and are usually in a situation of default, with little prospect of recovery of principal and interest.”
In addition to Corewell Health’s exit from Bridgewater Place, tenants at Hertz Properties Group office buildings in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn., also announced they would not be renewing office leases, according to Hertz’s Oct. 10 affidavit.
In 2023, Hertz Properties Group recorded a $305 million decrease in the value of its investment properties, according to court filings. The company has stopped seeking to acquire new properties and has recently been focused on selling its properties to generate liquidity, according to Hertz’s affidavit.
Hertz laid out a plan in its bankruptcy request to provide a structured recovery plan for bondholders and to reorganize the company through property sales and cash distributions. Next steps for the property group could include continuing to try to sell properties and direct funds to bondholders, cash payments to bondholders from the company’s fund that currently totals around $19 million, a claims release, and delisting of bonds.
The Tel Aviv District Court set a hearing on Hertz Properties Group’s request for Oct. 29.
By Mark Sanchez
Valentina Valdes-Alonso could see growth on the horizon for her graphic design and marketing business but recognized that it needed some help to get through a couple of traditionally slow months to start the first quarter.
To prepare for the upcoming growth, Valdes-Alonso also needed to add staff to Sol Design LLC. The critical question she faced: How could she make the additions during a soft period for cash flow?
“We were at that point. I just needed to get to March, and I didn’t see a way to get there,” said Valdes-Alonso, who co-founded the company with Meg Embil-Goeman. “We had a lot of contracts that would only be starting in March, but I needed to bring on somebody in February to get ready for that. I found myself in a cash flow problem.”
Enter Grow, a Grand Rapids-based community development financial institution that makes microloans to small businesses. The nonprofit lender worked with Valdes-Alonso to get a $5,000 loan that Sol Design needed, without the burden of a high interest rate or high monthly payment.
“It was something affordable for the long term and not just to meet the need right now with a quick loan,” Valdes-Alonso said, noting that other lenders were willing to
approve a loan, but for larger amounts than what she needed.
The small loan for Sol Design was typical for Grow, which offers microloans of up to $50,000 for small businesses to use for working capital, as well as support for entrepreneurs through education and business coaching.
Grow was one of 14 federally certified CDFIs in Michigan that collectively received more than $11.1 million in financial assistance grants this fall from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund for microloan programs for small businesses.
The largest award went to Chi Ishobak Inc., a Native American CDFI based in Dowagiac that received $2 million.
Sean Winters, executive director of Chi Ishobak, called that award an “incredible gift” that will have “a profound impact within Indian Country for tribal entrepreneurs and tribal consumers.”
“It provides critical resources within a grossly underserved community,” Winters said in a statement.
In Grand Rapids, Grow received a $510,000 award over three years, which continues the federal support for the organization and adds to its microloan fund as demand remains strong, CEO Milinda Ysasi told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
“We are seeing an upward
trend” in loan requests, Ysasi said.
The amount that Grow received from the Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund exceeded the prior funding received four years ago, Ysasi said. Grow, which received federal designation as a CDFI in 2016, previously got $400,000 in 2020.
“This just allows us to reach that many more businesses. It helps us continue to play at that higher level of funding that we want to be a part of,” Ysasi said. “I like to think of CDFIs as maximizers, and this is going to allow us to maximize in the West Michigan small business community.”
About half of Grow’s current loan pipeline is for small companies that have been in business for
two years or more, and the other half involves startups, according to Ysasi.
Last year, Grow deployed a little more than $1 million in microloans to 60-plus businesses. In addition to the CDFI Fund, the organization also receives funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the state, and partner banks and credit unions.
Small businesses’ loan requests this year have involved larger amounts. Loans last year averaged $15,000 to $17,000, while the average request this year is a little more than $30,000. That’s an indication of how Grow’s microloan program has matured, Ysasi said.
“In the beginning, we were seeing a lot more startup businesses,
so that capital amount was probably lower. It’s just showing that we want to be a lender of choice, not a last resort for businesses,” she said. “Businesses are really thinking about us and we’re trying to build referrals out from banking partners who typically are not doing a loan under $150,000 or $200,000. It’s a reflection of some of the partnerships we’ve built up and helping to zero in on a typical borrower for us.”
Other CDFIs in Michigan that received 2024 CDFI Fund financial assistance grants were: w BlueOx Credit Union, Battle Creek: $800,000 w Omni Credit Union, Battle Creek: $625,000
w CASE Credit Union, Lansing: $550,000
w Community First Federal Credit Union, Lakeview: $625,000
w ELGA Credit Union, Grand Blanc: $625,000
w Great Lakes Northern Initiatives, Marquette: $625,000
w Financial Plus Credit Union, Flint: $625,000
w Invest Detroit Foundation, Detroit: $800,000
w Lake Superior Community Development Corp., L’Anse: $1 million
w Michigan First Credit Union, Southfield: $800,000
w Prosperous Detroit Micro Lending, Detroit: $550,000
w Zeal Credit Union, Livonia: $800,000
Delta Dental of Michigan is proud to recognize 40 of Grand Rapids’ brightest and best. As the leading dental benefits provider in Michigan, we understand the ties between healthy leadership and healthy communities. Together, we’re building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all.
By Rachel Watson
A nonprofit that serves unhoused families is dropping its longstanding church-hosted shelter program as part of a broader cost-cutting effort to close a $1 million budget gap that arose when projected donations failed to materialize.
Family Promise of West Michigan CEO Tenisa Frye said in a letter to stakeholders Oct. 15 that, effective immediately, the Grand Rapids nonprofit is closing its Interfaith Hospitality Network rotating church shelter program because of “budget limitations.”
The IHN program, which housed families overnight at about 16 churches across Kent County, required five Family Promise employees to operate. Three of the employees have been let go, and the other two were reassigned, Frye told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
The IHN shelter program is the model on which the national organization Family Promise was founded in 1986 in New Jersey. Today, Family Promise has 200 affiliates across the U.S.
In Kent County, churches provided overnight shelter to about 30 to 35 families per year through IHN. Each church sheltered five to six families for a week, then they were moved to the next church. The churches committed to three to four host weeks per year.
However, none of the families will be displaced as a result of the closure of IHN. They will instead be housed at six additional rooms that Family Promise will take over at Mel Trotter Ministries’ facility at 225 Commerce Ave. SW in downtown Grand Rapids, Frye said.
For about seven years, Family Promise has managed a family shelter called Pathway Home in 27 rooms on Mel Trotter’s third and fourth floors, separate from the areas that shelter individuals. Now, the program will span 33 guest rooms.
“Honestly, the timing of it worked out so well that we were able to not have the families displaced, but to move them over to those six rooms,” Frye said.
Frye said the closure of IHN is
primarily financially motivated. Family Promise of West Michigan started 2024 with a $1 million budget gap that arose when donations it sought through its Room to Grow capital campaign did not come in at the amount requested. These included a request for $600,000 and additional individual contributions that would have totaled about $1 million, she said.
At the same time, Family Promise had a “major change” in its fundraising team when former Vice President of Advancement Kate O’Keefe left for a new career in September 2023 and was replaced by Mary Slafkosky, former vice president of college advancement at Grand Rapids Community College, in January. Slafkosky is no longer employed by Family Promise. Frye did not disclose further details about the separation. Slafkosky could not be reached for comment.
Frye said the discontinuation of IHN is one of several cost-reduction moves Family Promise is exploring to balance its budget. It is currently reviewing its headcount and likely will make additional staff cuts, though Frye declined to disclose how many positions could be eliminated.
The organization also is preparing to sell a single-family home it owns in Grand Rapids “that no longer aligns with our programmatic model,” Frye said. City property records show Family Promise bought the house, which is in the Baxter neighborhood, for $125,000 in 2019.
Frye noted that Family Promise became an “asset-heavy” organization in recent years. It bought Wyoming Park United Methodist Church and its parsonage for $650,000 in May 2023 and opened a shelter inside the church early this year. It also spent $7 million to acquire two mobile home parks in southeast Kent County for affordable housing in September 2023. The nonprofit also owns an apartment building in Wyoming that it acquired in 2022 for $720,000, according to property records.
The property purchases more than doubled the organization’s assets from $5.6 million at the end of 2022 to more than $12 million at
By Elizabeth Schanz
Onboarding a German robotics and automation firm will help expand Holland-based JR Automation Technologies LLC’s presence in European markets as well as the life sciences sector.
That’s according to JR Automation CEO Dave DeGraaf, who says the recent acquisition of MA micro automation by JR’s Japanese parent company, Hitachi Ltd., shows the potential for growth in the health care automation market.
the end of 2023, according to the most recently available tax filings with the IRS. Also, while tax filings show net income of more than $2 million in each of the past two years, revenue anticipated for 2024 is projected to be roughly $1 million below budget because of a drop in contributions.
Frye said the finance team is planning accordingly.
Family Promise of West Michigan’s shift away from the IHN shelter model follows a national trend among Family Promise affiliates, Frye said. Today, about one-quarter of Family Promise affiliates continue to have church shelter programs, while the other 75% have shifted to static-site shelter models in which families are housed in the same location throughout their period of homelessness.
Frye said she wouldn’t characterize the shift as a disadvantage for the families or for the congregations.
“I feel like we just had to pivot,” she said. “The thing that’s been so valuable and important to us is our relationships with the congregations, and so being able to continue to build those relationships is just important for us and the families.”
Frye said the Wyoming Park shelter houses 11 families at a time, but Family Promise has struggled to provide enough warm dinners for guests. In her letter to IHN host churches this week, she asked them to consider providing meals for the Wyoming Park shelter on weeks they were previously scheduled to host families.
Lisa Cruden, Family Promise of West Michigan’s chief program officer, said the nonprofit’s financial difficulties present an opportunity to evolve its shelter model, potentially for the better.
“There’s some real beauty that comes in going to all of the different congregations week to week, and there’s some challenges that come with that, from the families’ lens and from the churches’,” she said. “We’ve been in conversation, and it’s been very much a partnership with our network of congregations on what reimagining looks like.”
“At a macro standpoint, the verticals — medical, pharma and life sciences, if you will — is a big one,” DeGraaf told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
Announced in April, the 71.5 million euro ($76.4 million U.S.) all-stock purchase of MA micro automation from MAX Management GmbH, a subsidiary of MAX Automation SE, closed on Sept. 30.
The deal is a step toward growing JR Automation’s overall hold in the health tech industry as well as the European market, a region where JR Automation is currently “low,” DeGraaf said.
“Some of the areas that (JR Automation is) a little less experienced, (MA mico automation is) much more experienced, and vice versa,” said DeGraaf, who took over as CEO in 2023. “So when you look at their skill set, capabilities and footprint, it’s very additive to JR Automation.”
The deal for MA micro automation also will contribute to the goal of the “One JR” model, which involves integrating Hitachi companies’ offerings to provide “seamless solutions” to customers, DeGraaf said.
“JR has a history of acquisitions, so what we’re working hard to do is get to what we call ‘One JR,’ with regards to process, capabilities, systems and tools,” he said. “We do have some internal work, and we’re making great strides to achieve that.”
As JR Automation executives work on integration following the MA micro automation deal, DeGraaf said the company is looking for opportunities in other sectors that would benefit from automation, including energy and semiconductors.
JR Automation commonly works with customers in automotive, life sciences, e-mobility and consumer and industrial products.
The deal for MA micro automation, which serves highgrowth med-tech automation markets, complements JR Automation’s capabilities, DeGraaf said.
MA micro automation produces, assembles and tests
medical and optical components such as contact lenses, in vitro and diabetes diagnostics consumables, and injection molding for medical uses. In 2023, the company had the equivalent of $49.7 million in revenue and employed 200 people, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business reported in April.
“This collaboration is poised to deliver increased value and support to our customers worldwide, particularly in the medical market vertical where MA micro automation has established a strong foothold,” MA micro automation CEO Joachim Hardt said in a statement.
The medical equipment optics market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4%, from $28.1 billion in 2023 to $36.5 billion by 2030 as a result of increased awareness of medical instruments and their application, according to a report from Industry ARC.
JR Automation has more than 20 locations across North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. A large portion of JR Automation’s operations fall within North America, which has led the company to push into new regions, DeGraaf said.
The company was founded in 1980 by the late Ken Assink and over the past 44 years has grown into an Industry 4.0 powerhouse along the lakeshore. Kentwood-based manufacturing investment firm Huizenga Group acquired JR Automation from Assink in 1995, growing the company’s annual revenue from $14 million at the time of the deal to about $180 million when it sold to New York City private equity firm Crestview Partners in 2015. By 2019, JR Automation’s sales had grown to more than $600 million when Crestview sold the company to Japanese conglomerate Hitachi for $1.42 billion.
DeGraaf declined to disclose specific MA micro automation customers, though he noted that the two companies had shared some customers that will benefit from the acquisition.
“Now in those (customer) relationships, with having one company that they can talk to, we can cover much more automation space within a customer’s needs,” DeGraaf said.
“When you look at a lot of the fast extraction capabilities that (MA) micro automation has and high volume, high capacity, high cavity tooling, and then how they do inspection along the extraction, there’s a lot of lessons learned and capability and products that we can bring in over on the JR side to help us faster advance abilities for our customers.”
By Abby Poirier
Byron Center-based grocery retailer and distributor SpartanNash Co. plans to expand its retail footprint by 33% with a deal to acquire a family-owned supermarket chain operating in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
In a deal announced Oct. 14, SpartanNash said it was acquiring Findlay, Ohio-based Fresh Encounter Inc., adding 49 stores that operate under the Remke Markets, Chief Supermarkets, Community Markets and Needler’s Fresh Market brands.
Fresh Encounter was founded in 1995 when the Needler family purchased retail grocery chain CWC Companies, which was originally founded in 1964. Third-generation owners Michael Needler Jr. and Julie Anderson currently run Fresh Encounter.
Fresh Encounter has been a food distribution customer of SpartanNash for 58 years.
“We are proud of the business our family has built and look forward to advancing our relationship with SpartanNash,” Fresh Encounter CEO Michael Needler said in a statement. “As their cus-
tomer, we have seen firsthand the People First culture at SpartanNash, and we appreciate the career opportunities and growth this will unlock for Fresh Encounter team members.”
SpartanNash CEO Tony Sarsam called the deal an “exciting milestone” in SpartanNash’s strategic growth plans.
“Fresh Encounter has been a successful family-owned and op-
“We are proud of the business our family has built and look forward to advancing our relationship with SpartanNash.”
Michael Needler, CEO, Fresh Encounter
erated business for decades, and we are proud to continue this legacy,” Sarsam said, noting the acquisition will expand the company’s footprint in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.
“Retail is a critical component of our business model and long-
term strategic plan, as we meet consumer needs and leverage insights from our stores to continuously innovate our products and operations across our wholesale business,” he said.
SpartanNash will retain the company’s 2,500 team members following the acquisition, which is expected to close in late November. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Sarsam noted that the acquisition will contribute to SpartanNash’s 2025 longterm plan, which intends to achieve a 40% or higher increase in adjusted EBITDA to more than $300 million by fiscal 2025.
The purchase of Fresh Encounter is SpartanNash’s second retail acquisition in 2024, following its purchase of three-store Wisconsin grocery chain Metcalfe’s Market in April.
In a conversation with Crain’s Grand Rapids Business in July, Sarsam said that the company has “a healthy appetite” for M&A and is always looking for deals on both the wholesale or retail side of the company that would bolster its
core business or move it into “adjacent types of businesses.”
“Our history has been a lot of the smaller tuck-in acquisitions of two stores, three stores, five stores, but we’re looking at larger ones as well,” he said at the time. “We’ve had some come across that are much bigger chains than that.”
According to its most recent earnings report, net sales at SpartanNash decreased 3.5% in the second quarter to $2.23 billion, driven by lower volumes in its wholesale and retail segments.
For the 2023 fiscal year, SpartanNash generated net sales of $9.73
billion, an increase of 0.9%. The company reported earnings of $52.2 million, or $1.50 per diluted share, for the year, up from $34.5 million or 95 cents per diluted share in the prior year.
With the purchase of Fresh Encounter, SpartanNash operates 196 brick-and-mortar grocery stores under the Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets and D&W Fresh Market banners, among others. The company’s distribution footprint includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Djibouti, Korea and Japan.
JAIME MACUMBER
Senior Vice President, Director of Treasury Management at Independent Bank
Jaime Macumber is Senior Vice President, Director of Treasury Management at Independent Bank. She has worked in Treasury Management for over 17 years, and has a B.S. in B.A. from Central Michigan University, and is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) as well as an Advanced Certified Public Funds Investment Manager (ACPFIM). Ms. Macumber is a member of several organizations, including the Association for Financial Professionals, Michigan Association of County Treasurers, Michigan Municipal Treasurers Association, Michigan School Business Officials, Michigan Government Finance Officers Association, and the Great Lakes AFP.
The year’s final quarter is fast approaching, making now an excellent time to revisit practical ways to set businesses and customers up for a seamless calendar turn.
One topic no business wants to navigate, but that can cause unwanted disruption, is treasury fraud. Unfortunately, its prevalence is only rising. A 2024 Association of Financial Professionals report finds that 80% of organizations were victims of payment attacks or attempts last year, a 15% increase over the year prior.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Control Center shared that cybercrimes, such as phishing, ransomware and vendor fraud, were the most frequently reported incidents in 2023. Resulting losses grew to $12.5 billion, a 22% increase compared to 2022.
Threats of these cybercrimes hover over most businesses, but following the standing guidance for mitigating such attacks will bolster protections.
As treasury fraud continues evolving, methods include online and offline tactics. This time of year creates prime opportunities for both types. Businesses are onboarding more
seasonal help with differing payroll processes, partnering with vendors for events or experiencing more foot traffic, so knowing the associated risks is essential.
Two of the most common ploys include:
• Email impersonation occurs when a fraudster gains access to an individual’s email address and attempts to request account changes with a paying vendor. The criminal provides basic information, pretending to be the actual user, while asking for updates to their bank details. Busy business recipients often acknowledge the changes without a second thought, inadvertently redirecting payments to the impersonator’s account.
• Check-washing scams involve using chemicals to “wash away” the intended payee’s name and dollar amounts on physical checks and fraudulently depositing them as their own. Checks are intercepted in many ways, including illegally entering mailboxes within a business park.
Unfortunately, fraud like this usually occurs in large amounts and compromises the company’s and victims’ time and money. Remedies
require opening new business accounts, ordering new checks and updating bill payments.
Here are tips for businesses and consumers to increase awareness of the risks, protect time and know where to turn if victimized through treasury fraud:
• Set clear expectations and policies with employees, vendors and customers about how financial communication and transactions are processed. Explain upfront how the business facilitates changes and diligently adheres to those processes. For example, if receiving an email requesting account changes, establish a second method to verify the request’s legitimacy. Whether through a call, use of a PIN or security questions, confirm the person’s identity by phone or in person. Leave sensitive account numbers and details out of emails.
• Use only direct touchpoints when mailing checks, such as bringing them into a post office or handing them to a mail carrier or the payee. Do not place or leave checks in any shared receptacle, such as an outgoing mail bin or box, even if they’re locked.
• Consider a fraud protection partner for immediate-response support.
Independent Bank’s TreasuryONE team is based in Grand Rapids, Mich. and offers local experts for security guidance and incident recovery. The long-tenured team meets with customers in person or by phone, which means they will already know company details when expediting necessary solutions. Ongoing support for new TreasuryONE customers begins within one week of establishing the service.
For more information or to schedule a consultation with an Independent Bank Treasury Management officer, please visit https://www. independentbank.com/commerciallending/treasury-management
By Rachel Watson
When J.D. Loeks brought his 10-year-old daughter inside the Studio Park Tower for the first time on their recent move-in day, he said the moment felt incredibly emotional, like one of the big reveals from the show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
“We were worried about it, initially, moving her from a nice spot in East Grand Rapids,” said Loeks, CEO of the Grand Rapids-based movie theater chain Studio C and a partner with Studio Park Tower project leader Olsen Loeks Development. “But we asked her, ‘How does it compare to what you expected?’ and she was like, ‘Wow — it’s 10 times better.’ She can take an elevator down to watch a movie or go get some frozen yogurt, or hang out in the courtyard.”
J.D. Loeks and his partner and daughter are among about 30 households that have moved into the 190-unit downtown Grand
square feet of commercial space anchored by insurance brokerage and fintech firm Acrisure LLC.
The development also is home to the nine-screen Celebration Cinema Studio Park movie theater, One Twenty Three Tavern and other restaurant and retail space, a courtyard for live music and events called The Listening Lawn, the Midtown music venue and the Canopy by Hilton hotel.
The new residential tower, which broke ground in 2022, features apartments on floors eight through 18, including 22 studios, 99 one-bedroom units and 44 two-bedrooms. The condos are a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units on floors 19 through 22.
The new residential tower, which broke ground in 2022, features apartments on floors eight through 18, including 22 studios, 99 one-bedroom units and 44 two-bedrooms.
Rapids housing project known as Studio Park Tower during the past few weeks.
Other notable residents include a few of the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey players, J.D. Loeks said, though he didn’t disclose names.
“We’re open for business,” he said. “Come be my neighbor.”
Olsen Loeks Development hosted a ribbon cutting last week for the 16-story tower that sits atop the six-story Studio Park(ing) garage at 144 Oakes St. SW. The happy hour event marked the completion of the tower’s 165 rental apartments and seventh-floor amenity deck, while construction on the 25 forsale condominiums continues.
J.D. Loeks and his sister, Emily Loeks, director of community affairs for the family-owned company founded by their grandfather John D. Loeks, took Crain’s Grand Rapids Business on a private tour of the facility Oct. 21.
The $62 million tower is the second phase of a nearly $200 million mixed-use project that occupies what used to be two city-owned surface parking lots south of Van Andel Arena. The $135 million first phase opened in October 2019, bringing online 106 apartments known as Studio Park Lofts and 350,000
The seventh floor features an indoor-outdoor amenity deck that will be shared by all tenants. The interior features co-working space and private “Zoom rooms,” a fullsize kitchen and community room that will have a large flat-screen TV, a fitness center, sauna, golf simulator, dog washing space and commercial laundry. Bridging the gap between indoors and outdoors is a 75-foot, competition-length pool with an exterior glass wall that opens onto the outdoor entertainment deck. The deck features a grilling station, seating areas with firepits, green space for lawn games and a pickleball court.
J.D. Loeks said the full tower project — but especially the seventh floor — fulfills Studio C’s mission as a company of “bringing people together.”
“Maybe it’s an overly romanticized idea, but (we want to) create a place where it’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t ever want to leave because all of my friends are here,’” J.D. Loeks said.
Added Emily Loeks: “It’s a nice space to invite folks into, but the hope is that people in this building get to know each other.”
J.D. Loeks said it’s been rewarding to see the “huge financial investment” that his family made is starting to pay off as the apartments lease up quickly. After staging a completed unit on the 16th floor for tours several weeks ago, property management and leasing company KMG Prestige has leased about 60 of the 165 apartments within short order. The units start around $1,500 for a studio up to about $3,200 for the largest two-bedroom unit.
“We found that, now that we can show people the finished product, the building sells itself,” J.D. Loeks said, noting the apartments have been leasing at a pace of about 10 units per week and are expected to sell out in less than six months.
J.D. Loeks said about a dozen of the 25 condos are spoken for. Kate
Bylsma, of East Grand Rapids-based Patriot Realty, is the listing agent for the 25 condos under construction. Prices start at about $595,000 and go up to more than $1.3 million.
“Those, I think, we anticipate will be a longer sales cycle,” J.D. Loeks said of the condos. “There’s just not that many luxury condos that sell downtown every year. We expect we’ll probably sell about six a year (from here on out) until they’re gone.”
The Loeks siblings said the con-
dos seem to be drawing suburban or out-of-town residents who might not otherwise have considered downtown Grand Rapids as their home base.
“One of the markets that we’re already seeing a little bit is this idea of an ‘urban cottage,’ where people have a house somewhere else or have a cottage on the lakeshore, and they want … to simplify life without the lawn and all the other things, with a place downtown,” J.D. Loeks said. “We also have people from the suburbs who are choosing to invest
in downtown because it’s becoming a more interesting experience.”
J.D. Loeks said it’s exciting to be opening the Studio Park Tower just weeks after the DeVos and Van Andel families announced plans for a three-tower Fulton & Market riverfront project with residential and commercial elements.
“I don’t view it as competition at all,” he said. “We believe that for a community at large to be strong, you need to have a strong urban core, and I believe the rising tide raises all ships.”
Otter Air need a construction partner for a hangar that reflected their premier charter air service brand.
FCC Construction Inc. was selected for the job because they displayed incredible attention to detail, focusing as much on the finishing touches as the big picture.
As one of the Midwest’s premier charter air services, Otter Air sets the gold standard with technologically advanced aircraft, highly experienced pilots, master technicians, and exceptional customer service. Their entire customer experience is top-notch, and once the airline was launched in 2020, they needed a hangar that reflected the brand.
Once the site was selected on the east side of the airport, offering stunning west-facing views and minimal traffic, Otter Air began interviewing construction partners.
“FCC did a phenomenal job. We built an outstanding relationship with them over the two-year project, and we continue to maintain contact with them. They have been a true partner in every sense of the word.”
-Josh Reckley, Otter Air COO
According to Otter Air COO Josh Reckley, FCC Construction Inc. was selected because they displayed incredible attention to detail, focusing as much on the finishing touches as the big picture.
“We knew FCC could handle this type of project,” said Reckley. “We knew this process would be an ongoing evolution, with custom details being added along the way. FCC was completely aligned with our vision, and it also helped that they produce their own steel inhouse, which would avoid any unforeseen supply chain issues that can really hamper a project of this size.”
FCC was brought on board at the earliest stages of the project, working through multiple iterations of budgets, schedules, and construction methods.
Tim Scobey served as the Project Superintendent, and Brock Mellema was the Project Manager, two professionals with decades of combined experience. They partnered with the best pre-qualified subcontractors available to help hit an aggressive schedule and achieve the highest quality.
Budgeting for this project was a moving target, with new custom elements added throughout the process. Remarkably, these changes didn’t affect the schedule and kept the total budget within 1% of the original scope.
The grand opening for the hangar was held earlier this year, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
FCC Construction Inc. has received Excellence in Construction awards from ABC Western Michigan honoring its work on the Otter Air hangar in Grand Rapids. The airline was launched in 2020, and they chose FCC to build a hangar that reflected the high quality of the brand.
The project’s success stemmed from transparent communication, accountability, and a unified team culture. FCC’s dedication and emphasis on quality fostered a sense of pride among all partners, contributing to impeccable craftsmanship.
“FCC did a phenomenal job,” said Reckley. “We built an outstanding relationship with them over the two-year project, and we continue to maintain contact with them. They have been a true partner in every sense of the word.”
By Rachel Watson
A small southeastern Kent County enclave founded as a railroad stop in 1870 could soon have a village center envisioned by local officials, as a major Michigan home builder proposes hundreds of housing units and retail space on former farmland there.
Portage-based Allen Edwin Homes is in the final stages of approvals for Dutton Center, which calls for up to 238 units of rental and for-sale housing as well as commercial space. The project is named for its location in the unincorporated village of Dutton in Gaines Township.
The single- and multifamily development is planned over five phases on 29 acres at 3316 68th St. SE, just north of a 178-unit single-family housing development called Thornapple Farms that Allen Edwin Homes began site work on in January.
Both projects will rise on more than 126 acres owned by J&A Post Family Farm LLC, which is registered to Donna Veltman. Allen Edwin Homes closed on the purchase of 97 acres located at 7200 Hanna Lake Ave. SE and 7307 Hammond Ave. SE for $2.8 million last year for the Thornapple Farms project.
The home builder is under contract to buy the remaining 29 acres south of 68th Street SE for an undisclosed sum, pending township approval of the Dutton Center plans.
The 68th Street parcel currently contains cornfields and an aban-
doned historic farmhouse and barn that would be torn down to make way for Dutton Center. A mix of commercial and office buildings would flank the north and west sides of the development along 68th Street and Hanna Lake Avenue SE.
The project is expected to include 48 for-rent attached townhouses and 14 detached rental “veranda” homes in phase one, and 51 single-family detached homes in phase two. The third phase calls for 10 buildings with 120 multifamily apartments, followed by two, two-story mixed-use commercial, office and residential buildings along Hanna Lake Avenue in phase four. The last phase calls for two one-story commercial buildings along 68th Street.
Dan Larabel, land manager for
Allen Edwin Homes, said the diversity of elements — including commercial, housing and amenities like a playground, pickleball court and pond with a walking path — make this “the most creative plan” Allen Edwin Homes has ever produced.
He said the company would build and manage the rental and for-sale housing in the first two phases and could partner with another developer for the commercial and multifamily elements, though nothing has been decided yet.
Allen Edwin Homes designed the plan for Dutton Center with housing and commercial to fit with the township’s master plan for a “village center” along 68th Street that would “reclaim the original village character of Dutton,” per
and some have gone away, but it’s evolved over a long period of time.”
In 2008, Gaines Township published a master plan that called for a “village center” west of Hammond Avenue and south of 68th Street.
The Gaines Township Board on Oct. 14 is expected to consider Allen Edwin Homes’ request to rezone the proposed Dutton Center site from a mix of different zoning districts to planned unit development. At the same time, the board will vote on the site plan for the first phase of housing.
the township’s master plan, he said.
“This is what the township has envisioned, just kind of a mixeduse development, pedestrian-oriented, amenity-oriented, and trying to bring the architectural standards up in Dutton,” Larabel said. “… They wanted to make sure it was an attractive (addition) to the community.”
Larabel said Allen Edwin Homes hopes to build the first two phases of housing within the next year and complete the full development within five years.
Allen Edwin Homes was founded in Portage in 1994 and has grown to become one of the largest home builders in Michigan. The company has developed homes in Southeast Michigan, Southwest Michigan, Lansing, the Grand Rapids area and the lakeshore, as well as in Indiana. The company’s active projects in various stages of development in Kent County total 1,309 units, according to Larabel.
Founded in 1870 as Hammond, named after the farmer who owned the property at the time, the Gaines Township village about 13 miles southeast of downtown Grand Rapids served as a rail siding for the Grand River Valley Railroad, according to the township’s 2023 master plan. Always an unincorporated village, the village was renamed Dutton in 1882 after an executive with Michigan Central, which had absorbed Grand River Valley Railroad, while the street the depot was on retained the name “Hammond Avenue.”
The railroad ceased passenger service in 1959 and discontinued freight service in the late 1970s. The land was eventually sold to make way for the Paul Henry-Thornapple Trail that follows the path of the former railroad.
Some of the buildings that still stand along Hammond Avenue are original to that era, according to the Gaines Township master plan. The former depot is now an audiovisual production business called Division 16 Technologies.
“(The depot) formed the original nucleus of Dutton, which was laid out as a residential plat,” said Dan Wells, Gaines Township community development director. “… Since then, it’s kind of developed in an accretional manner. Over time, buildings have been added,
Wells said Allen Edwin Homes’ design for a planned unit development will help meet today’s needs for more diverse housing types in the township. It also will “reinforce” the business corridor by infilling gaps along 68th Street and Hanna Lake Avenue with more commercial buildings, fulfilling the vision for a “village center,” he said.
Justin Buiter co-owns two businesses in Dutton — Railtown Brewing Co. and Good Mooed Cafe — that are just three blocks east of the Dutton Center proposal.
Buiter said he’s excited for the potential influx of patrons that a whole new neighborhood could bring, though he said traffic calming measures on 68th Street will be needed for Gaines Township’s vision to come to fruition.
Traveling the half-mile westward from East Paris Avenue to the strip mall next to Railtown Brewing Co., the speed limits go from 55 mph down to 35 mph, without a stop sign or traffic signal to slow vehicles down.
“People can be coming through at 55 or they can be coming through at 25, and you really never know,” he said.
Wells acknowledged Dutton residents and business owners have been concerned about traffic, so Allen Edwin Homes did a traffic study to determine what type of controls could be leveraged.
He said implementation would need to wait until the development is approved because the Kent County Road Commission requires project approval before initiating road modifications.
“What I’d really like to do is … to help either redirect some of the heavy truck traffic that goes through there right now, or slow the traffic,” Wells said.
Still, Buiter said he’s mostly just excited to see more commercial development give 68th Street in Dutton a “main street” vibe. He and Railtown co-founder Gim Lee “tried to lead the way” when they invested in the town, he said, but spinoff development has been slow to materialize.
“Our goal was to try to initiate some movement towards the master plan that Gaines has for that area, and it’s been a little bit frustrating that there really hasn’t been any other movement forward (or) investment in that area,” he said. “So just seeing that plan move forward and that Dutton area develop into its intended future use is great to see.”
By Mark Sanchez
An $8 million gift supporting development of a pediatric care center adds to the Van Andel family’s long-standing backing of Pine Rest Christian Mental Services.
The David and Carol Van Andel Family Foundation’s pledge announced Oct. 21 is the largest philanthropic gift in Pine Rest’s 114year history and marks the latest contribution the family has provided over the last three decades to the mental health care provider.
“There’s a family history of doing this, but I’ve always felt that mental health care is for a lot of people the taboo topic or subject that nobody really wants to talk about, and yet, it is a very important part of our modern society,” David Van Andel told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
“We’ve always had, I think, an empathetic view that if we can help in certain ways, and in this case we can, we have an obligation to do that.
“We are helping them to expand their campus and, in the process, expand their capability in being able to help and treat mental health disorders.”
The Van Andel Family Foundation contribution moves a capital campaign close to the goal of funding the $98 million Pine Rest Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health. The organization has raised funds
through philanthropy and significant public sector support from the state, including a $12.5 million allocation in this year’s state budget.
That appropriation, combined with prior state allocations, brought public sector support to $64.5 million.
The pledge from the Van Andels was publicly announced as Pine Rest begins the public phase of the capital campaign to raise the remaining $4 million needed to pay for the project.
“It’s really a transformative gift
campaign will reach its final goal.
Pine Rest also has requests out to “a number of other people and organizations that have shown real interest in the project,” Eastburg said.
“We’re really excited that it won’t be long before we’re at the full amount,” he said.
In recognition of the recent contribution and the Van Andel family’s $14 million in gifts provided over the last three decades, Pine Rest renamed the southern portion of the 220-acre campus as the David and Carol Van Andel Family Foundation Healing Campus.
Mark Eastburg, Pine Rest CEO
because it will help us do what we have been promising the community,” Pine Rest CEO Mark Eastburg told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. “We’re going to solve the pediatric behavioral access problem for our community, and we couldn’t do it without a gift like this from the Van Andels.”
The contribution provides momentum to the capital campaign’s public phase, Eastburg said. He’s “very confident” that the capital
campus would not be there or would be dramatically different if it were not for the three generations Van Andel family support.”
In addition to the financial support, Van Andel family members have long served on Pine Rest’s board of directors.
The late Betty Van Andel was on the board from 1981 to 1990, and David Van Andel served from 1994 to 1996. Carol Van Andel was on the board from 1996 to 2003 and also served on the Pine Rest Foundation board from 2005 to June 2011, including serving as president during the final two years of her tenure.
That portion of the campus includes the Jay and Betty Van Andel Center that houses inpatient hospitalization, partial hospitalization, psychiatric urgent care, and residential units, and the Van Andel-Cook Center for Dementia & Geriatric Behavioral Health. The Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health will add to the campus when it opens in the spring of 2026.
“Every time we’ve called on the Van Andels when there’s been a need at Pine Rest, they have answered the call,” Eastburg said. “It just seems fitting. That part of our
Soon a third generation of the family, Christian Van Andel, will join the board.
In providing financial support for the Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health, the Van Andels are “investing in the next generation of our community. That is so important that we continue to make sure that they have all the opportunities and resources that they could possibly be afforded to be productive and do well,” said Christian Van Andel, a son of David and Carol Van Andel.
“It’s important not only to support mental health here in West Michigan, but to keep supporting West Michigan as a whole,” he said. “This is a special place that we all
know and love and it’s the people here that make it special. To keep investing in the younger generation and giving them the resources that families need to take care of their kids and have that here is incredibly important. So, it’s just a no-brainer for us to get on board with something like this.”
The Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health, developed through a partnership with Corewell Health’s Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, represents an “important milestone for mental health and letting kids get back to being kids and getting the care that they might need,” Christian Van Andel said. “It brings a lot of assurance to a lot of families, too, that they know that they can have a place here in West Michigan that they can go to.”
Since May, Holland-based EV Construction Co. has been building the two-story, 136,000-square-foot Pediatric Behavioral Health Center, which will become the first facility in Michigan dedicated to providing mental health care for children and adolescents. Pine Rest forecasts that the pediatric center, along with expected service additions and new care models, will serve 800 children annually for inpatient care and 10,000 for outpatient care. Construction continues on schedule and on budget, according to COO Bob Nykamp.
By Abby Poirier
A local startup is bringing a new hydroponic farming model to market with the goal of installing 50 “micro-farm” units in West Michigan schools, health care facilities and retirement communities in the next 18 months.
Bit-Farms Inc., a new Wyoming-based indoor farming startup led by former executives from Square Roots, is looking to disrupt the farming-as-aservice model with a new take on hydroponic farms. Co-founders Tyler Blair, Eli Zimmer and Hank Kim say their plan is to offer a subscription-based, automated hydroponic farm that grows greens on-site with no additional infrastructure.
indoor, man-made environment.
Zimmer formerly worked for Square Roots as a plant research and development manager, while Kim was an operations manager.
In 2023, all three left Square Roots when the company substantially downsized, including cuts at operations in Kenosha, Wis., Springfield, Ohio, Shepherdsville, Ky, and two locations co-located at Gordon Food Service’s Wyoming headquarters.
Now, the trio is taking what they learned during their time at the startup to branch out with their own farming model at Bit-Farms.
“Me and my two co-founders thought: What if we built a food company that eliminated packaging, distribution and just farmed on-site? What would that look like?” Blair said.
Blair was formerly director of campus operations for agricultural startup Square Roots, a techbased indoor hydroponic farming company co-founded in 2016 by Kimbal Musk, brother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Square Roots initially drew attention for its strategy of using shipping containers to grow hydroponic plants vertically in an
“What we wanted to do was two things: Build a business that, no matter what happens with funding and the outside world, we’re still able to be alive and operating,” Blair said. “The other thing was (to) tell a story by connecting the farmer with the food service, by bringing the farming onsite in some way, shape or form.”
Bit-Farms creates mini-farms that grow produce and are maintained and cultivated by Blair’s team.
Greens like lettuce, basil and microgreens grow in a 7-foot-tall frame fitted with LED lights and automated hydroponic, temperature control and humidity regulation systems. The plants grow on
shelves within an aluminum frame that’s assembled on-location.
“We’re really trying to develop a model which is bringing the farmer back into the loop,” Blair said.
All that’s needed to set up the farm is a standard electrical outlet to plug in the farming system, access to water to fill a tank fitted beneath the frame, and a Wi-Fi connection, Blair said.
The micro-farm units are leased to customers on a monthly basis, allowing them access to fresh, unpackaged produce that is grown and harvested on-site as needed.
Bit-Farms takes over all maintenance for the farm units, keeping systems for temperature, water and nutrient regulation running smoothly, and replanting and providing upkeep as needed.
While Bit-Farms doesn’t charge up-front to place a unit at a kitchen or business, the company requires a two-year memorandum of understanding with a host location.
Currently, Bit-Farms leases units for $500 monthly, which includes produce grown from the unit and maintenance fees.
“We still own the unit, so if they did, for whatever reason, want to cancel the agreement, they give us 30 days’ notice, we can just pull it out of there and put it somewhere else where it can generate us revenue,” Blair said. “It’s really very modular.”
By including service in the monthly subscription price, BitFarms addresses production and upkeep issues that can arise with other modular indoor farming models.
“A lot of these ‘buy it, do it yourself’ units start out great for the first three to six months, and then they end up empty and in a closet somewhere because nobody took care of it,” he said. “Farming is all about planning and following the process. If you don’t seed things, then you don’t have seedlings. If you don’t have seedlings, you don’t have plants. And if you don’t clean it, you end up with problems.”
After placing its first unit at Hope College’s kitchen, Bit-Farms has expanded to include two units at East Kentwood High School, a unit at newly-opened Rev: Road to Revitalize Luxury Juice Bar in downtown Grand Rapids and one unit at Calvin University.
In the next 18 months, Blair anticipates steady growth for the company, with the goal of placing 50 new units throughout Kent and Ottawa counties.
farming,” he said. “This also allows us to educate customers about the origins of their food. With BitFarms, we can achieve this directly at each location, engaging with our customers in the process.”
Going forward, Blair anticipates growing Bit-Farms into more schools, noting that the micro-farms’ interactive potential should be a hit with children, who may be getting to watch their food grow for the first time.
One key component in this growth is Blair’s partnership with Creative Dining Services Inc., a Zeeland-based hospitality management firm that manages dining halls at Hope College and Calvin University and operates 80 other locations across 16 states.
Brady Newcomer, director of purchasing for Creative Dining Services, told Crain’s in an email that the company “aims to introduce vertical farming to all of our Michigan locations, with the potential to expand even further.”
“Creative Dining and Bit-Farms’ partnership goals are to enhance the vertical farm-to-table experience in order to reduce the carbon footprint of our units, boost sustainability, and deliver unparalleled freshness through on-site
“We’re focused on exploring our main segments, which is really the non-commercial area: college dining, K-12 schools, health care and retirement communities,” he said, noting that growth plans are still in development as Bit-Farms continues to refine its business model.
“I think we have a fairly desirable product right now, but we haven’t figured out how to scale that quite yet,” Blair said. “We’d like to build bigger units (with) more automation. We’d like to eventually add some robotics to it so you can set it and forget it and it just spits out fresh greens at you.”
By Rachel Watson
Grand Rapids became the second city in Michigan to form its own land bank, citing the need to accelerate local development opportunities as it takes over dozens of parcels currently owned by the state.
The Grand Rapids City Commission on Oct. 8 voted to establish the Grand Rapids Land Bank Authority after state legislation signed into law in June enabled the move. The Land Bank Fast Track Act allows cities or townships with populations of more than 50,000 to form their own land banks as long as they are not located in counties that already have a land bank.
The city will now be able to take ownership of 107 parcels that are currently owned by the State Land Bank Authority.
Kent County’s land bank dissolved at the end of 2018, and its properties reverted to the State Land Bank Authority, which managed them in partnership with the city of Grand Rapids.
However, the city began advocating for legislation to establish its own land bank in 2021 as a way
to exert more local control over property development, Grand Rapids Economic Development
Director Sarah Latta Rainero said.
“Creation of the land bank would transfer the state’s portfolio and would allow us to more proactively and efficiently acquire troubled or hard-to-develop property for strategic purposes and in concert with our master plan goals, as well as our equitable economic development and mobility strategy,” Rainero said.
Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said that the county’s land bank “was a great tool” for a time, as it came online during the Great Recession in 2011 and helped remediate blighted and contaminated properties and return them to the tax rolls. But she said the city is now in “a different season” with different needs.
“I think the land bank is a really critical tool that can be of tremendous use in our city to meet some of our goals, particularly around housing,” she said.
Before the legislation, Detroit was the only city permitted to have its own land bank under state law. Forty-five of Michigan’s 83 counties operate a land bank, accord-
ing to the state land bank’s website.
Per an intergovernmental agreement between the State Land Bank Authority and the city of Grand Rapids, five members of the city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority board will be appointed to oversee the new land bank initially, though the mayor and city commission will have the option to form a new board down the line.
The agreement also says the land bank board “may select and retain an executive director.” Many of the county-run land banks in Michigan are led either by executive directors or by county treasurers. The city of Detroit’s land bank has a five-member board and a CEO.
Bliss said she thinks it makes sense for the brownfield authority subcommittee to create an initial framework for the land bank like it did for the housing brownfield tax increment financing programs after the state expanded its brownfield law to include workforce housing development activities. She said there may be significant overlap between the duties of the land bank and the brown-
SPONSORED CONTENT
field authority.
“But I also recognize that the individuals sitting around this table next year may have different ideas, and so what we decide on today doesn’t have to be what the Grand Rapids Land Bank is into the future,” Bliss said. “There can be amendments and changes made next year as we get more information and as the brownfield authority has an opportunity to meet and come up with some recommendations.”
Second Ward City Commissioner Milinda Ysasi, who also serves on the brownfield authority board, said it will be important for the board to assess how the additional duties will affect their workload. She said the recent hiring of an-
other staff member in the economic development department may help ease the transition.
First Ward City Commissioner Drew Robbins said he supports creating the city’s land bank authority to support more housing development, but he wants the city manager to stay in touch with developers and the city commission to ensure properties don’t languish in the land bank for unnecessarily long periods of time.
“(It) would just be good to get an email update periodically on what types of properties and how many are becoming eligible for this land bank, and how we’re proactively moving and keeping the ball rolling along to make sure we’re putting them to good use,” he said.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Innovia Wealth recently announced that Greg Bosch, CFA, CAIA has joined the independent registered investment advisor and wealth management firm as chief investment officer.
Bosch will assume the role of CIO from Aaron Veldheer, a Managing Director at Innovia Wealth. As CIO, Bosch will direct the Grand Rapids and Chicago-based firm’s investment activities and lead its team of investment professionals. The scope of Bosch’s work will also entail optimizing public stock and bond portfolios as well as collaborating with Innovia’s network of world-class private investment managers.
“There is no one like Greg in West Michigan — he is unique among the Midwest wealth management sphere and beyond,” said Veldheer. “He discerns investment opportunities with Wall Street acumen. More importantly, Greg has ample experience and excelled within both the wealth management and family office spaces. He perfectly complements our existing capabilities and will elevate our services to even greater heights.”
Prior to joining Innovia, Bosch acted as a Portfolio Manager for a West Michigan family office, sourcing and overseeing all assets including stocks, bonds, and private market investments. He previously served as a Senior Financial Analyst with a national financial institution, where he led research and made corresponding portfolio recommendations for an extensive variety of clients. In this role, Bosch managed multiple billions of wealth and directly
CONTENT STUDIO
Greg Bosch, a West Michigan native who has advised institutional clients and ultra-high-net-worth investors in the Grand Rapids area for nearly two decades, will oversee the firm’s asset allocations and general investment strategy.
oversaw 10 portfolios valued at more than $100 million for an array of clients with wide-ranging needs. This included family offices, endowments, pensions, and ultra-high-net-worth investors.
Bosch’s proven track record of successful investment strategies and deep ties to the Midwest make him a natural fit for Innovia’s leadership team.
“I am thrilled to be joining the accomplished, capable, and resourceful team at Innovia,” said Bosch. “My career has been dedicated to producing innovative investment solutions for institutional clients whose needs demand nothing short of excellence. As a boutique advisory firm, Innovia possesses the
“My career has been dedicated to producing innovative investment solutions for institutional clients whose needs demand nothing short of excellence.”
— Greg Bosch, Chief Investment Officer,
Innovia Wealth
specialization, insights, and capabilities necessary for providing investors with a tailored wealth management experience. I’m looking forward to working with our team to deliver exceptional results for our clients.”
Bosch was born and raised in West Michigan and initially began his professional career as an engineer overseeing design and production with a local automotive supplier. He graduated from Grand Valley State University with an engineering degree and later earned an MBA with an emphasis in finance from Western Michigan University. His varied background and expertise as a designated Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) align with Innovia’s mission of providing clients with holistic solutions addressing their specific investment needs.
As a registered investment advisory firm, Innovia Wealth is steadfastly focused on fulfilling its fiduciary duties and prioritizing clients’ best interests above all else. The firm specializes in providing business owners and institutional clients with sound wealth management practices as well as qualified input on intricate areas such as succession planning.
Innovia Wealth is an independent registered investment advisor and wealth management firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with an additional office in Chicago, Illinois. Founded as a boutique wealth management firm in 2007 and recognized by Citywire as the fastest-growing RIA in Michigan in 20221, Innovia’s mission is to provide expert advice and individualized recommendations built on deep personal relationships to deliver clients with a better wealth management experience. The firm offers a wide range of services, including financial planning, investment management, exit planning, tax and legal support, estate planning, and retirement advice. It aims to help clients achieve their financial goals with a thoroughly integrated approach that combines investment management and financial planning solutions. The team meets each client’s needs with specialized expertise for serving the families of business owners, athletes and institutional clients.
By Abby Poirier
More than 550 Gordon Food Service Canada Ltd. employees have organized in British Columbia and will be represented by Teamsters Union 31, a win that union officials said follows months of corporate pressure and interference.
As well, labor experts say the move follows unionization efforts coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and could create “spillover effects” to other workers at the West Michigan-based company.
Local 31 will represent Gordon Food Service drivers, warehouse staff, clerks and other workers at a warehouse in metro Vancouver, just north of the U.S. border.
Ben Hennessy, vice president of Teamsters Local Union 31 and union organizing director, said the organizing campaign launched in 2021.
“A simmering has happened over several years,” Hennessy told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
Workers sought union representation in the face of lagging wages, safety concerns and increasingly expensive benefits, among other concerns.
late September.
Gordon Food Service did not respond to requests to comment for this report.
The organizing victory represents the biggest win for Teamsters Local Union 31 since it was founded in 1936, and what’s believed to be one of the first successful attempts to organize workers at Gordon Food Service.
Christopher Monette, director of public affairs for Teamsters Canada, noted that pro-labor movements have been gaining traction in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic.
While transportation workers, like those at Gordon Food Service, were hailed as essential workers during the pandemic, as COVID-19 subsided they “very quickly went from heroes to regular, everyday folks,” Monette said. He also pointed out increases in cost of living and housing that have led to an increase in interest in organizing as workers push for better pay.
“Companies are doing very well,” he said. “But it just seems that unless workers stand up and unite and speak from one strong voice, those benefits don’t necessarily magically trickle down.”
“Over time, we have built the confidence up for the employees to actually take on this endeavor, because they were intimidated to get involved,” he said.
“Through education, through having meetings, lots of phone calls, we were able to build (their) confidence that they would be protected by the union.
Once we had a solid base of employees that could help engage their coworkers, that’s when the campaign really caught fire.”
In late 2023 and early 2024, the company terminated three delivery drivers who were union supporters.
The terminated employees were represented by Teamsters in a case before the British Columbia Labour Relations Board, which was resolved on Aug. 2 when the board ruled in favor of the union.
The Labour Relations Board declared that Gordon Food Service breached the labor relations code for unfair labor practices by terminating the employees.
The employees were reinstated and were given full back pay, Hennessy said. The vote for union representation passed in
Maite Tapia, associate professor and doctoral program chair at the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University, noted since the pandemic, the U.S. has seen a “significant increase” in the filing of union elections with the National Labor Relations Board.
“This increase might be partially cyclical due to the effects of the pandemic and a tight labor market, but it also shows that more and more workers know their rights — especially young workers — and gained an appetite for collective action and collective representation,” she said.
Tapia also noted that the unionization of Gordon Food Service’s employees in British Columbia could be a positive signal to other workers within the company to push for union representation.
“There are often spillover effects from one workplace to another,” Tapia said. “As workers see what these GFS workers achieved, they get inspired and think about unionization as a viable option for their own workplace.”
By Mark Sanchez
Buying a Walker metal stamping company gives Portland Products Inc. added capacity and capabilities to grow.
A maker of mechanical assemblies for the automotive and heavy truck industries, Portland Products will operate Pro Stamp LLC as a separate company and combine the two organizations over time “in a speed in which our teams are comfortable with, and it’s quality over speed,” said co-CEO Rick Slater.
The acquisition “greatly increased” Portland Products’ metal stamping capabilities from 65 tons up to 1,000 tons and more than doubled its physical capacity, as well as provided “significant value-add capabilities through Pro Stamp’s current customer base” in welding and automated assembly, Slater said.
“Pro Stamp’s expertise and broad capabilities in stamping strengthen Portland Products’ position as a premier supplier of metal stampings and assemblies,” Slater said. “By joining forces, we look forward to better serving our entire customer base by offering expanded stamping capabilities and a broad range of post-stamping value add processes.”
Founded in 2008, Pro Stamp
serves the appliance, furniture, automotive and general industrial markets. Portland Products retained the company’s management team in the deal. The company’s workforce of 30 people remains at Pro Stamp’s facility on Alpine Avenue in Walker. Terms of the transaction, which closed in July, were undisclosed.
An entity tied to Portland Products’ owners bought the ProStamp facility for more than $2.6
million, according to Walker property records.
“We are excited for the opportunities that this brings for our current and future customers,” Shawn Tilstra, president of Pro Stamp, said in a statement on the deal.
“Our values and mission are aligned, and the team is ready for the next chapter.”
Slater and business partner and co-CEO Ben Greve bought Portland Products earlier this year
with the backing of Sleeping Giant Capital and after going through the Kalamazoo-based investment firm’s entrepreneurial training.
The new deal began to come together when Pro Stamp’s owners were introduced to Sleeping Giant Capital through mutual business connections. At the time, Slater and Greve were talking to Portland Products about buying the business, Slater said.
After several conversations with
Pro Stamp’s owners, “we realized there were some very unique synergies we could capture with the two companies together,” Slater said.
Portland Products made the acquisition at a time when M&A activity in general has been down this year.
Despite the lower activity, solid companies coming to market should find a buyer, said Mike Brown, a partner and managing director at Grand Rapids-based Charter Capital Partners.
“In general, any good, profitable, growing business is pretty attractive right now, just because the market is still slow. It’s just a supply-and-demand function,” Brown said. “If a good business comes (to market), there will be interested buyers.”
Still, the market for small manufacturers is “pretty tough right now,” said Brown, noting that Charter Capital Partners generally handles deals involving companies with an enterprise value of $15 million or more.
“I do think it’s a little bit harder right now. There’s not as much capital for the small buyers,” he said. “If you’re a good, growing business, there’s a lot of buyers out there. It’s a little bit harder on smaller deals right now, though, than for big ones.”
By Mark Sanchez
Plans for a new riverfront hotel in Grand Haven passed the first zoning hurdle.
The city’s Planning Commission on Oct. 8 unanimously recommended approval of a zoning amendment that would accommodate development of the four-story, 131-room hotel that Sylvan Lakebased Elite Hospitality Group LLC wants to develop on the south channel of the Grand River.
Targeted for vacant acreage just north of the Grand Landing mixeduse project that was developed
nearly 20 years ago alongside southbound U.S. 31 at the city’s northern entrance, the hotel would feature extended-stay suites for travelers who come to town for a week or more at the lakeshore.
The original plans for Grand Landing included a hotel. An amendment to the zoning approval for Grand Landing is needed because the project that Elite Hospitality Group envisions is larger and would rise elsewhere on the site than initially envisioned, City Planner Brian Urquhart said.
The Planning Commission’s support for amending the original
planned unit development agreement next goes to the Grand Haven City Council for consideration. The
Planning Commission would subsequently need to review and approve a site development plan.
“I’m excited for the project to move forward,” planning commissioner Joe Pierce said following a public hearing for the zoning amendment.
Elite Hospitality Group’s project would include dual brands with a 59-room Hampton Inn and 72room Home2 Suites by Hilton for extended stays of four nights or more. The project would have a shared lobby, a fitness center, breakfast buffet, two patios and an outdoor lounge
Elite Hospitality Group owns the Spring Lake Holiday Inn across the Grand River and has been considering a hotel on the Grand Landing property for several years, partner and principal Blake Bacall said.
“This feels like the right time for us to move forward on the project,” Bacall said. “There’s no new hotel product in Grand Haven. There’s not Hilton or Marriott product in the city, and we feel the market continues to grow year over year for tourism. A new product is a need for the city.”
Pending final zoning and site plan approvals, Elite Hospitality Group could begin construction in late 2025, Bacall said. Construction would take 18 to 24 months, he said. The hotel could also feature “cool amenities” such as firepits along the riverfront. Bacall liked a suggestion from planning commissioners to install racks for summertime visitors who prefer to pedal
“There’s no new hotel product in Grand Haven. There’s not Hilton or Marriott product in the city, and we feel the market
continues to grow year over year for tourism. A new product is a need for the city.”
Blake Bacall, partner and principal, Elite Hospitality Group
their way around town to the city’s nearby waterfront walkway and downtown business district.
“We want to make it so when people come to Grand Haven, they know where to stay,” Bacall said.
Elite Hospitality Group has owned and operated more than 30 hotels since forming in 1995 and completed dozens of hotel real estate acquisitions and developments totaling more than $400 million, according to the company’s website. The company’s current portfolio includes 26 Michigan hotels, operated under the Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Choice and Red Roof brands.
In West Michigan, Elite Hospitality Group operates the Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton and SpringHill Suites in Cascade Township, and the Residence Inn by Marriott in Holland.
These health care experts are executives, allied health workers, physicians, social workers and other professionals who provide high-quality, whole-person care by collaborating with governments, health care agencies, employers and nonprofits. They work with integrated care teams to provide services to people with issues related to personal health, mental health, substance use and developmental disabilities. And they advocate within industry groups and local and state government and support their communities through volunteerism.
Methodology: The honorees featured in this Notable Leaders in Health Care report were nominated by their peers, companies or family members. Crain’s Grand Rapids Business editors selected nominated honorees based on their career accomplishments, track record of success in their field and contributions to their industry and community, as outlined in the detailed eligibility forms. Special Projects Editor Tim Gortsema, tim.gortsema@crain. com, managed this Notable Leaders in Health Care report. For questions about how to nominate someone for a future Notable award program, or to find out which industries will be highlighted in 2025, visit our Nomination Page or email notablesgrandrapids@crain.com.
Rick Abbott
Senior Vice President, Employer Solutions
Priority Health
Scope of work: Rick Abbott oversees product innovation, wellness, underwriting, sales and client services, sales operations and marketing, and the organization’s alliance with Cigna.
Biggest professional win: Recently, Abbott’s division enhanced the health and well-being of local communities by offering free access to virtual health care services for people who are currently uninsured.
Other contributions: As a single father of five children ages 6-15, Abbott spends almost all of his free time investing in the East Grand Rapids Public Schools and Grand Rapids Christian High School athletic and academic support programs.
Bruce Brasser
Chief Operating Officer
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation
Scope of work: Bruce Brasser joined Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital as chief nursing officer in 2002. He now oversees all clinical operations for the Mary Free Bed system.
Biggest professional win: Covenant HealthCare was considering entering a partnership with Mary Free Bed. Brasser led the work for Mary Free Bed that culminated with a new $40 million, 60-bed, inpatient rehabilitation hospital that now serves as a pillar on Covenant’s campus.
Other contributions: He is a board member for Wings of Mercy and Calvin College Speech Pathology, as well as a member of the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association.
Chris Moyer serves as the president of ASR Health Benefits and collaborates with HAP (Health Alliance Plan) Sales & Account Management teams on growth opportunities and delivers customized benefit solutions for companies across multiple industries. Chris has a wealth of experience and is a member of Health Care Administrators of America (HCAA) to support the future of health care benefit administration.
Brooks
Operations Director
Catherine’s Health Center
Scope of work: Sara Brooks has provided operational oversight of all clinical services and facilities at Catherine’s Health Center since 2021 with an operating budget of more than $7.5 million.
As an executive member of the organization, Brooks leads a team of more than 55 employees and has been integral in growing Catherine’s from one site to 10.
Biggest professional win: She led the organization’s embrace of school health, growing the program from one site providing behavioral health services in 2022 to five sites ranging from behavioral health only to full clinical services by early 2025.
Other contributions: Brooks is a member of the Michigan Oral Health Coalition, leads Sunday school and participates in her children’s schools.
Anthony Chang Founder and CEO BAMF Health
Scope of work: Anthony Chang, Ph.D., is the visionary behind BAMF Health. Since its inception in 2018, the theranostics center has grown to 130 employees and is expected to more than double revenue in 2024 to $58 million, and nearly double again in 2025.
Biggest professional win: Chang lists his biggest career win as improving and saving the lives of patients who have no other options. Other “firsts” include Michigan’s first and only whole-body PET/MR and the nation’s first clinical total-body PET/CT.
Other contributions: He serves on the boards of the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, Davenport University, Hope Network Foundation, and the Yale Club of Western Michigan and Northern Indiana.
Megan Erskine CEO
Catherine’s Health Center
Scope of work: As CEO since 2022, Megan Erskine leads a Federally Qualified Health Center in Grand Rapids that specializes in care to unhoused and lowincome populations. She has helped open clinics in key areas of the region, putting the patient at the center of care for primary, behavioral and dental health, as well as health promotion and disease prevention services.
Biggest professional win: Opening clinics around the Grand Rapids area focused on reaching low-income, refugee and unhoused individuals who otherwise would not have sought care. Catherine’s has a goal to serve 19,000 patients annually through the expansion of clinics and partnerships.
Other contributions: She is founder and lead facilitator of GRIT, a Grand Rapids improv training group.
Tracey McKnight CEO Care Resources
Scope of work: As CEO of Care Resources, Tracey McKnight oversees operations of the nonprofit, a Program of AllInclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) that promotes healthy and independent living for people ages 55-plus while preventing nursing home placement. Her responsibilities include strategic planning, budgeting, market expansion and partnering with other health care providers and referral sources.
Biggest professional win: She was instrumental in launching a second location in Lowell, including obtaining funding and regulatory approvals. The $7.1 million facility, which opens this fall, will allow the organization to serve 125 more participants and create approximately 30 jobs. Other contributions: She serves on the board of directors of PACE of Michigan and is a member of the National PACE Association.
Heidi Gras
Executive Director LifeCircles PACE
Scope of work: Heidi Gras has been with LifeCircles PACE for 14 years, and in 2022 began her tenure as executive director for the Muskegon-based organization that focuses on in-home care for aging adults. Since that time, she has overseen projects that cost upwards of $1 million while managing partnerships with other health care providers.
Biggest professional win: Finding solutions to help older adults access services that are typically very challenging for Medicaid beneficiaries, including partnerships with Enable Dental and Beam Psychiatry.
Other contributions: She led a $1 million expansion of LifeCircles’ Holland location to create a state-of-the-art physical therapy center for more than 250 participants.
Chris Moyer President, ASR Health Benefits Health
Alliance Plan
Scope of work: Chris Moyer serves as president and CEO of ASR Health Benefits, a subsidiary of Health Alliance Plan that delivers customized benefits for companies across multiple industries, offering benefits to nearly 125,000 people. He oversees profit and loss management, business development and underwriting insights, and is responsible for identifying and growing new strategic partnerships.
Biggest professional win: Recognizing that accessibility to mental health providers is an ongoing challenge, he strengthened the company’s position by creating a strategic partnership to establish a comprehensive mental health network, enhancing support for customers by improving resource availability and reducing cost barriers.
Other contributions: Moyer is a member of the Self Insurance Institute of America and Health Care Administrators of America.
According to The Right Place Inc., there are more than 100,000 health sciences jobs in West Michigan and the industry has a 10-year job growth rate of 8%, outpacing the national average by 11%. There are 516 health science establishments in West Michigan and 55 medical device manufacturers. Schools in the region grant more than 4,100 health and medical science degrees annually.
Michael Nanzer CEO
Forest View Hospital
Scope of work: Michael Nanzer is responsible for full oversight of Forest View Hospital, which employs a staff of around 250 people, including psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, patient care staff and ancillary teams.
Biggest professional win: Nanzer has focused his tenure at Forest View on reducing barriers. He has been a champion for men’s mental health, recognizing not only the stigma that often is associated with seeking help but also the necessary approaches to provide successful resources and treatment.
Other contributions: He is a board member with Visiting Nurse Association & Blue Water Hospice, Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan, Disability Guerrillas and Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan. He also volunteers as a physical therapist at clinics to provide physical therapy services.
Senior Vice President, Market Development
Priority Health
Scope of work: Carrie Kincaid establishes and oversees partnerships that support strategic growth within target markets and leads evaluation of opportunities to expand growth and operate new lines of business. She recently led the acquisition of Physicians Health Plan of Northern Indiana, expanding Priority Health’s reach outside Michigan for the first time.
Biggest professional win: Kincaid built the Priority Health market development division and is credited for many innovations, including a virtual-first product during the pandemic enabling members to receive care from their homes.
Other contributions: Kincaid serves on the board of the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, advisory board of Grand Valley State University, and mentors six people at Priority Health to support the next generation of employees.
Michelle Peña Chief Nursing Officer
Trinity Health Grand Rapids
Scope of work: Michelle Peña leads more than 2,000 colleagues and manages a budget of more than $500 million. She oversees patient care strategy and is heavily involved with technology adoption and quality improvement initiatives.
Biggest professional win: Her accomplishments include stabilizing the nursing workforce post-pandemic and restoring turnover rates to baseline while creating new care delivery models. She also was instrumental in creating the region’s first virtual nursing model and a comprehensive workplace violence prevention strategy while also leading Trinity to Magnet redesignation for excellence in nursing.
Other contributions: Her professional affiliations include memberships in the American Nurses Association and American College of Healthcare Executives. She serves as board president of the West Michigan American Heart Association.
Lisa Lowery
Section Chief, Adolescent Medicine
Corewell Health
Scope of work: In addition to her role at Corewell Health, Dr. Lisa Lowery is assistant dean for diversity and cultural initiatives at MSU College of Human Medicine. Her work at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital involves adolescent and youth medicine program development and managing the Center for Child Protection. At MSU, she strives to enhance the learning environment in Grand Rapids.
Biggest professional win: Lowery said the assistant dean role and balancing her love and passion for patient care while expanding her diversity, equity, inclusion and justice knowledge has been professionally satisfying.
Other contributions: She is board president of the Urban League of West Michigan and serves on the boards of Wedgwood Christian Services and Grand Rapids LGBTQ Healthcare Consortium.
Ryan Podvin
Chief Financial Officer
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation
Scope of work: In his role as CFO, Ryan Podvin is preparing Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation for value-based care and to be a transformative partner in post-acute care. He spearheaded the organization’s decision to move to Epic as its electronic medical records system.
Biggest professional win: Within the past five years MFB has expanded to include locations in Chicago, northern Indiana and Virginia, allowing the system to serve thousands more patients and achieve stronger financial results. Recognition of these results came in the recently achieved positive outlook on MFB’s A credit rating from Fitch Ratings.
Other contributions: Podvin sits on the board at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and is chair of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association CFO Council.
Congratulations to Michael Nanzer, CEO ofForest View Hospital, for being named one of Crain's 2024 Notable Leaders in Health Care!
We thank you for serving the behavioral health needs of children, adolescents and adults in our community.
Kristin Revere
Founder and CEO
Gold Coast Doulas
Scope of work: Kristin Revere owns Gold Coast Doulas, a birth and postpartum doula agency in Grand Rapids, and has 26 contractors including childbirth and parenting educators, lactation consultants, sleep consultants, birth doulas, postpartum doulas and newborn care specialists. Gold Coast is a Certified B Corp. and gives 2% of its net profits and 5% of its time to causes serving lowincome women and children.
Biggest professional win: “My biggest career win was working on insurance coverage for doulas and collaborating with Pioneer Construction to add doulas to their self-funded benefit plans.” Other contributions: She is co-chair of the Eastown Business Association, mentor at Grand Valley State University’s Cook Leadership Academy and a member of the Healthy Kent Infant Action Team.
Vice President, Human Resources, Compensation and Benefits
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital
Scope of work: Cynthia Springer guides human resources; talent; employee health and wellness; policy, legal and labor principles; diversity; compensation; and employee relations for Mary Free Bed. She advanced diversity strategies by creating the first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging and Strategic Initiatives department.
Biggest professional win: Springer has led strategic workforce planning for the “People” pillar of the hospital system’s strategic plan to align people strategies with organizational priorities.
Other contributions: She is on TalentFirst’s Summit Steering Committee and is co-chair of the Michigan Hospital Association’s HR and Workforce Council.
Scope of work: Teresa Toland is responsible for executing strategic initiatives while leading the organization’s expansion and scalability efforts. She oversees annual revenues of $7.7 million and makes decisions to ensure the organization’s long-term sustainability. Toland mentors her leadership team, fostering continuous learning and growth to prepare the next generation of health care leaders. Her focus is on innovation and building partnerships to expand services and relationships.
Biggest professional win: Toland spearheaded the startup and program design of Tandem365, which now serves more than 6,000 individuals across six counties and is expanding across the state. Other contributions: She has forged partnerships with PACE, HBPC and the Kent County Health Department.
Holland Hospital
Scope of work: Patti VanDort assumed the role of Holland Hospital CEO in January 2024. With more than 37 years of health care leadership, she brings extensive experience in strategic planning and operational excellence.
Biggest professional win: Partnerships and new ventures with University of Michigan Health and orthopedic and OB/ GYN providers have contributed to the growth of the hospital.
Other contributions: VanDort has held numerous leadership roles within professional and community organizations, including board positions at the Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce in Holland, Hospice of Holland, and the Holland Community Health Center, as well as advisory roles at Hope College and Grand Valley State University’s nursing departments.
Robert Von Kaenel President and CEO Hope Network
Scope of work: Robert “Bob” Von Kaenel navigates the overall performance and growth of one of Michigan’s leading nonprofit organizations, serving the complex health care and human service needs of approximately 34,000 individuals annually who are experiencing physical, mental and social barriers. Hope Network is a $172 million organization with more than 2,000 employees.
Biggest professional win: As board chair, Von Kaenel helped steward Hope Network through the negative effects of COVID-19 and Michigan’s auto no-fault insurance reform, which significantly affected Hope’s longstanding neuro rehabilitation services for people experiencing traumatic brain injury, stroke and related issues. Other contributions: He championed Eastpointe Commons affordable housing and Zero Suicide Initiative.
By Mark Sanchez
Just outside Joe Chamberlin’s office window, construction crews work to erect a cement wall that will support a new terrace in the outfield at LMCU Ballpark where fans will be able to watch a game.
As the second-generation CEO and managing partner for the West Michigan Whitecaps talks, a front loader zips past the window in his office that overlooks the field near the ballpark’s right field corner. On what was once the ball field, heavy equipment operators excavate and smooth the ground to create a new playing surface for the 2025 minor league baseball season that begins next April.
“When you walk in here for opening day 2025, you’re going to say, ‘Wow, they did some work this offseason,’” Chamberlin said. “This place is changing and it’s changing for the better, and I think people are really excited to come out here and see it and feel it as we move through the various phases.”
The work is part of the second phase of an ongoing $35 million renovation at LMCU Ballpark in Comstock Park, the home of the West Michigan Whitecaps for 31 seasons that sits between U.S. 131 and the Grand River, just north of downtown Grand Rapids.
The construction phase that began soon after the Whitecaps completed the 2024 season on Sept. 6 features new fan terraces in right and left field for group ticket sales that will offer attendees “a fantastic view” of the game, Chamberlin said. The renovations will double LMCU Ballpark’s capacity for groups, which during the 2024 season accounted for nearly half of the Whitecaps’ attendance.
“These are going to be new premium spaces for corporate groups or social groups that want an exclusive private space for their group of 75 to 200. That will have
its own individual bar area, its own wait service, and that’s one of our core focuses,” Chamberlin said. “We need to give West Michigan and our market the ballpark that (Whitecaps fans) deserve, and this is truly starting to get there.”
The West Michigan Whitecaps, the first professional sports franchise in Grand Rapids and the High Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, drew 372,943 fans to LMCU Ballpark for the 2024 season, an average of 5,827 per game. That’s the highest average attendance for the franchise in 23 seasons and ranks “right up there with the best AAA clubs in terms of where we finish from a paid attendance perspective,” Chamberlin said.
The current phase of the renovation also will create a new playing field with better drainage, move in the outfield fences about 20 feet in the power alleys to create more offense, and relocate the bullpens behind walls.
The renovations should enable the Whitecaps to boost attendance and better compete for sports and
entertainment spending.
Chamberlin cites Acrisure Amphitheater now under construction along the Grand River on the south side of downtown and the proposed soccer stadium as new, modern entertainment and sports facilities coming to Grand Rapids that require the Whitecaps to raise their game.
“Grand Rapids has so much going on right now and there are projects that are really going change the way downtown looks and the way people experience the city. They are all, in their own, really incredible projects. We just cannot let LMCU Ballpark and the Whitecaps not be playing in that space,” he said. “This is definitely a relevancy project for us.”
Ada-based Erhardt Construction Co. serves as the general contractor on the project, which was designed by architecture firm Rossetti.
The Whitecaps started the second phase of the renovation project last month as work nears completion on the first phase, which included new hospitality suites, a new players’ clubhouse, batting tunnel, and a training and weight
By Kate Carlson
Meijer Inc. has closed on the $7.35 million purchase of a 130,000-square-foot office building and surrounding property that formerly housed the Christian Reformed Church in North America headquarters on Grand Rapids’ south side.
The Grand Rapids Planning Commission in August approved Meijer’s plans to demolish the aging office campus at 1700 28th St. SE so the retail giant can build a new gas station in its place. The new convenience store would replace Meijer’s current gas station located just south of the property on Kalamazoo Avenue SE. Notably, the gas station would occupy only about 3 acres of the 11-acre CRC site, and Meijer offi-
cials have previously indicated that the remaining portion of the property would be prepared for development until a future use is determined. The existing gas station property to the south brings the total site to 17 acres.
Matt Levitt, real estate manager for Meijer, told the city planning commission in August that he expected planning applications to be submitted sometime next year for the three outlots slated for future development.
Meijer’s team that manages the development of outlot properties “have fielded numerous requests about when the outlots would be available for leasing or buying,” Levitt said in August.
A company spokesperson earlier this month said no additional details are available on potentially
room. The franchise completed the work on player amenities to comply with mandates from Major League Baseball for minor league facilities.
The team expects phase two of the renovations to wrap up by the time the Whitecaps open the 2025 season on Friday, April 4, at home against the Dayton Dragons.
To pay for the renovations, the Class A Midwest League baseball franchise has been working to raise $35 million in capital from investors. So far, the franchise has secured commitments for about one-third of the goal, Chamberlin said.
When owners Lew Chamberlin and Denny Baxter formed the franchise in the early 1990s, they sought out private investors to raise the capital needed to build the stadium.
The franchise has returned to the same playbook to pay for the stadium renovation that’s intended to sustain the team for the next 30 years. At the team’s onset, the investors were almost exclusively folks from West Michigan, Joe Chamberlin said.
“Our sustainability and our secret sauce has been the local investment that we have had,” he said. “I’m still very determined that we’re going find those folks here in West Michigan, that next set of community advocates who want to be a part of this moving forward.”
West Michigan Whitecaps LLC pursues the equity capital raise as “people are being cautious right now,” although Chamberlin has been “having a ton of really good discussions” with prospective investors, some of whom are from outside of the region.
“The great news for me is that there’s not a room that I walk into,
whether it’s in West Michigan or whether it’s on the national level, where there’s not an appreciation for what this franchise is and what we’ve meant to West Michigan,” Chamberlin said.
The Whitecaps organization is raising capital as investing in sports franchises has been on the rise.
For example, Diamond Baseball Holdings, a sports ownership and management group that’s a subsidiary of Menlo Park, Calif.-based private equity firm Silver Lake, now operates 36 minor league baseball teams in the U.S. and Canada. Established three years ago, Diamond Baseball Holdings acquired the Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball franchise in 2023.
“We’re very, very bullish on sports as an asset class for not only the accredited and qualified clients of the world, but also the non-accredited or what we (call) retail investors of the world that are everyday folks that are interested in sports, have grown up watching the same teams. We are slowly seeing different ways and avenues of which that mechanism is kind of unlocked,” said Rohan Suwarna, chief of staff at Republic, a New York City-based investing platform.
Republic has seen investor interest in sports and entertainment opportunities grow 60% to 70% over the last five years from both accredited and retail investors, Suwarna said. Capital raises that Republic has worked on range from a minor league baseball franchise in the U.S. to European soccer clubs “and kind of everything and anything in between,” he said.
The trend reflects how “sports has become a huge part of that culture wave that we’ve seen in the last five years,” Suwarna said.
developing the outlots.
The $7.35 million sale price matches Christian Reformed Church’s initial property listing in September 2023.
Meijer wants to relocate the gas station to be situated slightly farther from surrounding residential neighborhoods and closer to the busy intersection. The existing gas station would be demolished, according to plans filed with the city in April.
The new 24-hour gas station and convenience store would span approximately 3 acres with 22 parking spaces, four electric vehicle charging stations and seven fuel dispensers that could accommodate up to 14 vehicles, according to site plans. The 5,600-squarefoot convenience store would sell alcohol and include a food prepa-
ration area and indoor seating. The development would have entrances on Kalamazoo Avenue and 28th Street.
The CRC decided to sell the large office building at 1700 28th St. SE based on the rising cost of maintaining the aging infrastructure, fewer people working in the office, and a need for a new office design
to accommodate a more flexible post-pandemic work environment. The religious organization moved to a former Cornerstone University building on East Beltline Avenue that it purchased for $3.2 million from Cornerstone University. The CRC had been located at its previous 28th Street location for nearly 70 years.
ResearchedbySonyaD.Hill:shill@crain.com|Thislistoftraditionallobbyingfirmsaswellasbusinessessuchaslawfirmsthatofferlobbyingservicesisanapproximatecompilationofthelargestsuch firmsinMichigan."Lobbyingexpenditures"reportedtothestatecoverallspendingaboveminimumamounts.Thisincludesgenerallobbyingexpensesalongwithtravel,lodging,foodandbeverages providedtopublicofficialsandmassmailingsandadvertising.InformationwasprovidedbythecompaniesandtheStateofMichiganLobbyingFinancialSummary,https://miboecfr.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/ cfr/lobby_stats.cgi. N/A = not available.
By Kate Carlson
The Grand Rapids City Commission has approved $3.6 million in brownfield incentives for the five-story apartment project proposed on the site of the vacant Duthler’s Family Foods on Bridge Street.
“The brownfield approval is an essential part of getting this project done, and I think it shows continued commitment from the city to enable more housing creation,” developer Ryan Talbot, of Birmingham-based Talbot Development, told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. “Frankly, without that approval, the project wouldn’t pencil.”
Talbot plans to demolish the former grocery store at 648 Bridge St. NW and 345 Lexington Ave. NW to construct a 117,000-square-foot building. Plans for the $31 million project include 148 apartments, a small coffee shop open to the public, and tenant amenities such as a fitness center, dog washing room, 68 enclosed parking spaces, a roof deck and a movie projection room.
The residential unit make-up of the project includes 92 studio units, 48 one-bedroom units, and eight two-bedroom units, with apartments ranging in size from about 370 square feet to about 920 square feet.
Some of the units will be “upgraded studio” units, which provide slightly more separation of
rooms than a traditional studio, but not quite to the level of a typical one-bedroom unit, Talbot said.
“It’s an extra deep studio that is a more refined space with a threewall bedroom area that allows you to have more sense of separation,” Talbot said. “The idea is to offer even more variety of unit types to make sure we’re meeting everyone where they are.”
Brownfield eligible activities on site include demolition, site preparation and public infrastructure improvements.
Next up, Talbot is pursuing a Michigan Community Revitalization Program loan from the Michigan Strategic Fund. Talbot hopes to be on the MSF board’s agenda at the end of this year, which would allow him to start construction this winter.
Pinnacle Construction Group Inc. is designing and constructing the development.
Talbot first introduced the housing project conceptually to neighborhood groups on Grand Rapids’ west side earlier this year. The project shares similarities with The Current, a project Talbot is wrapping up in the Creston neighborhood. Residents are scheduled to begin moving into that 72-unit mixeduse building on Nov. 1.
“We’re just finishing up some painting and moving in furniture right now,” Talbot said. “The top two floors will be available right now.”
Michigan has long been synonymous with automotive excellence and manufacturing might, revolutionizing the way the world moves. But today, Michigan stands at the edge of a new era — one where its potential goes far beyond cars and factories. The same spirit of innovation that built our state into an industrial powerhouse can now drive Michigan to the forefront of health care, education and technology. We can transform lives, save lives and shape our future.
A revolution is already underway in West Michigan. What’s happening in Grand Rapids is a testament to the power of collaboration, the strength of vision and the possibilities of partnerships. At the heart of this movement are two organizations — Ferris State University and BAMF Health — both committed to breaking barriers and building a new future for Michigan and beyond.
Ferris State University has been a beacon of accessible education for over 140 years, preparing Michigan’s workforce to meet the demands of the future. Its College of Pharmacy is one of just three in the state, and the university is home to Michigan’s only nuclear medicine technology program. Ferris State University’s dedication to equipping students with the skills needed for the evolving medical landscape makes it an indispensable partner in Michigan’s health
care transformation.
BAMF Health, founded in 2018 and based in Grand Rapids, is boldly redefining cancer care and treatment of other diseases through theranostics — an emerging field that harnesses cutting-edge medical imaging and radiopharmaceuticals. BAMF, which stands for Bold Advanced Medical Future, is already making strides in targeting cancerous tumors and treating cancer and other conditions like Alzheimer’s with precision medicine. Every breakthrough brings us closer to saving lives — and it’s personal. Nearly all of us have felt the sting of losing someone to cancer or Alzheimer’s, and BAMF’s work delivers real hope.
Jointly, Ferris State University and BAMF
Health are training the next wave of innovators and medical leaders, creating jobs in emerging fields, and opening new doors for students. Many of BAMF’s leaders are proud Ferris State alumni, and that legacy of partnership will only grow as our collaboration deepens. This isn’t just about one company or one school — it’s about setting a blueprint for the future of Michigan. But why stop in West Michigan? The potential to expand this innovation across the state and beyond is enormous. What we’re doing here can be replicated in places like Detroit, California, Arizona and internationally. Wherever there’s a need, we can create opportunities. Health care and economic development don’t have to live in
separate worlds. By working together, we can uplift Michigan’s economy while improving the lives of its people.
This is not just a dream or concept. The work is already underway, and the results are clear. But now is the time to go bigger, move faster and reach higher. Michigan has the chance to lead the world in a new era of innovation. This is our call to action: business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, health care providers and policymakers — join us. Together, we can revolutionize not just Michigan, but the way the world approaches business, medicine and collaboration.
Let’s change Michigan. Let’s change the world. It’s time! Let’s go!
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are in high demand in Michigan because they provide fully autonomous, safe and cost-effective anesthesia care in a variety of health care settings.
Most students who enroll in the state’s five CRNA programs are Michigan-based RNs who, upon completion of their education, remain in the region where their clinical training occurs. This pattern has resulted in a concentration of health care services in the metro Detroit area, away from West Michigan and Grand Rapids — which has become a major health care hub.
Emerson is president of the Michigan Association of Nurse Anesthetists.
Because the demand for CRNAs is only expected to grow, it’s become apparent that more clinical space is needed in West Michigan to train CRNAs. Many local nursing students I talk with also want to pursue their advanced degrees closer to home in Grand Rapids due to the area’s nurturing environment for professionals and families. But instead of potentially looking at ways to allow for more clinical space for CRNA training, it recently came to my attention that Grand Valley State University is considering the creation of an “anesthesiologist assistant” program. This would be an economically inefficient
approach due to the higher autonomy and cost-effectiveness of CRNAs in our health care system.
Anesthesiologist assistants are required to be directly supervised by a physician anesthesiologist to practice anesthesia, which doesn’t benefit patients or improve access to care. This is especially true in rural areas of Michigan, where there are very few, if any, anesthesiologists. Nurse anesthetists play a crucial role in delivering comprehensive autonomous anesthesia care across a variety of settings, including rural areas.
The simple truth is that CRNAs are cost-effective, safe and quality anesthesia care providers.
Training AAs also would be a disservice to residents of Michigan when CRNAs are well-equipped to work in all settings across
Michigan. CRNAs work in physician office-based surgery centers, ambulatory surgery centers, IVF clinics and hospitals. The simple truth is that CRNAs are cost-effective, safe and quality anesthesia care providers. Expanding CRNA training programs within West Michigan will ensure that we continue to meet the growing demand for skilled anesthesia providers across the state, ultimately benefiting our health care system and the communities it serves.
By Abby Poirier
Bell’s Brewery is returning to Gerald R. Ford International Airport after an eight-year hiatus with a new taproom under the Kalamazoo-based beer brand.
Officials at the airport on Oct. 17 announced plans to open Bell’s Tap and Table in Concourse B around the start of the new year. The new 1,400-square-foot taproom, which will seat approximately 75 people, will be operated in partnership with food service company HMSHost.
“Since opening in 1985, Bell’s Brewery has been a beloved staple in our community,” said Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority President and CEO Tory Rich-
From Page 1
development partner on the project, King said.
Gun Lake Investments’ plan to add housing along the U.S. 131 corridor in Wayland would be a welcome boost for the area, said Amanda Murray, vice president of business solutions at Lakeshore Advantage Corp., the economic development organization for Allegan and Ottawa counties.
Lakeshore Advantage has also been working to help GLI secure grants with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to study the highest and best uses of land on their proposed project site, Murray added.
“They really want to see Wayland and that corridor developed in a way that helps the community,” Murray said. “From what I learned is tribes don’t always look to acquire land like this in a way that will benefit the whole community, and they are really forward-thinking and looking out to the next 10-plus years.”
Murray added that the region would benefit if any kind of industrial use makes sense for the broader project. Adding some kind of industrial tenant to the project has been discussed as an option for the project.
“Our existing employers don’t have places to grow, and if they can’t grow here locally, they have to grow outside of the state,” Murray said. “We want to keep them here, and we’ll continue to work with GLI, and if they identify what they want to see there is some industrial, I think we could fill that space pretty quickly.”
The tribe plans for the larger redevelopment project to have different districts because of its size. They will focus on a range of uses including residential, commercial and light industrial. The housing proposed on the corner of Reno and West Superior is “really significant” to the project because it will serve as the northern entrance to the larger corridor redevelopment, King said.
The tribe expects three smaller quick-serve commercial projects to open from January through June
ardson in a statement. “With an average of 10,000 passengers coming through our terminal daily — some of whom are first-time visitors to West Michigan — we are excited to showcase the vibrant local flavors of our region and hope all our travelers can enjoy the diverse options available to them.”
The taproom, which is anticipated to open around the start of the new year, will take the place of Michigan Taproom, a craft beer and cocktail restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in the airport’s post-security Concourse B.
“Bell’s is proud of our Michigan-based roots and we’ve loved being able to bring exceptional craft beer to our communities for
2025 around Noonday Market near Gun Lake Casino, King said.
More pieces of the larger project could start construction before the Reno Drive and Superior Street housing project, King said.
“We’ll be getting through a lot of that planning and opportunity setting over the next six months,” King said.
Working with consultants and partners, the tribe conducted a feasibility study and put together a governance framework with local stakeholders and 55 tribal citizens of Gun Lake Tribe to oversee the corridor project, King said. The development team is still in the planning and market study phase to determine what districts they want to activate first, King said.
Throughout the years of planning on the corridor project, King said she has learned that even though it is important to keep tribal economic development organizations independent from the tribe itself, there needs to be some coordination.
“Everybody talks about the arm’s length model in economic development for a tribe, how it needs to be at arm’s length,” King said. “While you do have to have that governance for business purposes, what we found is you cannot be that disconnected for an undertaking like this. What we did realize is we needed to plan together, and the tribe has never holistically come together and planned together like this.”
The cohesive planning behind the project has opened up building opportunities for tribal members and across the organization, King said.
“It’s really an incredible thing because it’s had a lot of unintended benefits,” King added. “It makes sense why, as the non-gaming entity and the economic development arm, you’d want to be separate in a lot of ways, but you still need to be connected to the broader tribe, too. It’s really important to understand and have that connectivity and get that feedback, especially when you’re driving something so longterm and the underlying purpose is our community.”
A small but growing number of tribes are developing similar projects across the country as an op-
nearly four decades,” said Bell’s Executive Vice President Carrie Yunker in a statement. “Through this partnership, Michiganders on the west side of the state can now experience Bell’s at new occasions.”
Bell’s Brewery is partnering with Maryland-based airport food service company HMSHost, which will oversee renovations to the space that began earlier this month.
HMSHost previously operated Bell’s Brewhouse at Ford Airport. The taproom opened in 2013 in the airport’s pre-security Grand Hall food court and closed in 2016.
The Ford Airport also features the Prospect Hill Brewhouse, a brand extension of Grand Rapids-based Founders Brewing Co.
portunity to generate income outside of gaming, said Miriam Jorgensen, a senior researcher at the University of Arizona Native Nations Institute. Because of the smaller land bases that tribes have in Michigan, any substantial amount of land that tribes acquire is noteworthy, Jorgensen said.
Tribes pursuing real estate development also must weigh early on whether to pursue taking property into trust, which would later require them to service the land with utilities and other public services, she added.
This land-trust process is part of what the Gun Lake Tribe is working through as it develops the corridor project, King said.
The plan is for all of the tribe’s land to eventually become trust land, and some of it already is. This means it is held in trust by the federal government for the tribe as part of its reservation.
Some properties in the project won’t go through that process for decades for a range of reasons, King explained. Land that will not immediately become trust land includes parcels where housing is being developed because of the flow of LIHTC incentives and the availability of utilities.
Taking land into trust also would result in the tribe paying no local or state taxes, creating implications for the local government around trust land, King noted.
“We are very deliberate because we also want to make sure that we do something to generate revenue and excitement for Wayland, too,” King said. “We are also open to all sorts of opportunities. I’ve had some conversations with folks that have property within the corridor and we’re open to doing partnerships and that sort of thing.”
In lieu of state and local taxes, the Gun Lake Tribe has gaming revenue sharing agreements that result in millions of dollars a year for state and local governments.
Tribal developments can look a little different from non-tribal developments because of what a tribal government can bring to the table, Jorgensen said.
“When tribes take the lead in a development or some kind of joint enterprise, they are often able to get streams of money or certain de-
Bell’s returns to the airport amid a growth spurt for the brand, which last year regained the title of Michigan’s largest brewery for the first time in six years.
velopment credits that maybe a municipality couldn’t and could increase the pot in a way we don’t always see,” Jorgensen said.
The tribe is still acquiring parcels
According to a report in industry publication Brewbound, citing data from the Brewers Association, Bell’s production grew 5% in 2023 to 467,000 barrels. The increase came as the brewery’s national distribution expanded into all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico. In 2021, Bell’s Brewing sold to Australia-based Lion Little World Beverages Inc., a division of Japan’s Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd., and later merged into the company’s New Belgium Brewing Co. Through July 14 of this year, off-premise sales for the combined portfolio of brands increased nearly 14% to $377.1 million at stores tracked by Circana, according to data cited in trade publication Brewbound.
for the corridor project, and while most of it is to the north of the casino, some properties are to the south of the casino around U.S. 131, King said.
To place your listing, visit https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ people-on-the-move/ or contact Debora Stein at (917) 226-5470 / dstein@crain.com
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Windquest Group
Rebecca Harris, Chief of Staff at The Windquest Group, leads operations, drives strategic initiatives, and fosters cross-functional collaboration. With a passion for efficiency and leadership success, she excels in managing projects and cultivating a proactive culture. Her unique journey from accounting to hospitality, including culinary school and studying abroad, led her to Windquest, where she rose from an administrative role to Chief of Staff in seven years, shaping the company’s growth.
Van Andel Institute
Van Andel Institute
President and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Peter A. Jones has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Considered to be among the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health, election to the academy recognizes a career-spanning record of outstanding achievement and service. Jones is a pioneer in epigenetics, a field with deep implications for understanding health and diseases like cancer.
Kent District Library
Kent District Library is pleased to welcome Joyanne HustonSwanson to her new role as Regional Manager II at the Walker, Alpine Twp. and Tyrone Twp. Branches. She provides direct and indirect supervision of all branch staff and is responsible for day-today circulation operations and implementation of policy and procedural changes. She joined the staff at Kent District Library in 2010 and has held several roles, including Outreach Specialist and Community Engagement Librarian.
Doubletree by Hilton Hotel
Kathy George, CEO of the Firekeepers Casino Hotel for 10 years, has been named by 6PM Hospitality Partners as general manager of the new Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in downtown Battle Creek. The hotel opens October 18. George, whose parents are Mohawk and Seneca from Canada and New York, respectively, led Firekeepers from 2012-2022. She was recently President of the Catawba Nation Gaming Authority and Two Kings Casino in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
The Right Place Inc. helped the company assess the property for a potential data center, said Randy Thelen, president and CEO of the economic development organization.
“The Right Place is pleased to have helped Microsoft Corporation assess a 316-acre industrial parcel in Gaines Charter Township for a potential data center. The opportunity ahead with Microsoft fits into our 10-year tech strategy to develop the greater Grand Rapids region into a leading tech hub in the Midwest,” Thelen said in a statement to Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. “With one of the leading tech companies in the world taking notice, we’re well on our way there.”
Shortly after the Gaines Township purchase, Microsoft closed on 272 acres of property in Dorr Township in Allegan County. The company similarly worked with economic development organization Lakeshore Advantage Corp. on the Dorr Township acquisition.
“Lakeshore Advantage welcomes Microsoft Corporation to West Michigan,” Lakeshore Advantage President Jennifer Owens told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business via email. “We are pleased to help facilitate growth along the (U.S.) 131 corridor in a community that wants industrial investment and is zoned for it. Microsoft’s investment in Dorr Township aligns with our vision for West Michi-
chair of the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority for about 18 years through 2021. He’s a former chair of the Kent County Board of Cmmissioners and served as an executive committee member and volunteer counsel for Grand Action. In those roles, he was credited for championing a variety of Grand Rapids developments including Van Andel Arena, DeVos Place, Millennium Park, Van Andel Institute and Michigan State University College of Human Medicine downtown campus, Crain’s reported.
Former Kent County administrator Daryl Delabbio called Heacock “a visionary” and “one of the most transformational leaders I have ever met or served with.”
“(Heacock) was the chair of the Grand Rapids/Kent County CAA, a role he excelled at and served in for many years, and his legacy is a better community. He always saw the bigger picture,” Delabbio said in an emailed statement to Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. “His imprint on the Grand Rapids and Kent County community is his legacy. And while his accomplishments on behalf of the CAA and County are impressive, what tops the chart is that he is a genuine person, with a tremendous heart and great sense of humor. I’m proud to be considered a friend.”
Richard Winn, president of AHC
gan’s Lakeshore Region to be a business and talent magnet.”
As of Oct. 18, Microsoft officials had not yet with with township leaders and had not shared any potential development plans with them.
Dan Wells, community development director of Gaines Township’s planning and zoning department, said the township was in the process of reviewing a non-disclosure agreement with Microsoft related to the property acquisition.
“We don’t have any general concept plan yet,” Wells said. “(The land) has been controlled by Steelcase for many years and it seemed like two years ago they showed more interest in doing something with it.”
Last year, Steelcase successfully pursued the rezoning of the two adjacent parcels at 4149 and 4450 76th St. SE to light industrial from previous agricultural designations.
“At Steelcase, we have been implementing a long-term, multi-year strategy to divest excess land in the West Michigan market,” Katie Benton, director of corporate communications at Steelcase, said in an emailed statement. “This transaction is the latest in that series.”
A data center would be allowed in the light industrial category, Wells said, adding that such a use would have minimal nuisance issues except for visually. The planning department would try to manage that with any future data center developments by requiring various screening and landscap-
Hospitality, said his relationship with Heacock goes back around 10 years when Winn was appointed to the Convention Arena Authority board as chair of the finance committee. Winn noted Heacock has his “thumbprint” on many transformational projects in Grand Rapids, including ideas for the amphitheater, soccer stadium and his work at Grand Rapids WhiteWater.
“The best attribute for Steve is just his intelligence. Number one, he’s very smart. He engages people. He gets opinions, you know, he rallies people around him. He’s interested in getting consensus,”
Winn said. “At the same time, he’s a leader, he likes to make decisions and get work done, try to get things accomplished, all the things you need in a leader.”
Even in his retirement, Heacock said he aims to remain active in the community, including on the Grand Rapids WhiteWater board and at other organizations, while taking greater opportunities to spend time with his family and travel.
“Steve has made his whole career of working with public-private partnerships,” Chapman said. “He understands how to pull groups with different backgrounds and different interests together … and also has been very politically involved, so you can reach across into many different levels of government, whether that’s state, local, federal. He’s been comfortable in all those arenas, making sure that all the right players are around
ing methods, Wells said.
The township also is in the middle of updating its zoning ordinance, and “data centers” will be added as a permitted use for industrial-zoned property, he said.
A series of industrial users have shown some interest in portions of the former Steelcase site since the rezoning, Wells added.
“I was kind of hoping we’d be able to get a couple of smaller companies in there,” Wells said.
Advantage Commercial Real Estate had been tracking the Steelcase property because it represented several clients recently that were interested in the site, John Kuiper, CEO of Advantage Commercial Real Estate, told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
One user buying up such a large chunk of industrial property will affect the broader industrial market in the area, Kuiper said.
“It diminishes the availability of land for other local users to continue to develop and buy for their own use,” Kuiper said. “It definitely changes the landscape a little bit. We’re working with a number of companies looking for 20 to 40 acres, and it’s incredibly difficult to find something that is zoned, has roads and utilities.”
The fact that data-storage company Switch opened its facility nearby in the township in 2017 and keeps expanding shows that Michigan can support data center projects, according to Kuiper.
“There is a lot of development going on for Switch itself,” Kuiper said. “There is clearly increased demand, and people are OK with
the table talking about the issues that need to be talked about to get the project done.”
After five years as president and CEO, Heacock said the organization’s commitment to its mission has not wavered.
Heacock said the biggest accomplishments during his tenure with Grand Rapids WhiteWater were staying true to the nonprofit’s goals of the project, persevering through challenges and maintaining community support for its work.
Since its inception, Grand Rapids WhiteWater aimed to increase public access to the river in downtown Grand Rapids by removing several dams. Continued efforts have led to the current plan, which focuses on the lower reaches of the river from just north of Bridge Street south to Fulton Street, a proposal that has had different iterations.
Previously, the state rejected Grand Rapids WhiteWater’s original plan in March 2023. The plan proposed the creation of recreational waves, one of its goals that consistently faced opposition from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
After Grand Rapids WhiteWater developed a revised plan alongside EGLE and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the nonprofit submitted a new plan to the state in May. The proposal no longer includes the pitch for recreational waves, but keeps the core of the project to remove
this area (for the) future construction of data centers.”
Advantage Commercial Real Estate also represented a group of investors that decided to buy the Dorr Township property about two years ago as an industrial development opportunity, Kuiper said.
Kuiper said members of the group of investors wish to remain anonymous.
“We agreed that this group should buy it because of the long look forward into developable (industrial) land,” Kuiper said of the Dorr Township properties. “I didn’t think anyone ever anticipated that a single user would come along and buy the entire thing. That was never anticipated.”
Meanwhile, some state lawmakers have attempted to court the industry by passing tax breaks for large investments. In recent months, lawmakers considered a pair of bills — House Bill 4906 and Senate Bill 237 — that would give breaks on sales and use taxes, respectively, on companies’ equipment if it invested at least $250 million.
While both chambers have passed versions of the legislation, neither bill has reached Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as lawmakers remain divided, including Democrats who have raised concerns about facilities’ electricity and water use. In Microsoft’s potential case, Gaines Township is a wholesale water
four dams and install tons of natural rock and boulders in the water to help restore habitats, as Crain’s Grand Rapids Business previously reported.
Chapman said the new proposal is currently under review by federal agencies.
While plan approval is pending, the organization has “every reason to believe this design will be accepted by the state, and this project for the lower reach will be done,” Heacock said.
For instance, permits were approved to move endangered mussels, a project that started in August and has since been completed, a positive sign for the entirety of the project, he said.
“Based on what we’ve heard recently from EGLE, we’re hopeful that by the end of this year, EGLE will be able to make a permit decision,” Chapman said.
Pending approvals, the organization anticipates beginning construction by July 1, 2025, Chapman said. If the state grants permits for the lower portion, Grand Rapids WhiteWater would then direct its efforts to the upper reaches, from north of Bridge Street to Ann Street.
“Because we’ve negotiated how the design of the lower reach is to be completed, much of the substantial work — working with fundraisers, working with the designers, working with the regulators on that design — is largely completed,” Heacock said. “The project really is moving now into a construction phase for the lower
customer of the city of Wyoming. If successful, Michigan could be the latest target for Microsoft’s massive, multibillion-dollar data center buildout that’s taking place in surrounding states: w In May, the company announced a $3.3 billion, 1,300-acre data center project in southeastern Wisconsin between Milwaukee and Chicago. As one of the largest data centers under construction in the U.S., the project also has reportedly raised concerns about the amount of Lake Michigan water withdrawals to support the facility.
w In early June, officials announced plans for a $1 billion, 245,000-square-foot Microsoft data center that would span 489 acres in northwestern Indiana. w Earlier this month, Microsoft disclosed plans for a 245,000-square-foot, $420 million plan that would be part of potentially several Microsoft data centers in central Ohio, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
As data centers are notorious energy hogs, Microsoft also inked a 20-year power purchase agreement with Baltimore, Md.-based utility Constellation Energy that would involve restarting a shuttered nuclear reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The deal was Constellation’s largest ever power purchase agreement and is designed to meet Microsoft’s growing power needs for data centers.
Crain’s Grand Rapids Business managing editor Andy Balaskovitz contributed reporting to this story.
reach and a planning phase for the upper reach.
“To stop now (and retire) at the beginning of those two processes made a lot of sense.”
Looking forward, Chapman said he is excited to bring the restoration project to fruition and continue to apply what the organization has learned from the plan for the lower reach of the river to the upper section to try to pursue goals for the project in the most effective way.
“I know a lot of people have been skeptical. It’s gone on for so many years, which is typical for projects like this. Unfortunately, these are very complex projects, and it can take 10 to 15 years or longer, but sometimes that’s what makes it hard for the public to believe that’s going to happen,” Chapman said. “We’re already having conversations with partners about the upper reach and what that might look like.”
As efforts continue, Chapman’s ability to work with regulators and designers and communicate information are valuable qualities for the organization and is a “phenomenal successor,” Heacock said.
“Some of (the project) is very intense, discussions with the regulators, disagreements about the application of law and the regulations. Matt stays above it all, just is able to negotiate through it. He’s just got a great demeanor for leadership and for this project, and has really a great set of skills to serve the project,” Heacock said.
the sales tax of businesses operating there, income tax for construction workers building the project, and the state tax on construction materials to build the development.
With the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Board’s unanimous approval of the project’s Transformational Brownfield Plan (TBP), the Grand Rapids City Commission is set to hold a public
hearing about the funding tool on Nov. 12, followed by consideration of the TBP on Dec. 3. The Michigan Strategic Fund Board, which oversees the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and would give the final approval of the TBP, is expected to consider the TBP at a February 2025 meeting.
Joe Agostinelli, managing director of Michigan Growth Advisors, which is part of the development team, told the brownfield authority that they are still at the “master plan level” of the project. A conceptual site plan would likely not
behind The Shops at CenterPoint, North Kent Mall and The Village at Knapp’s Crossing.
develop it with a theme that makes it a destination as opposed to impulse retail,” Reminga said during the meeting. “We’re excited about it; it’s unique.”
While Reminga did not say if Lormax Stern had any specific tenants secured or targeted for the site, he told commissioners the project team is eyeing recreational retailers that could include indoor or outdoor elements such as a health club, ropes course, mini golf, batting cages or go cart track.
Chris Brochert, co-founder and partner at Lormax Stern Development Co., is a prominent shopping center and retail developer who is
dealerships in eight states — including Michigan stores in Walloon Lake, Comstock Park and Waterford in Metro Detroit — and billed itself as one of the largest pontoon dealers in North America.
In West Michigan, the company in 2022 opened a flagship 16,000-square-foot dealership along U.S. 131 in Comstock Park, just north of Grand Rapids.
In a hearing Oct. 10 in Fort Worth, Texas bankruptcy court, Judge Edward Morris approved a motion authorizing trustee Mark Andrews to employ Mark Wells, a former Tommy’s Boats executive who held both sales and business development roles, to serve as the company’s wind-down consultant.
On Oct .4, Wells terminated his employment with Grand Rapids-based Borisch family office Simplified Investments, according to court documents.
The court approved a plan for the trustee to hire Wells for up to four months as an independent contractor. Per the agreement, Wells will be paid a total of $46,513 over the next six weeks and $375 per hour after the first of November.
Wells also will receive a commission of 4% of any non-watercraft sale transactions or lease assignments, and 2% of any transactions of watercraft or other sales. According to the agreement, Wells will “assist with all liquidations of the Debtors’ watercraft inventory, assignment of the Debt-
come to the planning commission for approval in its current conceptual stage, Grand Rapids Planning Director Kristin Turkelson said.
“At this point, there is nothing being presented today that causes concerns of not being able to meet the zoning ordinance,” Turkelson said at the meeting. “It’s on a good path from a site plan perspective.”
It is expected that the TBP would have to be amended in the future as the site plan becomes more detailed, which requires several stages of re-approval and is typical of any TBP, Agostinelli said.
While the plan is still conceptual, a “key design feature” the development team is focusing on is public access along the river, Agostinelli said. “Basically, the entirety of the site that’s not covered by a building will be available to the public, open to the public at all times,” Agostinelli said. “The key piece of that would be the extension of Weston (Street) as a pedestrian promenade coming down to the river. We envision that being lined with ground-floor retail shops.”
The development team envi-
sions the project as a space between the Van Andel Arena and Acrisure Amphitheater where people could gather before and after events, Agostinelli added. “It’s inviting the public down to the river in a way that doesn’t exist today,” he said.
The Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority also recently approved an agreement with the project’s development team for a 30-foot easement on the property along the Grand River to add public trail access as part of the Grand River Greenway project.
In addition to Lormax Stern Development, Visser Brothers Construction also is an “interested party” in the property, Reminga said.
A preliminary sketch of the farm property on Lormax Stern Development Co.’s website shows buildings labeled as fitness, recreation, hotel, “townhomes 92 units,” and a swath of land labeled “golf,” as well as unlabeled presumably industrial buildings ranging from 60,000-220,000 square feet on the southern end of the project site.
The sketch aligns with the conceptual industrial, high density residential and “experiential retail”
Reminga presented to the planning commission.
The city’s preference for the Patterson Farm property is for it to be developed as an employment center or residential area with access to the 28th Street corridor, but not a continuation of the big box retail on 28th Street, according to the city’s master plan. The master plan for the property notes the potential for an entryway feature because of its visibility as a gateway to the city of Kentwood.
“The kinds of uses we’re suggesting as being possibilities in this area are fairly large,” Reminga said. “You might be surprised at how few uses are on it compared to a multi-unit shopping center.”
The city will also require a traffic study for any future project at the site.
“I’ve been doing large-scale de-
ors’ unexpired leases of nonresidential real property, the sale of the Debtors’ dealer operations and related property, including pro-shop merchandise, service center parts, equipment and inventory, and customer data and boat purchase history, the sale of other valuable estates’ assets, and such other reasonable wind-down tasks as the Company and Consultant may mutually agree upon.”
Indeed, signs at the company’s Comstock Park store indicate an ongoing inventory liquidation sale, with “up to 50% off.”
Lydia Webb, an attorney at Gray
Reed who represents Andrews, said during the hearing that Wells “has considerable experience in the debtors’ industry, and his contacts have helped the trustee with his task of maximizing value for the debtors’ estates.”
In prior court filings, Andrews said he has made “great strides” to monetize Tommy’s Boats’ assets, including conducting inventory liquidation sales for hundreds of boats.
“It is my business judgment that entry into the wind down consulting agreement will maximize value by allowing the debtors to continue to benefit from the consultant services as the debtors wind down and liquidate their estates,” Andrews said during the hearing. “The agreement is a win-win for the estate and the consultant.”
An attorney representing Andrews had no official comment on the bankruptcy proceedings when contacted by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. Wells and Tommy’s Boats did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.
The wind-down agreement follows a settlement earlier this month in a lawsuit between Tommy’s Boats and manufacturer Mal-
velopment for quite a long time, but I have to keep reminding myself of the frontage on Patterson — the amount of frontage on this property is really a lot,” Reminga said. “In terms of the access, it has to be carefully planned so it’s coordinated with the existing traffic on Patterson.”
The project may include large, single or multi-use buildings, but the plans currently eschew big box retail, which aligns with the city’s master plan, Reminga said.
The development would take place on 82 acres of the property, while the plans would leave approximately 68 acres as open space, including detention areas, according to Kentwood city planning staff’s analysis. The property includes wetlands and some land
ibu Boats Inc. in which the manufacturer agreed to a $3.5 million payment to the dealership group’s estate while also withdrawing its $9.6 million unsecured claim against the company.
The lawsuit, which Tommy’s Boats filed against Loudon, Tenn.based Malibu Boats on April 10, alleged that the manufacturer forced the dealer to take in hardto-sell inventory in a complex fraud scheme that ultimately led the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The suit accused Malibu of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, misrepresentation and fraud, alleging that Malibu Boats CEO Jack Springer conducted an “intentional and fraudulent scheme” to supply “nearly $100 million of its highest priced, highest margin, slow moving boat inventory” to 15 Tommy’s Boats dealerships.
As a condition of the settlement, Andrews agreed to ask the court to enjoin Borisch — who “has his own agenda” — from pursuing lawsuits against Malibu “to ensure the effectiveness of the settlement negotiated by the parties.”
in the floodplain.
The development plans could potentially include a non-motorized trail, Reminga added.
Lormax Stern Development has a purchase agreement for the property, according to information the developer filed with the city. The land is still owned by the Patterson family, according to property records. The family homesteaded the land in 1836 and the family farm produced wheat, corn, hay, oats and milk until 1980, according to a Grand Rapids Press story from 2003.
A vacant farmhouse sits on the property, which the developer is exploring ways to preserve and maintain if a community group or nonprofit expresses interest in taking it on, Reminga said.
Tommy’s Boats filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 20 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. Court documents at the time indicated that Tommy’s Boats had $1 million to $10 million in assets and $100 million to $500 million in liabilities.
In the bankruptcy filing, Tommy’s listed the 30 largest unsecured claims totaling nearly $123.6 million. At the time, Buffalo, N.Y.based M&T Bank was the company’s largest creditor, with a total claim of more than $105 million, followed by Grand Rapids-based Mercantile Bank with a $4.7 million claim.
Other unsecured creditors listed in the filing at the time include three local companies: Alma-based pontoon boat manufacturer Avalon & Tahoe Manufacturing Inc. ($145,994.04), Grand Rapids-based Orion Construction ($127,397.72), and an affiliate of Walker-based boat propeller manufacturer ACME Marine Group ($89,510.59).
The filing also listed approximately $5 million in unpaid sales taxes in several states.
Michigan’s sweeping clean energy policy rewrites that Democrats passed and signed into law last year lean, in part, on capturing carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas power plants and storing those emissions deep underground. While the carbon capture and storage technology so far is expensive and limited in use, Autumn Haagsma has been tasked with charting its future potential in Michigan. Haagsma, director of the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education at Western Michigan University and assistant director of the Michigan Geological Survey, is leading a five-year project to create a “roadmap” for carbon capture and storage’s potential in Michigan. With the support of a recent $5 million federal grant, the project will start by the end of this year and quantify Michigan’s carbon capture potential as well as identify possible challenges to deployment. Haagsma recently discussed the goals of the project and how carbon capture and storage might overcome potential logistical and social challenges to play a key role in Michigan’s clean energy future. The interview was edited for length and clarity.
How do you plan to use this $5 million federal grant, and what is the goal for the project?
Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is a really important technology to help us reduce the impacts of global warming and really helps us transform our way to treat energy emissions from large industrial sources. This drives the overall goal of our project, where we want to develop strategies to safely capture, transport and permanently store greenhouse gases and keep it from going into the air and increasing the effects of global warming. More specifically, we want to create something called a roadmap for CCUS in Michigan. We’re going to be looking at compiling a lot of our data and looking at where there are gaps in our knowledge and how we can bridge those gaps so we can ensure that CCUS is going to be a safe option. It will help us understand our geologic formations and how much they can store. … (We aim to) understand the potential transportation routes, the life cycle analysis, how these projects could change and evolve, how they could impact Michigan or surrounding communities, and how we engage communities so that they are part of the conversation and part of the decision-making as well.
How much do we know, or don’t know, about carbon capture and storage’s potential in Michigan?
There have been some past projects in Michigan, and we’ve done some higher-level studies to understand the potential reservoirs for storage, how much we think they can hold and what are maybe some of the risks associated with that. With those studies, we’ve estimated somewhere around 70 billion tons of storage possible. That’s really, really focused on probably a handful of options. What’s really interesting about Michigan is that we have more than one type of storage possible. Depending on where you are in the United States. some might only have what’s called an alien reservoir, some might be targeting depleted oil and gas fields. We have both
|
By Andy Balaskovitz
of those (in Michigan). But then we have a third one, which we really don’t know very much about yet, and that’s going to be a part of this study to help us understand it more: The potential for CO2 to be mineralized in these specific types of rocks or in the volcanic rocks that are in the Upper Peninsula. That’s really exciting, because then when CO2 mineralizes, it turns into a solid. It’s not something that you have the potential to leak out of the ground. So that’s kind of a big unknown that we’re hoping to explore more of.
How does Michigan compare to other states for carbon dioxide storage capacity?
It’s rated up there. Michigan’s been kind of a hot topic, or hot zone if you will, for not just CO2 storage but also things like hydrogen storage, and that’s a big part of those different types of storage options that I already mentioned. But geologically, we have really thick packages of rock that are going to make sure that the CO2 stays in the ground. We have really good confining systems but we’re also seismically stable. There are regions in the United States where they might
have good storage, but there’s maybe a history of induced seismicity or earthquakes, because what you don’t want to happen is to change your subsurface in a way that could cause some negative impacts.
Do you anticipate public safety concerns being a challenge going forward, and being able to convince landowners that this is something that’s safe and can be done beneath their land? Absolutely. In my experience, it’s been kind of a mixed response. I think people understand the environmental benefit, especially from the air quality standpoint, but then people can definitely get scared when you’re talking about injecting this underground. There’s history with that, especially with communities that have experienced environmental injustice related to oil and gas or things like that. There’s deep-rooted history that we have to be aware of. I think what’s really important is that we acknowledge that at the beginning and that we engage with communities from the start. They are learning what we’re doing, we’re answering their
CrainsGrandRapids.com
President
Group
questions, providing them some resources and listening to them.
Then there’s the infrastructure portion of this, and being able to transport the emissions from source to storage site. What would it take to build that kind of infrastructure in Michigan? The biggest part is transportation because the geology isn’t always going to be good where the sources are, and often where the sources are is where the population is. When you think about power plants and meeting certain needs, you have to transport that far away from those sites into an area that’s geologically and environmentally safe. Transportation is a hot topic, especially for environmental groups, but the most effective way is through pipelines, especially with the transportation of oil and gas and other types of materials. But that public perception will be challenging again. It’s just got to rely on that open communication and being very, very open and honest and hearing people’s plans.
What’s your response to opponents, including some environmental groups, who claim carbon capture and storage is a strategy that prolongs fossil fuel use, and that resources could be better spent on renewable energy?
It’s a really common question. Carbon capture, utilization and storage is just one of many solutions that make up a portfolio, just like renewable energy. CCUS is one of the needed technologies to see a global reduction of CO2 emissions. Without it, we won’t get there.
I do understand there is that connection with oil and gas, because you can use CO2 for enhanced oil recovery. It can be beneficial to the oil and gas industry, but it’s not the only industry that uses carbon capture technology. It’s just one of the industries, and really it’s one of the only technologies for some other industries, like cement or steelmaking. It’s their only choice to make sure that we’re continuing to produce the materials that we need as a community and as a society.
or jkirk@crain.com
Executive editor Mickey Ciokajlo, mickey.ciokajlo@crain.com
Editor Joe Boomgaard, joe.boomgaard@crain.com
Managing editor Andy Balaskovitz, andy.balaskovitz@crain.com
Special projects editor
tim Gortsema, tim.gortsema@crain.com
Director of audience and engagement
Elizabeth Couch, elizabeth.couch@crain.com
Audience engagement editor Matthew Pollock, matthew.pollock@crain.com
Director of Visual Media Stephanie Swearngin
Creative director
thomas J. Linden, tlinden@crain.com
Associate creative director Karen Freese Zane
Digital design editor Jason McGregor
Art directors
Kayla Byler, Carolyn McClain, Joanna Metzger
Notables coordinator Ashley Maahs
REPORTERS
Kate Carlson, real estate, kate.carlson@crain.com
Jack Grieve, audience engagement, jack.grieve@crain.com
Abby Poirier, restaurants, retail and agribusiness, abigail.poirier@crain.com
Mark Sanchez, health care and finance, mark.sanchez@crain.com
Rachel Watson, residential real estate, insurance and tourism, rachel.watson@crain.com
Sonya Hill, research and data, shill@crain.com
ADVERTISING
Advertising & event sales director
Jill May, jill.may@crain.com
Business development strategist Andy Rasero, andy.rasero@crain.com
Account executive Jennifer Maksimowski, jennifer.maksimowski@crain.com
Michigan events director Samantha Flowers, samantha.flowers@crain.com
Events Planner
tressa Brondyke, tressa.brondyke@crain.com
People on the Move manager
Debora Stein, dstein@crain.com
Classified sales
Suzanne Janik, sjanik@crain.com
Sales assistant Rachel Smith
CRAIN’S CONTENT STUDIO
Senior director of Crain’s Content Studio Kristin Bull, kbull@crain.com
Crain’s Content Studio manager Clare Pfeiffer
PRODUCTION
Vice president, product Kevin Skaggs Product manager tim Simpson Prepress/production director Simone Pryce
CUSTOMER SERVICE (833) 830-7446 toll free (845) 267-3031 local line (for
