March 21 General Meeting Recap The Neighbor “hood” Meeting
Introductions – 12:00 p.m.
Jessica Gutowski-Slaydon, Swift Printing, Treasurer SBA - Welcome thank you for being here! We have around 25 members would like to get that to 40 before the end of the year.
Those in attance included: Abbi Wynsma, Carol Hennessy, Chris Swank, Dan Iacovoni, Andrew Dancer, David Ringler, Elise Bassi Igoe, Emilio Zamarripa, Gary Szotko, Jeff Steinport, Alberto Garza, Joey VanderVeen, John Schultz, Kailey Smith-Barth, Sage Johnston, Kate Carlson, Leonard Wernette-Leff, Lucas Leverett, Margo Johnson, Marion Bonneaux, Michael Kicz Jackie Palasek, Sue murtland, Mike Bellovich, Monica Hall, Morgan Bills (KSSN, Union High School) P.J. Baker GRPD, Paola Mendivil, Paul Soltysiak, PHIL TOWER, Richard App, Jenny Waugh, Rose Sosa, Ryan Talbot,Ryan Waalkes, Sara Scott and Adonis Thomas, Spencer Boorsma, Sue ,Pete, Tina Femeyer, Walt Gutowski, William Smith
Thank Our Host! – 12:05 p.m.
Nick Adams, Drip Drop Cocktail Room, was out of town, but Jordan, the manager, was a fabulous host! Thank you! Donuts were provided.
What is WMCAT? – 12:10 p.m.
Jamon Alexander, WMCAT - How great is he? Did you guys realize we had that type of service on the West Side? jamon.alexander@wmcat.org is his email address if your business would like to connect with him.
Pictured is Jamon Alexander with some of the StockBridge Business Association Members at Drip Drop Cocktail Room
Vision for Bridge Street – 12:26 p.m.
Walt Gutowski Jr., Swift Printing/Swift Realty - You have to understand the history to know where Bridge Street will go. So he shared some of the history of the street. Walt’s vision has always been to bring Bridge Street back to what it once was.
He shared the most important thing though is making the West Side a welcoming place for everyone, because it hasn’t always been that way. He shared the idea of making Bridge Street a shared street and left us with the idea of taking out 131. Lots of very cool possibilities for our future in GR. His email is waltjr@swiftprinting.com if you wish to connect with him.
Pictured is Walt Gutowski Jr. with an old photo of Bridge Street looking west from the Bridge St. Bridge.
New Development – 12:43 p.m.
Ryan Talbot, Talbot Development, project at former Duthler’s location. We ran out of time for questions, but here’s the Link to slide deck, and here’s his email if you have additional questions as well: ryan@talbotdevco.com.
Kate Carlson from Crain’s was a guest and wrote this story. Thank you, Kate, for coming to our meeting! You’re so appreciated! [link]
Pictured is Ryan Talbot of Talbot Development (courtesy photo)
Time Out: We took a short break to sing happy 36th birthday to our fearless leader, Mitch Cook. Walt played "Happy Birthday" on the banjo.
Neighborhood/Community Updates – 12:50 p.m.
Chi Benedict & Michelle Hall, WGNO: Community Cleanup, 15th year on April 20th, we’re looking for 3-4 more food vendors and more sponsors. Please connect with them if you’re interested in learning more: chi@westgrand.org.
Ryan Waalkes, Bridge Street Ministries, shared how the best way we as a business community can show we care is by getting involved with the schools. There are many needs. He also shared Eden Cafe is a black owned coffee shop on Bridge Street. ryan@bsmgr.org
Sara Scott and Adonis Thomas asked to do an update as well and shared about how we can support the local schools more. Right now they are trying to fund 3rd-grade (State Capitol) and 5th-grade (Greenville Village) field trips. If you have any connections or are feeling generous, please connect with Sara at sarascott@kentssn.org.
GRPD Update – 12:55 p.m. Captain P.J. Baker, Grand Rapids Police Department. Huge thanks to Captain Baker for his continued support. Once again, the best practice is if you see something, report it, every time. The police department needs to see the patterns.
ArtPrize is going to be awesome this year, please connect with Kailey Smith-Barth at kailey@artprize.org if you have any questions! Right now, you need to sign up to be a venue. It is $175.
We ran out of time for Rich App to share more updates, but if you don’t already subscribe to his daily email I encourage you to do so. Send him an email at Richard@grandrapids.org and he’ll addd you to the list.
1:07 p.m. Thank you for attending the meeting.
Next meeting: Thursday, May 23 located at Interphase Interiors, 415 Leonard St NW. Guest Speakers: Jonny Brann & Former First Ward Commissioner, Dave Shaffer, Nicole Durga, Mary Free Bed At Home & Rebecca Krenz, Operations Manager, Downtown Grand Rapids Ambassador Team.