Grand Rapids, Michigan has no intention of giving up the ghost any time soon no matter what people may say, and Joe Johnston of Universal Mind and Rick DeVos at Start Garden are the techies on the ground telling the world it’s time to take another look at their city, then join them for the following five reasons.
The startup community encompasses more than just tech geeks.
Start Garden may be kicking things into high gear with its commitment to invest $5,000 in two new ideas each week, but DeVos says the roots of support run deeper. “We’ve got a whole bunch of knowledge pools,” DeVos says, citing the staffs of big corporate entities as well as local banks, law practices specializing in intellectual property, and manufacturers.
“It’s about more than getting a funding round from an angel investor. There are people here who can help you do a first production run and get the product on store shelves,” he says. Local business leaders from Fifth Third Bank, Steelcase, and Cascade Engineering, among others, have committed to be accessible to startup founders through weekly office hours or by meeting them in the Start Garden space. “The broader community is open, excited and engaged.”
Hometown pride is cool again (and so are small businesses).
DeVos calls the industrial mindset “monolithic” and argues that the focus on large-scale enterprise needs to change. “I want to see 1,000 startups each employ a handful of people because there’s so much opportunity to solve problems,” he says.
Hometown pride has become cool again, according to DeVos, and that’s helped the city rally behind new startups. He points to the fact that Grand Rapids’ denizens came out in droves for the city’s monthly 5x5 nights where new ideas were presented in five minutes by five slides. He says the presenters were always curated by a very involved community who wanted to support the push of creative innovation. “There’s an awareness that we need to try new things and let people pursue visions and not be focused on Big Three,” he says.
For good measure, we’d like to throw in a sixth reason to push you over the hump. Any town willing to do this is definitely interested in doing whatever it takes to succeed:
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Full story at Fast Company.
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