By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Miccus, Inc., a technology company operating out of the Lakeshore Advantage Business Garden in Zeeland, has come up with a new way to listen to iPods, televisions, phones, computers and other audio devices—wirelessly. By building upon technology developed by Bluetooth, Jeremy Kovacs created BluBridge, a wireless transmitting and receiving “bridge” between audio devices and the sound systems they use.

“For example, people who’ve invested money in quality home sound equipment usually have to buy a dock to plug in their iPod to play it through the speakers,” Kovacs says. “They can walk away from it, but have to walk back to mute it or change songs. With our technology you can play through the home theater system wirelessly and keep the iPod with you.”

The product, BluBridge Traveler, also transmits audio, say, from a television to headphones. The product has a 30-foot range and operates on battery power or USB.

“I’m in discussions with Amazon.com and NewEgg.com and I anticipate in the next month people will be able to buy the product on those sites,” says Kovacs. “I’m also talking with The Source By Circuit City, a technology retailer in Canada.”

Besides the Traveler, Kovacs is busy designing products with a 300-foot range to give customers more flexibility. These products and a transmitter designed specifically for iPods will launch at MacWorld in California next January.

Lakeshore Advantage recently selected Miccus as one of three companies to receive loans from the $1 million Lakeshore Advantage Seed Capital Fund.

Source: Jeremy Kovacs, Miccus, Inc.

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Source: Rapid Growth
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By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Who knew that enzyme PI3K-C2alpha is needed in order for certain cancer cells to live and thrive? Nobody. Until recently.

By lowering levels of PI3K-C2alpha, a phosphoinositide 3-kinase enzyme, researchers at Grand Rapids-based Van Andel Institute and Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research discovered that pancreatic, prostate and lung cancer cells died. The procedure also kept cells from reproducing, and it sensitized cancer cells, making them more receptive to chemotherapy drugs like Taxol.

Researchers also determined how low the enzyme needed to be to “switch on” cancer cell death. The findings were published in Molecular Cancer Research.

“Although we must further determine what happens in normal cells to confirm the therapeutic value, we also found that decreasing levels of PI3K-C2alpha to a certain point didn’t kill the cancer cells, but did sensitize them to chemotherapeutic agents such as Taxol,” says VAI Scientific Investigator Jeff MacKeigan, Ph.D. “This alone could contribute to a more effective anti-cancer strategy in a subset of cancers.”

Source: Van Andel Institute

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Source: Rapid Growth
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By: Deborah Johnson Wood

When Saugatuck homebrewer Mark Young and his wife Bridget planned a fiesta at their home last year, they didn’t want to deal with the usual hassle of keeping kegs of Mark’s beer cold—buying and hauling dozens of bags of ice, salt, giant containers and cleaning up the messy runoff from melting ice. There had to be a better way to keep the beer cold. But there wasn’t. So they invented one.

They bought a neoprene wet suit on eBay, cut it up and took it to a neighbor to sew into three prototype “sleeves” to fit over the kegs. Then they put the sleeves on the kegs and kept the beer cold without any mess. KEGlove was born.

“On the market there weren’t any cooling devices the right size for homebrew kegs and everything required bagged ice and some other container,” Mark says.

The Youngs partnered with another company that makes a product called an ice blanket. The blanket folds into a small rectangle, customers freeze the blanket and slide it into the KEGlove sleeve before wrapping their kegs.

“The blanket keeps beverages at 41 degrees (Fahrenheit) for five hours with an ambient temperature of 75. After eight hours its 49 degrees,” Mark notes.

The Youngs have a patent pending on the KEGlove system, which includes the blanket and the sleeve.

KEGlove sells in stores in nine states and directly from the web site. It’s also offered as a private label item for beer distributors, homebrew supply stores, and microbreweries.

The company was a recent recipient of a $55,000 startup loan from the $1 million Lakeshore Advantage Seed Capital Fund.

Source: Mark Young, KEGlove

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Source: Rapid Growth
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By: Deborah Johnson Wood

On September 2, Grand Rapids Public Schools launches its initial foray into a school year divided into three 12-week trimesters, instead of the traditional 16-week semesters. The change affects high schools, alternative high schools, and City Middle-High—some 5,500 students.

The result of nearly three years of research, GRPS sees trimesters as a way for schools to meet the increased graduation requirements of the Michigan Merit Curriculum.

Students will have fewer classes per day, which allows those who need to recover credits the time to do so. The new schedule also allows students the time to take more elective classes.

“We wanted to provide a structure so students who want to explore electives or students who need extra help or time will have the opportunities they need,” says Jane DeGroot, executive director for secondary schools.

Trimesters also allow students more time to pursue dual enrollment, through which they are enrolled in high school and college simultaneously.

“Many high school students start college at the sophomore level because of dual enrollment,” DeGroot notes. “It’s a win/win for the student and for the colleges and universities.”

The high schools also are implementing instructional reforms based on effort-based learning. Last year 32 teachers and principals received training in effort-based learning at the Institute for Learning (IFL) at the University of Pittsburgh.

“It used to be believed that by using the intellect I was born with I could only get thus far, and if I score low I’m slotted as a slow learner for life,” says DeGroot. “But with effort and hard work people can get smarter."

That group returned from Pittsburgh and trained another 160 teachers and principals. This year those participants will use that knowledge to help students delve deeper into disciplinary studies like math and language arts.

Source: Jane DeGroot, Grand Rapids Public Schools

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Source: Rapid Growth
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By: Deborah Johnson Wood

In 2004, the City of Grand Rapids Equal Opportunity Department (EOD) launched a plan to translate key city documents, signage and the city’s web site into Spanish to better serve the growing Hispanic population. At the time, the latest data from the 2000 U.S. Census showed that the number of Hispanic residents increased from 4.5 percent in 1990 (about 8,500 people) to 13 percent (about 26,000) a decade later.

Fifteen city employees volunteered on the Spanish-speaking Process Improvement Team to tackle the language issue. Water department notices, treasurer’s office documents and other written materials were translated in Spanish, and signage at City Hall and the Water Department now welcomes residents who speak Bosnian, Vietnamese, Spanish and English.

Perhaps the biggest project was creation of the city's Spanish web site—the only site of its kind in the state. The site launched last week.

“We took the time to connect with several members of the community for feedback,” says Tom Almonte, chair of the committee, an EOD employee and president of the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“I think the city is saying to everyone ‘you are a vital part of our community,” he adds. “Not everything that’s on the English site has been translated into Spanish, but we’ve included information from the water department, on taxes, on how to apply for a license with the city and how to pay a ticket.”

The committee also added a language line that supports over 100 languages, so residents who don’t speak English can get translation help whenever they come to any city department, 24/7.

Source: Tom Almonte, City of Grand Rapids Equal Opportunity Department

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Source: Rapid Growth
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By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Saint Mary’s Health Care in Grand Rapids has incorporated two platforms for The Rapid's proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) into its development plan for four acres along the west side of Jefferson Street, across from the hospital’s main campus.

The inclusion of the BRT platforms is more than just an idea: one goal for the city’s 2009 reconstruction of Jefferson is to lay the foundations for the BRT platforms, one just south of Maple Street and one directly across Jefferson.

What’s interesting is Saint Mary’s faith that the BRT will be established even though final approval and funding for it could be a couple of years away.

Environmental studies need to be completed and the project needs an $8 million state funding match to unlock some $30 million federal dollars for the project. So far that match hasn’t come.

“We look at it as a great opportunity for everybody, and we’re making changes to some of our plans and traffic flows to make this a reality on our campus and to accommodate the BRT northbound lane along Jefferson,” says Tom Stankewicz, spokesperson for Saint Mary’s.

“The return on investment has been about 400 percent with BRT projects in Ottawa, Canada, and other places. We are one of the largest employers in the city with 2,400 employees and we want to give them, our patients and visitors another transportation option. The BRT seems like a win/win for everybody and the environment.”

The plan calls for the demolition of the former Eerdman’s Publishing building across the street from the Saint Mary’s campus, and, in its place, a mixed-use development of retail, medical, coffee shops and residential.

“With what we are planning to do with this area,” Stankewicz adds, “along with Cathedral Square next door, the BRT seems like a wonderful fit.”

Source: Tom Stankewicz, Saint Mary’s Health Care; Jennifer Kalczuk, The Rapid

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Source: Rapid Growth
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You could go jogging. Or you could sprint through the CBD in an urban game of capture the flag. Here's some local fall fitness fun you're not going to see in the Olympics. 

Source: Rapid Growth
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Wealthy at Charles launched two years ago in a dilapidated Wealthy Street building, an eye sore in the rapidly renewing Cherry Hill neighborhood. Andy Dragt shows us what it looks like today.

Source: Rapid Growth
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In the wake of Michigan’s adoption of the country’s most enticing tax incentives for filmmakers, developers are scrambling to be the first to construct high-tech soundstage and production facilities and capture the influx of Hollywood’s money.

Source: Rapid Growth
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USA Cycling has named a Grand Rapids women's pro-caliber cycling event to its National Racing Calendar for the first time ever, a coup for the event which is only in its second year.

Source: Rapid Growth
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West Michigan companies and entrepreneurs will soon be able to access innovations from across the country thanks to a new partnership between innovati ... Read More on guru Doug Hall, Founder and CEO of Cincinnati-based Eureka! Ranch and The Right Place Inc. The collaboration includes creating a standardized evaluation system for assessing the market value of ideas and building a national network of ideas for companies to electronically access via the internet.

Today at a special program open to the public, Hall and the InnovationWorks team presented the results of recent collaborative efforts and shared best practices for creating an innovation-driven company. Through the national network, West Michigan businesses and entrepreneurs can gain access to vetted ideas from around the country, and inventors whose ideas cannot effectively be commercialized locally can gain national exposure. InnovationWorks� recently launched Idea Portal, accessed through its website at www.innovationworkswestmichigan.org, will serve as West Michigan�s conduit to the national network.

�The work we had already done with the Idea Portal and our commitment to accelerating innovation and commercialization in West Michigan positioned us perfectly to create this partnership with Doug,� said Jim Ross, Vice President, Innovation & Technical Services for The Right Place. �As the beta site for this new system, West Michigan companies will be among the first in the U.S. to access a wealth of proven, validated innovations they can use to increase market share, improve competitiveness and, ultimately, grow our regional economy.�

Although vetting and accessing new ideas is at the heart of the new network, Ross notes that InnovationWorks goes far beyond matchmaking.

�So much of what you see happening nationally is based on brokering inventions,� he said. �As part of an economic development organization, our goals are much more holistic. We are focused on collaborating regionally to increase West Michigan�s capacity to create and develop innovations at all stages of the commercialization process. West Michigan is already a center of excellence for advanced manufacturing; we want it to become a center of excellence for innovation as well.� View Less

Source: The Right Place

Three West Michigan cities have been awarded $800,000 in brownfield grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency � the first time any such fun ... Read More ding has come to the region.

Part of a $74 million release of grant funds to communities in 43 states, the money will be used to fund brownfield site assessments in targeted redevelopment areas within Grand Rapids, Wyoming and Kentwood.

�Michigan has been a leader in brownfield redevelopment for more than a decade,� said Rick Chapla Right Place Vice President, Urban Redevelopment, noting the state�s passage of groundbreaking brownfield legislation in 1996, which subsequently served as a model for other states. �West Michigan has taken full advantage of that leadership, becoming one of the most active redevelopment regions in the state. It is a credit to that momentum that we were able to work with these cities to secure this funding.�

The brownfield redevelopment is a large part of a growing regional commitment to sustainable principles, and is at the heart of projects like Grand Walk � a sustainable business park in northern Grand Rapids � as area municipalities use public dollars to make at-risk urban properties financially competitive with suburban and rural greenfields.

�The strong urban center Grand Rapids enjoys is due in part to the dedication we have to making urban properties attractive for investment,� said Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell, noting that Grand Rapids� Brownfield Redevelopment Authority has approved over 65 brownfield redevelopment projects to date resulting in over $800 million in private investment and over 7,000 jobs. �The Right Place and our city Economic Development Department collaborate to make best use of tools such as state tax credits and these federal grants so that we can assist businesses and developers, thereby enhancing their investment in our community.�

�Kentwood has matured to the point that we have many of the same land use issues that are typically thought of in core cities like Grand Rapids,� added Kentwood Mayor Richard Root. �Working with partners like The Right Place to leverage resources like these grants is another way we are attracting investment and jobs for our community and showing that Kentwood is open for business.�

�Manufacturing has been a core industry in Wyoming�s economy and we are working to rebuild that investment,� said Wyoming Mayor Carol Sheets. �This funding will help us revitalize our available industrial properties making them more attractive for investment and expediting the re-growth of our manufacturing sector.�
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Source: The Right Place

West Michigan regional economic development leaders today got a first look at InnovationWorks� (IW) new Idea Portal during a special demonstration ses ... Read More sion. A critical tool of IW, the session was designed to familiarize key partners with the Portal so they can actively engage area businesses and entrepreneurs in the new initiative, dedicated to advancing innovation throughout West Michigan by accelerating the commercialization of inventions and new technologies.

The Idea Portal serves as a central, web-based repository of innovations, entrepreneurs and commercialization resources, using sophisticated algorithms to identify and accelerate the linking of new ideas to commercialization resources in the region. Powered by Microsoft Sharepoint software and developed in collaboration with Metrics Reporting and People Design, the Idea Portal electronically matches new or orphaned intellectual property from inventors and companies with entrepreneurs looking for new ideas. Once a successful match is made, IW staff can assist the commercialization process with additional coaching and resources.

�What is really critical at this point, however, is stocking the Portal with IP and those looking for it,� explained Jim Ross, Right Place Vice President of Innovation & Technical Services and MMTC-West Regional Manager, who manages IW. �Helping our strategic partners understand the tools will support their efforts to grow West Michigan�s economy and increase our ability to extend IW�s services throughout the region.�

Serving a seven-county West Michigan region, IW provides an integrated system of resources designed to mine inventions and new technologies, connect companies to ideas and coach individuals on commercialization. The initiative will expand innovation capacity in West Michigan resulting in increased prosperity and new wealth for the region. IW is funded by WIRED West Michigan and developed by The Right Place in collaboration with its economic development partners throughout West Michigan.

In addition to managing the Portal, IW also hopes to harness needs and ideas through its newly formed collaborative networks, where the region�s top companies, academic institutions and professionals work together to share best practices on innovation and intellectual property and co-develop new technologies.

�Directly assisting individuals, companies and entrepreneurs is a large part of what we do, but we have seen first hand the power of collaboration in innovation,� said Ross. �As the West Michigan regional office of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC), The Right Place has developed opportunities for companies to share best practices and work collaboratively on shared issues. We are taking that model and applying it to the acceleration of new technologies, materials and processes that will take West Michigan companies to the next level and secure our region�s position in the global marketplace.�
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Source: The Right Place