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WHY GRAND RAPIDS? • West Michigan is becoming known nationally as a hub for sustainable practices by business, non-profits and government to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the future. • The U.S. Green Building Council estimates that metro Grand Rapids now has more square footage per capita under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, (LEED) certification than any other city in the United States. • Grand Rapids has many “first of a kind” LEED structures in the U.S. such as Keystone Community Church (Faith-based) and the The Rapid Central Station (Public Transit), Lack’s Cancer Center (Healthcare) and the first LEED certified residence. • Grand Rapids is ranked among the top 25 cities on the Sustainable Cities Index by Kent Portney. • Grand Rapids was recently recognized by the United Nations University as a Regional Center for Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development. • Kent, Barry, Ionia, and Newaygo Counties i.e. “West Michigan” is ranked #6 in the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index by Robert Huggins Associates. • West Michigan is ranked #3 in fun and recreation category of “fun places to be” by the Places Rated Manual. • Business Industrial Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) is the first known trade association in the U.S. to embrace sustainability principles. • Grand Rapids’ Community Sustainability Partnership has now been endorsed by over 100 organizations, institutions, and businesses; similar partnerships are now developing across West Michigan. • Downtown Grand Rapids is evolving before our eyes. More than $1 billion dollars in private and public development projects is currently underway or schedule to start by the end of 2007. • Numerous public sector /private sector partnerships across Grand Rapids and West Michigan have been highlighted as national models. • Grand Rapids is home to the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford. OTHER NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS • In 1870, Dr. Frances Armstrong Rutherford was named by the Common Council to be City Physician, the first woman to hold that office either in this or any other city in the United States. • Grand Rapids is recognized as the worldwide leader in furniture manufacturing. • Grand Rapids Electric Light and Power Co., organized March 22, 1880, probably was the first hydroelectric plant in the world. • Grand Rapids Community College was organized as the first public junior college in Michigan and the seventh in the United States. • Grand Rapids was one of the first major cities to adopt the commission-manager form of government. • Grand Rapids was among the first cities to use voting machines. • Grand Rapids became home to the first regularly scheduled passenger airline in the United States when Stout Air Services began flights from Grand Rapids to and from Detroit. • Grand Rapids was the first city in the nation to fluoridate its public water supply.LINKS www.meetgrandrapids.com www.michiganswestcoast.com www.rightplace.org www.rapidgrowthmedia.com NWA Article on Grand Rapids |
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