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Diploma in hand for first Kalamazoo Promise grad

The ambitious and unique Kalamazoo Promise, with its full-ride college scholarship offer to each of the city's high school graduates, has produced its first college graduate.Stacy Westhoff, a member of the 2006 class of Kalamazoo Central High School, made quick work of her college education, finishing in January, just three and 1/2 years after Kalamazoo Promise accepted its first public high school graduates.The program, which was launched in 2005 and enrolled its first students in 2006, is funded by  anonymous donors who promise to provide a college education at state institutions to all graduates of Kalamazoo's public schools.The idea behind the promise is to spark economic development in the city by attracting residents who wish to send their children to school for next to nothing. The philosophy behind it also holds that more highly-educated citizens lead to good things for a community.Westhoff, for one, says she is already seeing positive changes that she believes could be connected to the Kalamazoo Promise. "More schools are being built. More neighborhoods. More development ... I could have gone to college without this, but for so many people this is the chance of a lifetime."The 22-year-old majored in philosophy with an concentration on professional and applied ethics. She minored in business.And, she's headed toward another life milestone in May, when she will marry.Bob Jorth, Kalamazoo Promise's executive administrator, says seeing the first student cross the stage was a big deal, but May will bring many more reasons to be proud as 50 to 75 Kalamazoo Promise students are expected to don their caps and gowns.About a dozen students have already received two-year degrees or certificates, Jorth says. About 190 students from the city's high school graduating classes of 2006 remain currently enrolled, and in total 342 have used Kalamazoo Promise dollars to pay tuition. Kalamazoo Promise recipients have 10 years to complete their degree."We had no idea what our retention rate would be" Jorth says. "Of our first class we have an 80 percent retention rate. I'm not an expert on this, but I expect that number is quite high."Currently,about 1,000 students - from 2006 to the most recent high school graduating classes - are attending college on Kazoo Promise's dime.Writer: Kim North ShineSource: Bob Jorth, Kalamazoo Promise

Kalamazoo and People’s Food Co-Op partner on $1.7 million expansion

People's Food Co-Op, a 40-year-old natural grocery business currently at 436 S. Burdick St. in Kalamazoo, is working with the city's Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to relocate and expand into a block-long, mostly food-business development at 507 Harrison Street in the River's Edge district.People's Food Co-Op will build a larger 6,000-square-foot building and hire at least six part-time employees. The new store would be located near MacKenzie's Bakery and One Way Products, two other brownfield relocation and redevelopment projects meant to make the most of land that was contaminated by a paper factory while also bringing cohesiveness to similar businesses.The new facility will increase People's Food Co-Op by more than four times its current size and will make room for a larger prepared foods section, with seating, as well as the addition of a fresh meat section and expanded local and organic produce, grocery, bulk foods, frozen, and refrigerated items.By expanding its storefront, the Co-Op expects to increase the amount it purchases from local farms and processors by more the $100,000 it spent in 2009 and to expand on existing programs, including the relocation of the 100-Mile Farmers Market to the new site. In addition, the project will include 1,400 square feet of space to be leased to Fair Food Matters' Can-Do Kitchen, a food business incubator which will expand their support of local entrepreneurs in the creation of unique products for resale.People's Food Co-Op is a community-owned business with over 750 individuals and families owning a shares and receiving discounts and rebates as a return on their investment.People's Co-op hopes to raise at least $450,000 in loans and equity from owner-members."We are so excited to be able to offer a way for the community to invest in good food, in local farming, and in our own economic success" says Chris Dilley, General Manager of People's Food Co-Op.Writer: Kim North ShineSource: City of Kalamazoo, People's Food Co-Op

Downtown event center debate is on

A culinary school, urban farms, spaces for artists, retailers andentertainers could be neighborhood spinoffs of an event center plannedfor downtown Kalamazoo, reports the Kalamazoo Gazette.Kalamazoo County Commissioners must decide whether to proceed with theproject by asking voters whether they can agree to a 1 percent tax onfood and drink at restaurants and bars, and an increase in the hoteltax from 5 to 6 percent to fund construction of a 6,800-seat, $81million arena. The county has until May 25 to make a decision onwhether to place the question on the August ballot. Commissioners began weighing their options after a committee recommended proceeding with the event center.Excerpt: The proposed downtown Kalamazoo arena is feasible because ofconservative cost estimates, said Bob Beam, the retired vice president ofbusiness and finance at Western Michigan University.The committee took a conservative approach, estimating the restauranttax would generate about $4 million a year initially and grow by 1.75percent a year, Beam said."We think we have been careful in our revenue estimates," he said. To find out more, read the whole story on the downtown arena proposal.Source: Kalamazoo Gazette

Job retraining program in national spotlight

Job retraining programs in Benton Harbor and other parts of Southwest Michigan were the focus of a Fox News story on successes from the No Worker Left Behind Act, Fox News repoorts. The state and federal funding that comes from NWLB has put put new nurses, hotel managers and a variety of other occupations back into the workforce since it began retraining displaced workers in 2007.Excerpt from Lake Michigan College spokesperson: "Seventy-two percent of people in programs like this one have new jobs."To see the full story visit Fox News.  Source: Fox News

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