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Stryker takes the LEED for facilty in Portage

Stryker Corps.' patient handling and emergency medical equipment building in Portage -- home of manufacturing and divisional headquarters office space -- has been recognized for the way it has reduced its impact on the environment. Since the building's construction in 2005, Stryker has reduced the facility's energy usage by 27 percent through implementing a building operations plan, an energy audit and a retro-commissioning plan. Improvements have included the re-use of pallets, diverting plastic from landfills and overall trash cost reduction.The company's efforts have resulted in LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council. Stryker has earned a silver designation in the LEED rating system for existing building operations and maintenance, the first manufacturer in Michigan to do so.The rating system under which Stryker's efforts were evaluated assesses whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues, water efficiency, energy efficiency, sustainable purchasing, recycling programs, exterior maintenance programs and ongoing indoor air quality.  LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, which provides a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.The LEED rating system for New Construction has similar goals that apply to newly built facilities. Stryker's manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, has achieved a gold designation in the LEED rating system for new construction, one of only five facilities in China to achieve this rating.  These certifications recognize Stryker's ongoing, company-wide efforts, many of which began in its European plants, to design and operate its facilities in a more sustainable and responsible manner.Stryker, one of the world's leading medical technology companies, provides innovative orthopedic implants as well as state-of-the-art medical and surgical equipment to help people lead more active and more satisfying lives. Writer: Kathy Jennings Source: Stryker Corp.  

WMU team says here comes the Sunseeker

WMU's solar race car team is in Texas readying the Sunseeker for a round of qualifying events.The new Sunseeker has been in development for 18 months. It is lighter and more aerodynamic than previous WMU racers, weighing in at about 650 pounds with the driver on board.This year's race marks the 10th time WMU students have participated in the biennial American Solar Challenge race that draws the best engineering schools from the United States and Canada. WMU solar powered vehicles have placed as high as sixth and captured best design awards in post-race ceremonies. WMU is one of only four teams in North America to have participated in all nine previous races.A team of 10 engineering students and two advisors from WMU are now in Cresson Texas for the American Solar Challenge qualifying events -- four days set aside for the evaluation of  all the vehicle systems and the Formula Sun Grand Prix track race, June 16-18, to ensure the vehicles are up to the demands of the road trip.This year,  competitors will race for 1,100 miles through four states on a course chosen to include pieces of routes used in previous events in a historical tribute to the 20 years of organized solar racing events in North America. The cross-country road race will start June 20 in Tulsa, Okla., and conclude June 26 in Chicago.Race updates are available online. The team also has its own Facebook page.The event offers students a chance to apply classroom knowledge to a hands-on project that culminates in a test of the efficiency, safety and durability of the solar vehicles. The teams also promote the use of renewable alternative energy and the advancement of related technologies by educating the public through the presentation and demonstration of a solar powered vehicle.Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: Cheryl Roland, WMU

Exporting the Kalamazoo Promise to help other communities grow

Community leaders interested in finding out more about the Kalamazoo Promise and similar programs are in Kalamazoo this week for the third annual PromiseNet.The conference is designed to bring together representatives of  communities that are investing in education and economic development through scholarship programs."Investing in Youth for Community Transformation," this year's theme, is aimed at helping other cities accomplish the same kind of transformation the Promise has created in Kalamazoo.Conference speakers include: • Nationally renowned economist, author and commentator Dr. Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College for Women. • Kalamazoo investor William D. Johnston, president and chair of Greenleaf Companies.• Gregory M. Darnieder, special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Education and advisor on the secretary's Initiative on College Access. Conference sessions are being led by a number of individuals connected with the Promise and Promise-type initiatives. They include Kalamazoo Public Schools Superintendent Michael Rice and school officials affiliated with similar initiatives in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin and other states."The goal of PromiseNet 2010 is to connect communities that are working together to transform themselves,"  executive director of the Kalamazoo promise Dr. Janice Brown says. "The conference is designed to bring together individuals from all over the United States who are invested and engaged in education-based economic renewal like Kalamazoo, as well as those in the planning stages."The conference comes on the heels of  President Barack Obama's national attention given to The Kalamazoo Promise, a college tuition guarantee for graduates of the Kalamazoo Public Schools.  During his commencement address for Kalamazoo Central High School's Class of 2010, the president praised the Promise initiative, saying: "I think that America has a lot to learn from Kalamazoo about what makes a successful school in this new century."Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: Cheryl Roland, WMU

Daycare filling up a sign of improved economy

Jobs are returning to Battle Creek's industrial park and so is growth in the businesses that support them, reports the Battle Creek Enquirer.Manpower Inc. at 4661 W. Dickman Road now employs five times more workers than it did during the worst of the economic recession, Branch Manager Betsy Sanford said in the story. The temporary staffing service center has about 380 workers on its roster, up from 75."It is turning around. The jobs are coming back," Sanford said.Excerpt:The hope of a brighter industrial future led Nicole Lewis to expand her home-based day care into the former Altrusa Day Nursery in the 4661 W. Dickman Road office complex alongside Manpower.Lewis' former business, called Urbandale Day Care, could accommodate only 12 children, but her new Fort Custer Child Care Learning Center is licensed for 100.At full capacity, she would need to hire an additional seven to 12 child care workers and she expects to need them eventually, she said. Already parents in the industrial park are clamoring to secure places for their little ones.For other signs of recovery, read the entire story.Source: Battle Creek Enquirer

Dog park open for games of fetch

Not every Kalamazoo County Park specifically prohibits digging. But that's rule No. 7 for dogs whose owners take them to the Kalamazoo area's latest dog park. Prairie View County Park now has six acres of Kalamazoo County park land devoted to dogs and their owners open to the public and their pooches.Volunteers who helped make the park a reality are expected to bring their dogs to the ribbon cutting and related festivities on opening day, June 17.Demand for the park emerged in two different planning processes: one during the overall master plan for Kalamazoo County Parks; and the second a plan for Prairie View, says David Rachowicz, director of parks and recreation. Since June 17 is a free day at all county parks, including Prairie View, Rachowicz may be too busy to bring Rory, his Brittany, to check out the park. The dog will have to wait to sniff out a five-foot fence surrounding the property. It encompasses three acres that are wooded with trails and three acres of open fields. Amenities include drinking water, dog waste bags, shady areas and benches. Dogs can run without leashes in the park, though they must be leashed from the car to the park entrance and as they are exiting the park.Dogs must be accompanied by an adult age 16 or older and parents should note children younger than age 8 will not be permitted in the fenced-in area as a safety precaution.The park is open year-around from 7 a.m. to sunset.Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: David Rachowicz, Kalamazoo County Parks

Biosciences pick up momentum in Michigan

From 2006 to 2008 Michigan's bioscience industry added 3,300 jobs, faster than the national average, reports Business Review West Michigan.National trade group BIO in its biannual report said the industry directly employed 37,180 people as of two years ago, growing nearly 10 percent from 2006 in jobs.The industry pays an average annual wage of $76,394.The BIO report ranked Michigan 10th nationally in bioscience research and development in 2008, 13th in clinical trials initiated in 2009, and 18th in venture capital investments and 17th in related patents from 2004 to 2009. Excerpt: Across Michigan, research, testing and medical labs remained the largest and fastest-growing industry subsector from 2006 to 2008, growing by 18.5 percent, or nearly 2,500 jobs, and adding 85 new companies. MichBio, the industry's trade association in Michigan, attributed the growth in research, testing and medical labs to start-up companies formed out of corporate downsizings at pharmaceutical and device companies, coupled with a growing need for diagnostic and medical testing for health care providers. The medical device and equipment subsector added more than 1,300 jobs from 2006 to 2008, an 11.9 percent increase. For more study results, see the entire story. Source: Business Review West Michigan

Kalamazoo Promise is more than a scholarship program

Education and economic development go hand-in-hand. Kalamazoo-area economic development leader Ron Kitchens explained the concept to representatives from the national news corp, including NBC and FOX news, in town June 7 for President Barack Obama's address to the 2010 graduating class from Kalamazoo Central High School.He talked to reporters all day. His message: the area's focus on education as a sound growth strategy.Excerpt:Of The Kalamazoo Promise, the free college tuition program for Kalamazoo Public Schools graduates, he said, "'They asked, 'Isn't it just a scholarship program?''""People don't understand education as a strategy of economic development," said Kitchens, who is president and chief executive officer of Southwest Michigan First, the area's lead economic development organization. "It really is about putting our financial resources into our natural resources."For more on Kitchens' message read the entire story.Source: Kalamazoo Gazette

Community garden takes root at Kalamazoo College

IIn the backyard of a Kalamazoo College-owned house on Academy Street a community garden is growing.It represents the coming together of three campus events.Kenneth Mulder, a K-College alumnus, came to campus to speak about social justice and community gardens. He is Farm Manager and Adjunct Assistant Professor for Environmental Studies at Green Mountain College in Vermont.Shea Howell, professor of communications at Wayne State University, visited to talk about social justice.Jeanne Hess, professor of physical education, had put together a class: "Gardening for Fitness." It filled immediately.Energized by the speakers and discussions fostered by outreach and debate on the new Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership on campus, staff members with interests in gardening, food, and justice started meeting together and momentum for the project took them from winter planning stages into spring planting.The college garden has been dug and planted by students in Jeanne Hess' physical education class, and those who simply want to be involved. Staff and alumni also were involved. Hess, professor of physical education, applied for and received a small grant from ACSJL, so the project is now equipped. In the fall, another physical class may harvest the vegetables and ready the garden ready for the following spring.Now, the harvest will go to students, through Sodexo, the college food service, and members of the greater Kalamazoo community, through distribution by a local food bank.The backyard where the garden grown is fairly small, lacks visibility, and may prove too shady. It is anticipated it could be moved in the future if a better, permanent home is found. School gardeners see a time when community gardening could grow to include science, art, business, philosophy, sociology, psychology, education and environmental sciences.  Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: Jane Hoinville, Kalamazoo College

Inspectors learn how to recognize oil tainted seafood

Battle Creek's International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) is working with two federal agencies to train food inspectors who soon will be seeing sea food tainted with oil from the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.Already 20 inspectors have gone through the training in Pascagoula, Miss., another 20 are being trained there this week, and additional classes are being organized to take place in Baton Rouge, La.The training in "sensory detection" teaches inspectors to identify through sight and smell sea food tainted by oil. Training covers identification of taint in shrimp, oysters and finned fish.Inspectors will need skills in seafood safety monitoring so that food protection officials can take proper regulatory response measures, including issuance of advisories on opening and closing of fisheries.Inspectors from five states -- Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas -- have been asked to take the course in anticipation of the need for a larger pool of people with such training.IFPTI is reimbursing  attendees' travel expenses to overcome the limited funding for training and tight travel budgets that would otherwise have prevented these food protection officials from getting the emergency training.IFPTI was asked by the University of Florida to develop the special training as a result of previous training the Institute had put together on recognizing decomposition in sea food. The institute coordinated and funded the training. The IFPTI is a leader in delivering food protection training to state and local food safety officials. Initial funding for IFPTI has been provided by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: Joan Bowman, International Food Protection Training Institute

Kalamazoo revels in commencement visit from President Obama

Members of the Kalamazoo Central 2010 graduating class accepted their diplomas, marched across the stage and shook hands with the President of the United States. Every graduate got to shake his hand. Many shared a hug with him and in return heard a word of advice. President Barack Obama had just delivered the commencement address, a reward for the high school that bested 1,000 others to win the White House's Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. The president said the win showed the nation what has been accomplished at Kalamazoo Central. His address concluded a day that included a surprise visit with seniors before the ceremony and a visit with Democratic Party donors. Kalamazoo residents gathered in a number of locations across town to see the ceremony on the big screen. The day's events were heavily reported by the national press corp. Some of the coverage: Boston Herald, Detroit Free Press, Christian Science Monitor, CNN, FOX, New York Times, MTV,  MSNBC, USA Today, Time.com, MSNBC and Washington Post. The capacity crowd of more than 5,000 gathered in Read Fieldhouse on Western Mchigan University's Campus. The president offered advice, telling grads their success depends on "how hard you try; how far you push yourself; how high you're willing to reach. Because true excellence comes only through perseverance." And he suggested that the anonymous donors who created the Kalamazoo Promise -- a program that pays tuition for state college education for all graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools  --  did it because they believed in the potential young people in the community. "And because of their faith that you would use this gift not just to enrich your own lives, but the lives of others -- and the life of our nation." Obama asked the 2010 class "to pay them back by seeking to have the same kind of impact with your own lives; by pursuing excellence in everything you do; and by serving this country that we all love. "I know you can do it. After all, you are the Giants -- and with the education you've gotten here, and the chance you have now to continue it, there is nothing that you can't accomplish."Writer: Kathy Jennings

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