Daycare filling up a sign of improved economy

By
●
General
●
June 16, 2010

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

Fast company blazes out of Climax
By
●
General
●
June 16, 2010

CTS Telecom has come a long way from its beginnings as the Climax Farmers Telephone Co-op. Writer Jane Parikh finds out what has kept the company going since 1911 and where it's going next.

Dog park open for games of fetch
By
●
Development News
●
June 16, 2010

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

Kalamazoo Promise is more than a scholarship program
By
●
Entrepreneurship
●
June 10, 2010

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
By
●
Development News
●
June 10, 2010

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
By
●
Development News
●
June 10, 2010

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
By
●
Development News
●
June 10, 2010

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

Benton Harbor Safe Summer 2010 offers jobs and more for young people
By
●
Development News
●
June 10, 2010

Programs in Benton Harbor could provide as many as 5,000 summer opportunities for young people in the community.An initiative called Safe Summer 2010 is designed to improve economic and job development opportunities for youth and young adults throughout the summer.More than $250,000 in reallocated or new program funding has been identified for these programs. Funding is made possible through various state and federal programs in addition to local donors.Partners in the initiative are Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment Inc., Michigan Works!, the Consortium for Community Development, Whirlpool Foundation and Whirlpool Community Relations, the Boys and Girls Club of Benton Harbor, Cornerstone Alliance and many others. "As we are working our way through rough times," says Benton Harbor Mayor Wilce Cooke, "activities to engage young people in both recreational and job training will set the stage for future opportunities for them as individuals, as well as for the economic development efforts underway for the community as a whole."Safe Summer 2010 will include programming for recreational activities, such as summer youth sports and transportation to Jean Klock Park, job training and workplace experience.Michigan Works! will provide opportunities for local youth to gain summer work experience and prepare them for their future careers. "Today's employers are requesting skills and talents that come from specific experience, training and education. For six years, our Youthworks! Summer Jobs program has provided these opportunities. This year, despite funding challenges, we've enrolled nearly 200 Benton Harbor youth into the program." said Todd Gustafson, Executive Director of the Michigan Works of Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties.  The Benton Harbor Area Schools announced its summer lunch program and the locations and times for serving meals to area students. "This program helps to provide students a healthy diet, which is an essential part of their development and well being," said Dan McGinnis, President of the BHAS School Board. Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: Jamie Balkin, Cornerstone Alliance

Shuttle service will connect neighborhoods and beach
By
●
Development News
●
June 10, 2010

A free shuttle service to link the neighborhoods of Benton Harbor and Jean Klock Park will be offered in partnership with Dial-A-Ride, making a trip to the beach a whole lot easier this summer.The Jean Klock Express will run in continuous loops of 16 stops across Benton Harbor from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. The route begins at Calvin Britain Elementary and some of the stops are Benton Harbor High School, McCord School, Morton Hill, The Boys & Girls Club, The Golf Club at Harbor Shores and Jean Klock Park. The full schedule is here. In accordance with  normal Dial-A-Ride rules, all riders under the age of 16 years old must be accompanied by an adult.The service, which began May 18, will continue through Labor Day. The Consortium for Community Development, Cornerstone Alliance and the Whirlpool Foundation are working with Harbor Shores and the City of Benton Harbor to provide recreational and educational opportunities for the youth of the community. "For me, it's all about the kids. To make a difference in the lives of our young people is the foundation of re-building any community," says Marcus Robinson, President of the Consortium of Community Development and Harbor Shores Trustee.  Harbor Shores is Lake Michigan's first beach and golf resort community, just 100 miles east of Chicago in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph.  The community's central amenity is an 18-hole, public Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course that offers stunning views of Lake Michigan.   Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: Ron Eng, Harbor Shores

Improved math, reading will better chances of employment
By
●
Development News
●
June 10, 2010

Sometimes getting a job requires training in the basics.The Workforce Development Center, a new project offered at the Northside Association for Community Development in cooperation with Kalamazoo Valley Community College, will offer such training.Mattie Jordan-Woods, the NACD's executive director, says she knows skilled technicians in automotive mechanics and other trades who lack the basic math and reading skills to gain certification in those professions.  In the one-year pilot program, participants will learn about a variety of jobs and what it requires to apply for them. They will determine their existing skills and what skills they need to better qualify for employment. They also will be able to create a customized learning program for each student.Participants will be able to learn at their own pace and one-on-one tutoring will be available. "It will get people on the path to a job," Jordan-Woods says. "For people to work themselves out of a low-income or poverty situation, they need to have solid math, writing and reading skills."William Willging from the M-TEC of KVCC will oversee the project.Two tutors will be based at the NACD, located at 612 N. Park St., to provide one-on-one, computer-based instructions that will raise the basic mathematics and reading skills of neighborhood residents.The training is free to all participants. It is funded by a $7,000 grant from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.      KVCC President Marilyn Schlack says she sees the Workforce Development Center as a stepping stone to what is being envisioned in the evolving Arcadia Commons West concept for the redevelopment of downtown Kalamazoo, and a positive influence on adjacent Kalamazoo-core neighborhoods.Among the missions of the NACD are job creation, neighborhood revitalization, and financial independence for residents. Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: Tom Thinnes, Kalamazoo Valley Community College

Our Sponsors

Gilmore Foundation

Our Media Partners

Battle Creek Community Foundation
Enna Foundation
BINDA Foundation
Southwest Journalism Media Collaborative
Southwest Michigan First
Milestone Senior Services
Consumers Energy

Common Ground Is Brewing

Support local stories and receive our signature roast straight to your door when you join at the Standard level (or above).

Drink Better, Read Local

Close the CTA

Don't miss out!

Everything Southwest Michigan, in your inbox every week.

Close the CTA

Already a subscriber? Enter your email to hide this popup in the future.