Rural Innovation eXchange (RIX) focuses on the innovation, talent, entrepreneurship, social innovation and community development taking place in rural Michigan and features the work of rural talent and content creators.
RIX cares about what’s next for rural places in Michigan. Each week we will feature content highlighting innovative entrepreneurs, talented people, dedicated organizations, and devoted community-builders. Additionally, RIX will lift up innovative people leading impactful work in Michigan to help strengthen the work of people in rural areas and foster a deeper sense of connection.
Issue Media Group is honored to partner in this effort with Connected Nation Michigan, Michigan State Housing Development Authority, MSU Extension, Michigan Center for Rural Health, Michigan Health Endowment Fund, Michigan Municipal League, Council of Michigan Foundations, Michigan Downtown Association and Michigan Fitness Foundation.
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Please share your thoughts and story ideas with us at [email protected].
Meet the Rural Innovation Exchange team:
Greg Tasker, managing editor
Greg Tasker is a journalist based in Traverse City. He was formerly managing editor of Cadillac Magazine and served as an editor in the business and features departments at The Detroit News. Greg has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists and his work has been published in various media including BBC Travel, Michigan Blue, AAA Living, Budget Travel, Crain's Detroit, Parade, and Model D.
Rosemary Parker, writer
Rosemary has worked as a writer and editor for more than 40 years. She is a regular contributor to Rural Innovation Exchange, UPword, and other Issue Media Group publications.
Erica Hobbs, writer
Erica is a writer based in Detroit with a passion for arts and culture and travel. She has reported for numerous news outlets including the Detroit News, Fodors, Business Insider, Reuters, WDET and AnnArbor.com (now the Ann Arbor News), among others.
Brenda and Chuck Marshall, writer and photographer
Brenda and Chuck have been chronicling the beauty and culture of Michigan for over ten years. Their stories, filled with local insights and experiences, are published on LifeInMichigan.com. In addition to his writing, Chuck is passionate about photography and has become a prominent documenter of Michigan's vibrant music and craft beer scenes. Together, they promote Michigan one story at a time.
Dianna Stampfler, writer and photographer
Dianna has been writing professionally since high school. She is the president of Promote Michigan and the author of Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses and Death & Lighthouses on the Great Lakes, both from The History Press.
About Issue Media Group
Rural Innovation eXchange is published by Issue Media Group. Incorporated in 2005 in Detroit, Michigan. IMG operates a national network of online media outlets leveraging the power of solutions-based journalism to report on community change. Our publications aim to connect readers to their communities' most visionary and innovative people, projects, businesses, and organizations — fostering civic capacity, improving understanding of key issues, amplifying underserved voices, and building community attachment during a time of local media decline.
We work with like-minded stakeholders across public, private, nonprofit, and grassroots organizations whose values and missions align with ours through an underwriting model of publishing. Our journalists connect with community stakeholders through regular listening sessions designed to build trust and shape authentic community stories.
IMG's work has been recognized and supported by leading journalism organizations nationally including INC Magazine, Knight Foundation, Columbia Journalism Review, Facebook, Lenfest Institute, Google, Solutions Journalism Network, Ground Source, and Society for Professional Journalists.
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Michigan Assets
Issue Media Group’s Michigan footprint of 18 local online community news sites is grounded in cross-sector stakeholder coalitions comprised of leadership in foundations, nonprofits, government and municipalities, education, community and economic development, health, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Through regular community listening sessions, these leadership coalitions help guide relevant community-informed coverage, increase local audience engagement and ensure influential readership networks.
All Michigan content is published through a growing network of sites that include: Detroit’s Model D, Grand Rapids Rapid Growth, Metro Detroit’s Metromode, Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti’s Concentrate, Kalamazoo / Battle Creek’s Second Wave Southwest, Flint’s Flintside, Port Huron’s The Keel, Catalyst Midland, Route Bay City, Epicenter Mount Pleasant, UPword in the Upper Peninsula, and Rural Innovation Exchange covering Michigan's rural community. Every week, Second Wave is published to a statewide audience featuring a listing of top stories from across IMG’s network of sites. Current Michigan assets include over 120 community partners, 80 journalists, 4.6 million annual readers, 280,000 emails, and 213,000 social media followers.
Detroit's Model D: www.modeldmedia.com
Second Wave (statewide): www.secondwavemedia.
About The Inspiration for Rural Innovation eXchange Logo:
Secret Sky Barn, HumeTownship, Michigan, Artist: Catie Newell.
Reworking the iconic structure of the existing barn, Secret Sky Barn allows the sky to enter and permeate the building. By day, the visitor sees the patterning and intricacy of the barn walls, juxtaposed with a massive cut that lets the daylight pour through. At night, the work glows from within, acting as a large-scale lantern in the landscape and casting long shadows across its surroundings, giving light and dark back to the sky.