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Did You Know? Interesting facts
about West Michigan
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Barry County was named
after William Barry, a Postmaster General under President Andrew
Jackson.
In 1844, John Green became Greenville’s first settler.
By 1871, two railroads (Chicago Michigan Lake Shore Railroad and The
Michigan Lake Shore Railroad) serviced Olive Township in Ottawa
County.
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If
you are interested in sharing news about the West Michigan region,
providing content or would like to suggest a topic for the WMSA
monthly newsletter, please email info@wm-alliance.org
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Kent County & WMSA Offer
Training to Local Units of Government on a New Online Tool
The Kent County Purchasing Department’s focus on
continuous improvement of their business practices and their work to
leverage technology has led to the implementation of an innovative
online reverse auction tool. This is a real-time auction where
sellers compete to sell goods and services for progressively lower
prices—a sort of E-Bay in reverse where the price is bid down by the
sellers. The reverse auction increases competition and transparency
for commodity purchases and streamlines the procurement process.
Average savings achieved are 18% lower than target bid price for all
sorts of commodities from paper and fluorescent lighting, to one time
purchases such as printers, internet T1 lines plus more.
On September 13, 2010, Kent County and WMSA hosted the first training
session for the online reverse auction system with local units of
government in Kent County taking part. Click here to see what
Bonnie Blackledge, Clerk, Cannonsburg Township, said about the
training.
Additional training opportunities are set for October 11th and November
8th at Davenport University’s Lettinga Campus. Kent County
local units of government are encouraged to contact WMSA for more
information or to register. Future training dates for other
units of government will be announced after the New Year.
Renewables
& Energy Efficiency Road Show Coming to Michigan
WMSA along with regional partners, Grand Valley State University
(GVSU) and The Right Place, Inc., are teaming up with The German
American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest (GACCoM) to bring the
Annual Renewables & Energy Efficiency Road Show to Michigan on
Tuesday, September 28, 2010. Click here for a flyer.
To register or learn more about this event, please click here.
 The 'Green Space'
Special Offer for WMSA Stakeholders: Green Growth
Conference & Expo
The Right Place, Inc. will be hosting the Green Growth
Conference + Expo on October 13 & 14, 2010 at the Eberhard
Center-GVSU (downtown Grand Rapids). We are excited to announce
that through our partnership with The Right Place, they are offering
all WMSA stakeholders a 25% discount. If you’d like to take advantage
of this opportunity, learn more or to register for this exciting
event, please visit www.rightplace.org/G2.
To obtain the special discount, please enter the discount code WMSA
on the registration page. Click here to
register.
Register NOW, as the early registration fees end this
week (If you register by Friday 10/01, you would save almost $125!) Click here for a flyer
for this event.
Please contact Natalia Powers at The Right Place, Inc., with any
questions. She can be reached at: 616-771-0327.
Regional
Spotlight: Art Prize Takes Over West Michigan
After an amazing first year, ArtPrize is back in West
Michigan. This year’s event is bigger and better and kicks-off on
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. and runs through Sunday,
October 10th. ArtPrize brings artists from every venue together in a
world-class competition with prizes totaling $449,000 ($250,000 first
prize). ArtPrize winners are chosen by a public vote.
Click here for a detailed
listing of ArtPrize events.
About the West Michigan Strategic Alliance
The West Michigan Strategic Alliance serves as a catalyst for
regional collaboration among the businesses, institutions and governmental
units serving more than 1.4 million people living in an eight-county
region including: Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon,
Newaygo and Ottawa. WMSA works to encourage a regional mindset, which
will foster collaboration on critical issues that impact how we live,
learn, work and play. Additional information is available at www.wm-alliance.org
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