State of Our Downtown Grand Rapids 2019
This national award winning video features Tim Kelly, President and CEO of Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. We took the ‘best of the best’ moments and created a three minute narrative out of a 30 minute keynote presentation. Economy is key, brevity takes time. After three months we surrendered to it.
About the Event
On September 5th, 2019, mayor Rosalynn Bliss kicked off the 5th annual ‘2019 State of Our Downtown GR’ address. Rosalynn serves on the board of Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., an organization that is helping to lead the revitalization and development of Grand Rapids ‘Urban Core’. In the audience, VIP types (people that make our city great) like the commissioner, elected officials and those serving on the Downtown Development Authority. She prefaced Tim Kelly’s (President and CEO at Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.) keynote address with a few important notes:
Our entire region is impacted by the vibrancy of Grand Rapids and Downtown. Rosalynn referenced one of her favorite origin stories about cities: they were built to facilitate and maximize exchange, places for people to come together, trade ideas, develop friendships, create material goods, make incredible food, share knowledge, embrace culture, and expand our skills.
Also, importantly it’s the exchange of emotional, physical, and spiritual support. This efficiency in exchange of return raises the potential and possibilities for new experiences. It also elevates encounters, connections, it boosts creativity, strengthens our economy, and our community. It sustains us as people, and it propels our growth as a great place to live, work and play for everyone.
As a place to maximize exchange, Downtown Grand Rapids has made remarkable progress these past several decades remaining on an upward trajectory. Downtown GR now offers exchanges both planned and spontaneous. We have business opportunity, cuisine, philosophy, schooling, hotels in construction, an entertainment district, incredible local music, and health care. It truly is amazing what is happening in our city.
People all over the country are taking notice. We’ve landed on list after list as one of the most fastest growing regions in America. The energy is spreading. North, East, South and West, rippling across the entire city and region.
On this night, we came together to learn more about the great work happening at Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. and all the incredible things we have accomplished in the past as well as look to the future.
At the end of the keynote Tim Kelly gave us three important takeaways to remember: “We are only here today because of the legacy we are building upon, downtown as a place has value, and while we know that things will change in the years to come and beyond, if we continue to work collaboratively and recognize that the work we do today is a gift to the future, we can be assured that the state of our downtown will remain strong.”