2023 Leadership Visit: Grand Rapids, Michigan
PRESENTED BY:
A delegation of about 170 Central Kentucky business, education, government, and nonprofit leaders recently took part in Commerce Lexington’s Leadership Visit to Grand Rapids, Michigan. One of the longest-running and largest intercity trips of its kind among chambers of commerce nationally, these annual community-building visits provide great opportunities to examine what other cities and regions are doing well and look inward at how we can improve Lexington and Central Kentucky.
During the trip, participants visited the global headquarters of Steelcase, the leading manufacturer of furniture for offices, hospitals and classrooms. The group also heard how Grand Rapids has expanded its health care industry through the growth of the Medical Mile and plans to become a major tech hub in the Midwest by growing 20,000 new tech jobs over the next ten years. In addition, representatives from Grand Action 2.0 discussed how they have fostered public-private collaborations to create transformational projects in Grand Rapids. In addition to the sessions, participants experienced Grand Rapids on their own or through a variety of elective tours and lunches covering topics like downtown development, diversity and inclusion, housing affordability, the area’s well-known beer culture, and more.
Throughout the trip, attendees were asked to pay special attention to the stories that made Grand Rapids what it is today in preparation for an interactive discussion about Lexington on the final day of the trip. As participants considered a variety of introspective questions both individually and in groups, Commerce Lexington partnered with local artist and illustrator, Bryce Oquaye, to create a graphic illustration in real-time that represented the group’s comments about Lexington’s future story.
During the trip, participants visited the global headquarters of Steelcase, the leading manufacturer of furniture for offices, hospitals and classrooms. The group also heard how Grand Rapids has expanded its health care industry through the growth of the Medical Mile and plans to become a major tech hub in the Midwest by growing 20,000 new tech jobs over the next ten years. In addition, representatives from Grand Action 2.0 discussed how they have fostered public-private collaborations to create transformational projects in Grand Rapids. In addition to the sessions, participants experienced Grand Rapids on their own or through a variety of elective tours and lunches covering topics like downtown development, diversity and inclusion, housing affordability, the area’s well-known beer culture, and more.
Throughout the trip, attendees were asked to pay special attention to the stories that made Grand Rapids what it is today in preparation for an interactive discussion about Lexington on the final day of the trip. As participants considered a variety of introspective questions both individually and in groups, Commerce Lexington partnered with local artist and illustrator, Bryce Oquaye, to create a graphic illustration in real-time that represented the group’s comments about Lexington’s future story.
Grand Rapids Leadership Visit Materials:
Full Grand Rapids Briefing Book (updated June 2, 2023)
Agenda
Attendees (as of June 2, 2023)
Data Comparison - Grand Rapids vs. Lexington
Electives (Monday)
Electives (Tuesday)
DAILY COLLABORATOR NEWSLETTERS:
Issue #1 - Monday, June 5
Issue #2 - Tuesday, June 6
Issue # 3 - Wednesday, June 7
Full Grand Rapids Briefing Book (updated June 2, 2023)
Agenda
Attendees (as of June 2, 2023)
Data Comparison - Grand Rapids vs. Lexington
Electives (Monday)
Electives (Tuesday)
DAILY COLLABORATOR NEWSLETTERS:
Issue #1 - Monday, June 5
Issue #2 - Tuesday, June 6
Issue # 3 - Wednesday, June 7
Commerce Lexington's annual Leadership Visit has helped expose Central Kentucky's leaders to the best ideas of model communities throughout the United States, yielding valuable lessons that have been applied to the improvement of the Bluegrass Region. As one of the longest-running and largest intercity visits in the country, this three-day trip has become the most valuable opportunity to bring community leaders, decision makers and ideas together in order to make positive changes in our community. It's a very unique program that includes the foremost business, education, government and community representatives of Central Kentucky.