Recap of our General Member Meeting March 27, 2025
12:00 p.m. Welcome by Jessica Gutowski-Slaydon, President, Swift Printing & SBA
Special thanks were extended to David Ringler from Küsterer Brauhaus for hosting us and offering a great deal on the food. Attendees are encouraged to consider his services for catering or as a fantastic destination on the WestSide when out and about.
12:05 p.m.
Claire Colley from the Grand Rapids Chamber and SBA Board Member led the meeting!
12:10 p.m.
Ryan Waalkes from Bridge Street Ministries and SBA Board Member discussed important housekeeping items: the by-laws, unchanged for 30 years, were updated to ensure compliance and modernize systems effectively.
12:12 p.m.
Introductions: Attendees introduced themselves at their tables and shared their favorite part of spring.
12:18 p.m.
Joe Dyer from Disher spoke about Building Culture. To connect with Joe or find out when he’s presenting elsewhere, attendees could send him a message at joe.dyer@disher.com.
12:28 p.m.
Paula Veneklase from Help Pregnancy Aid shared insights into the organization's 50 years of providing care for pregnant women and additional support for families with young children.
Ryan W, on behalf of the Board presented Help with a small donation. This is apart of our new plan to highlight a non-profit in the are every meeting. Last month we had Steeple Town and did the same thing.
12:38 p.m.
Dale Kivinen from Rapid River and Jon Farmer from iHeart Radio discussed their upcoming event on Bridge Street. For questions or more information, attendees were invited to connect with them directly at dalek@rrbevco.com
12:48 p.m.
Monica Hall, the new Westside Commercial Corridor Manager, discussed the signage projects for the three business districts. Business input was crucial—attendees were asked to take the survey here.
12:55 p.m.
Annette Vandenberg from WestGrand discussed the city-wide WestSide Clean-Up, now at 17 locations. This year, the event was more family-friendly, with no alcohol. The event is April 26. Register or learn more here.
1:00 p.m.
Thank you for attending!
Action Items:
Send a blog post on your business that os 300-1500 words. We will backlink to your website to help build up our online presence.
Take our membership survey!
Attendees with questions or those wishing to speak on a topic at a future meeting are invited to send a message to jes@swiftprinting.com, and they would be scheduled on the agenda.