GROW Is Honored to Be Recognized as a Diversity Visionary Awards Winner! GROW is excited to announce that we were recently recognized as a Rising Star Award Winner at the Diversity Visionary Awards, put on by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. The Diversity Visionary Awards was part of the D.E.I. (Diversity, … Read more
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Making #HERstory and Becoming #SHEroes, How this Entrepreneur Found Her Calling Through Art. Janice’s story is one of perseverance and persistence; two very important traits for entrepreneurs to have. She attended GROW for the first time in 1994, when Lee Ann Moss, our founder, was still very much involved in the organization. While we’ve evolved … Read more
3 Important Aspects of Marketing to the Hispanic Market As Hispanic American communities continue to grow, becoming a serious group of consumers, influencers, and business owners, your business’ marketing efforts should both align with and reflect that. The Hispanic market is an important segment of your customer base and it’s important to understand … Read more
Seeds Recap – Panel Discussion If you missed our 2017 Seeds of Growth Awards Luncheon & Fundraiser, you missed more than great food and award presentations. The format was a bit different this year, adding a panel discussion with three entrepreneurs who are GROW clients. These individuals shared some insights on starting and building … Read more
How to Talk to the Media with Shelley Irwin For this month’s segment with Shelley Irwin at WGVU, we flipped the script! Our Program Manager, Mary Hartfield, interviewed Shelley instead. As you may have seen on Facebook, Shelley recently led our GROW Connects class that was all about how to talk to the media. Being … Read more
Turning Your Part-Time Hobby into a Full-Time Business 4 Key Elements of Success in Starting a Business We’ve all got hobbies in one form or another; something we enjoy doing and that often helps eliminate stress from our everyday lives. So what would happen, then, if you took your part-time hobby and turned it … Read more
“We have a lot of ideas and are fully capable… But having a solid foundation for our business, and knowing where we want to take it, was different.” – Jill Wolfe A couple of years ago, Jill Wolfe and Carol Distel both had their own businesses offering niche tours of Grand Rapids. They were struggling … Read more
What’s Your Marketing Strategy for a Strong and Profitable 4th Quarter? In the blink of an eye, the Holidays will be upon us! While shoppers used to wait until after Thanksgiving to kick off their holiday shopping spree, Forbes reports that by Halloween, 40% of seasonal buyers have already begun pounding the pavement and/or perusing … Read more
Grand Circus, GROW and SalesPad help bridge the gap to tech careers during free Intro to Coding workshop Attendees at Oct. 16 event will learn the fundamentals of coding and gain exposure to key technology skills during three-hour workshop led by Grand Circus GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Although there is a projected 10-year growth rate for … Read more
Announcing Our First CDFI Grant This Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Grant will Help GROW Further Our Impact in Community & Economic Development Grand Rapids, Michigan – Late last year, Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women (GROW) received the designation of a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in addition to their existing microloan program. The organization … Read more