Since 2009
Grand Rapids Area Professionals for ExcellenceMore About GRAPE
Our Mission
“To build a community of professionals who inspire others to reach their fullest potential: personally, professionally, and neighborly!”
Connect With Us
CLICK here to get our APP for easy convenient access: user friendly, no downloading necessary!
Sign up for real time text message alerts. Simply text GRAPE to 313131.
Become A Sponsor
We appreciate your support. Click here for more information. We are always looking to promote area venues too!
Meet GRAPE’s Leadership Team
Carolyn Lund
Board President
Co-Founder & Managing Partner with Earnest Apps (A division of Earnest Enterprises)
Lisa Kosak
Social Media Consultant
Horizon Bank
Patty Vanderklok
Board Secretary
Real Estate Investor
John Potter
Executive Director
Academic Librarian
GRAPE Events
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Join our GRAPE Sponsorship program
Support. Recognition. Appreciated.
Please visit our sponsors.
What we do
Creating a Community of Excellence
Connect
Connect events are opportunities for entrepreneurs to meet and build relationships with others in the Grand Rapids area.
Educate
Every quarter, GRAPE hosts special meetings that provide members with relevant and helpful information.
Inspire
Annually, GRAPE highlights an issue or charity that members can learn about and support.
What Drives Us
Our Mission
To build a community of professionals who inspire each other to reach their fullest potential: personally, professionally, and neighborly!
Get Involved
As a non-profit organization, GRAPE always appreciates the support of volunteers!
Our Next Event
Educate Event August 15, 2019
Small Business Benefits of Recycling Recycling can reduce waste... In your bottom line! Learn how recycling can lead to reduced waste management fees and cost-savings on new purchases. 11:30 Sign-In. Meet & Greet. 11:50 Lunch, Catered by Fred's Italian Restaurant...
Read
Articles
Ashley Petkus: Navigate Your Job Search Successfully
Whether you are a job hunter or an employer, learn the psychology behind the employment process. Ashley will explain how to navigate a job search, stand out during interviews, and master applicant tracking systems, as well as enlighten how recruiters connect the dots in the process.
Seasonal issues can severely challenge small businesses
While economists have seemingly no problem blaming worse than expected first quarter economic performance on last winter’s terrible weather, people overlook the effect Michigan’s other season - construction - can have on small businesses. Right now in our neck of...
Imagining the Grand Rapids that might have been
By Rachel Potter Have you been following the Urban Renewal Project on Mlive? Garret Ellison has done an amazing job sifting through old photographs and records detailing the Grand Rapids that was and the vision leaders had in the mid-20th century for urban renewal. In...
What’s Your Management Style?
By Kyle Johnson I received a call last month from a close friend who just finished up a phone screening for a mid-level management opportunity. He mentioned that she happened to ask the one questions that is typically asked during any managerial hiring process. “What...
The MILE Act
By Jeshau Lauka, attorney for David & Wierenga, PC Great News For Business Start-ups : Michigan's New Crowdfunding Law (the Michigan Invests Locally Exemption to Securities Registration) On December 30, 2013 Governor Rick Snyder signed Public Act 264 establishing...
Gentrification in Grand Rapids, a polarizing phenomenon
As Grand Rapids revitalizes itself and more and more people move back downtown, we are seeing a number of different reactions to the gentrification process.
Ground-Breakers vs. Diggers
by Michelle Steffes What if someone offered $1,000,000 to you for altering 3 non-productive habits in 3 months, would you do it? Each venture to success begins with the purest of good intentions coupled with dynamic concepts. These concepts, many times, contain...
Mine the gold: Profitability through Objectivity
by Dean Leutscher Think about the last time you or your child were in pain and you visited the doctor or hospital. Because you were focused on how much it hurt, it was difficult to look at the situation clearly, without emotion and bias. You just wanted the pain to go...
YAC Brings Social Presence Into One Powerful Tool
by John Potter for James Matthews How would you describe YAC in under 50 words? YAC is a marketing management platform for business. Our engagement, publishing and push messaging features bring social presence into one powerful tool and turn keystrokes into happier...