GRAND RAPIDS – When ArtPrize first was unveiled in 2009, people asked, “What's ArtPrize”?

Then they asked, “Can you believe ArtPrize?” and “Why didn't we think of ArtPrize first?”

Three years later, people in other cities mostly ask, “How can we have our own ArtPrize?”

The exhibition and competition created by social media entrepreneur Rick DeVos has earned legions of fans and critics, but no one can deny the first three events attracted thousands of participating artists and tens of thousands of viewers.

ArtPrize executive director Catherine Creamer last week spoke to the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, chatting up ArtPrize 2011, which attracted work by more than 1,500 artists, drawing 300,000 visitors who helped hotels in Kent County see double-digit growth the past two years in a row.

Muskegon Area First economic developer Jonathan Seyferth is one of two people featured in a Michigan Economic development video on talent attraction to Michigan.

Seyferth is a young professional featured in the 2:27 video that introduces the state's MichAGAIN initiative of bringing former Michigan residents back to the state for business and professional development. The business development specialist for Muskegon Area First is a Muskegon native who recently had a job in Wyoming before coming back to Michigan and his home town in 2012 to work for the local economic development agency.

Training, attraction and retention of skilled workers is going to be a major public issue in 2012. Both President Barack Obama in the State of the Union address and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in the State of the State address highlighted worker training and development of highly-skilled individuals.

For the 5th consecutive year, michigan.org - the state's official travel and tourism website - had the most visits of any state tourism website in the country, according to the independent online measurement company Experian Hitwise.

Part of that is due to the highly effective Pure Michigan campaign, which got a $10 million boost from Gov. Rick Snyder last March.

The campaign has Tim Allen waxing poetic about our state treasures in ads that are heard and seen around the Great Lakes area and beyond. (See the winter ad below)

In a word?
 

Grace.
 

That’s what struck me time after time as I shuffled back through the columns I’d written during 2011.

That’s not to say there wasn’t some taking, some whimsy, some folly. And just plain interesting — like Ward Blanchard, who at 89 years old earned an award from the “Iron Butt Association” for putting in 1,000-plus miles on his motorcycle in 24 hours.
 

But the majority of the people I brought to your front porches were men and women and even some children who continue to teach us giving beats getting.

What if Grand Rapids could attract a company that generated revenues of a billion or more to our city? Think along the lines of megabank PNC or a sizzler of a tech company like Facebook.

Or think about this: by increasing the number of college graduates in Grand Rapids by one percent of our population, what would be generated in additional personal incomes, or revenue? Annually?

"The best way to measure the economic success of a city is per capita income and the simple most direct connection of per capita income is college attainment," says Lee Fisher, president of CEOs for Cities, a civic lab and network of urban leaders across the country.

We’re excited to introduce you to Pure Michigan Talent Connect (www.mitalent.org), the state of Michigan’s new web-based talent matchmaking site and central hub for talent, employers and educators announced today by Governor Snyder.
 
The site features information and resources that give job creators the tools necessary to help identify and develop their talent base and job seekers the ability to create a personalized plan to help them find new jobs and effectively navigate career searches.

Viewed on a map or at face value, Windsor and Grand Rapids, Mich., are in some ways similar.

Both are midwestern cities in their respective countries. Each has about 200,000 residents. Both have a waterfront, a university and nightlife.

Like Windsor, Grand Rapids is a city that has managed to keep some of the charm of its older buildings.

But unlike the Rose City, Grand Rapids has won over its younger population. Millennials love Grand Rapids.

"We're a cool city," said Bridget Clark.

"There's lots of variety, lots of events that you can go to," added Amanda Passage.

The downtown core in Grand Rapids is a hub for young professionals. The city is bursting with initiatives to keep millennials here.

A nun, a wedding planner and a subliminal newscaster walk into a bar …

Don't laugh. It could happen at The B.O.B. in Grand Rapids when Whoopi Goldberg, Martin Short and Kevin Nealon are in town for LaughFest 2012.
 

If not them, it might be Mike Epps and Rodney Carrington and Jim Gaffigan or any of a dozen comics coming to town for the 10-day festival.

On the other hand, do laugh and get ready to laugh some more.

Today, LaughFest unveiled just a few of the headliners coming to Grand Rapids for festival of seriously funny stuff.

A few hundred fans and friends – most in yellow LaughFest shirts -- gathered at Crush at The B.O.B. to hear the news.

At Amway’s sprawling Ada complex, pallet after pallet of Nutrilite supplements are shuttled onto outbound trucks. Their destination: South America, Europe, maybe even Japan.

Across West Michigan, manufacturers are pumping out an increasing number of products headed out of the U.S.

It’s true: Globalization has cost thousands of jobs as some companies sought to lower labor costs and sell into closed markets such as China.

But it also is creating a much larger customer base for nimble U.S. manufacturers able to capitalize on a much larger playing field — particularly in niche fields.

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