Grand Rapids, MI.- LAZO CULTURAL.

La ciudad de Grand Rapids se vistió de la gala la semana pasada ante la firma oficial de hermanamiento con Zapopan, Jalisco, México, la cual quedó plasmada con el estrechamiento de manos de sus Alcaldes: George Heartwell y Juan Sánchez Aldana. “Este hermanamiento es el inició de una gran relación de intercambio cultural, social, educativo, político y económico para ambas ciudades. Lo cual nos permitirá brindar un mayor campo de oportunidades”, destacaron los Alcaldes durante la ceremonia efectuada en la plaza principal de esta ciudad, ante la presencia de diplomáticos de los países con los que se tiene relación de hermanamiento con Grand Rapids.

Heartwell comentó que este compromiso es de gran importancia para toda la comunidad de Grand Rapids en general, ya que eso demuestra que “nos gusta compartir nuestra cultura y ampliar nuestros lazos de amistad con otras ciudades del mundo”. Para ambos Alcaldes, esta es la primera vez que se realiza un hermanamiento durante su administración. “Me siento muy honrado de vivir este momento tan importante para Grand Rapids, ya que el establecimiento de un hermanamiento es algo que se elige muy cuidadosamente y Zapopan es una ciudad maravillosa que nos enriquecerá enormemente”.

Por su parte, el Alcalde Sánchez Aldana destacó: “Es muy importante para nuestro gobierno reactivar la relación con Estados Unidos y consolidar nuestro trabajo de promoción cultural, educativa y económica, ya que aunque existen hermanamientos con otras ciudades, ya se han ido perdiendo los contactos”, Al respecto, el líder de Zapopan destacó la importancia de establecer una buena metodología de trabajo para evitar que se pierda la relación con el tiempo. “Hay que dejar bien establecida una relación institucional, pero sobretodo social. El compromiso de al comunidad es muy importante y es lo que nos hemos encontrado aquí, la sociedad esta envuelta y es lo mismo que trataremos de hacer nosotros, mas que gobierno municipal, necesitamos una sociedad comprometida que rinda frutos”.

Luego de un estudio minucioso y trabajo constante de algunos años, por parte del Comité de Hermanamiento de Grand Rapids, se eligió la ciudad de Zapopan por sus grandes similitudes. “Entre otras cosas, podemos mencionar que tanto Zapopan como Grand Rapids cuentan con 13 universidades. Las dos principales fuentes económicas de Grand Rapids son la medicina y la producción de plástico, algo en lo que también ellos están trabajando, solo por mencionar algunas”, comentó el Alcalde Heartwell. En tanto, Aldana mencionó que Grand Rapids es una ciudad muy calida a comparación de otras ciudades de Estados Unidos. “La gente es muy amable y todo esta diseñado para caminar, convivir con la familia y valorar el aspecto humano, lo cual es muy importante para Zapopan, en donde estamos tratando de rescatar nuestro pasado de convivencia”.

Luego de este encuentro oficial, en donde ya se exploraron varias estrategias de trabajo e intercambio cultural, educativo y económico, la delegación de Grand Rapids, encabezada por el Alcalde George Heartwell, viajará a Zapopan el mes de octubre de este año para realizar la firma correspondiente y de esta manera, completar la oficialización del hermanamiento.

Para finalizar, el Alcalde Sánchez Aldana envió un saludo muy afectuoso a los mexicanos recientes en Grand Rapids, especialmente a los zapopanos, con quienes espera reunirse en una próxima visita para establecer contacto y conocer sus necesidades que permitan establecer nuevas metodologías de trabajo.

Cabe destacar que el Alcalde de Zapopan estuvo acompañado por varios funcionarios de su gobierno, quienes sostuvieron intensas jornadas de trabajo con diversas autoridades de Grand Rapids. En nuestra próxima edición se publicarán mas detalles de este maravilloso encuentro.

The Zapopan Committee of the Grand Rapids’ Sister Cities International invites you to be a part of the celebration of the new sister city relationship between Grand Rapids and Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. This new international relationship is another example of how Grand Rapids continues to position itself in the global market in the areas of Health, Education, Economic Development and the Arts.

A welcome reception for the Zapopan Delegation, a fun and energetic event sure to draw a crowd is planned for June 5 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Imperial Ballroom of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. Distinguished guests from the delegation include Municipal President Juan Sanchez Aldana, and the directors of Tourism and Economic Development, International Investment and Commercial Promotion, Foreign Affairs and Sister Cities, Development of Family Services, the director of the Zapopan Museum of Art and artist Luis Macias.

The official recognition of the sister city relationship will occur on Friday June 6th during the opening ceremonies of Festival of the Arts 2008, 12:00 p.m. on Calder Plaza. The Celebration Dinner, a gala event that will honor the Sister City relationships established over the past twenty years between Grand Rapids and Omihachiman, Japan, Bielsko-Biala, Poland, Perugia, Italy, and the Ga District in Ghana. The dinner will take place at Salon C of the JW Marriott Hotel on Friday June 6th from 7:30 to10:00 p.m.

Please join our growing list of distinguished sponsors for either or all of these events in showcasing our Midwestern values and our global perspective. With your sponsorship support, your organization will enjoy a wide range of benefits, including the opportunity to build and strengthen the relationship with our distinguished government officials, community leaders, and all the Grand Rapids Sister Cities International guests.

A portion of the sponsorship dollars and ticket sales will be dedicated to continue funding of our partnerships and exchange programs.

Please feel free to call us with questions at 616-234-3170.

ZMG podría ser la mejor urbe de América Latina: Sánchez Aldana
El presidente municipal de Zapopan aseguró, durante una reunión con integrantes de la Cámara Mexicana de la Industria de la Construcción, que se tiene el potencial para ello.

Guadalajara.- El presidente municipal de Zapopan, Juan Sánchez Aldana, aseguró que la zona metropolitana de Guadalajara podría convertirse en la mejor urbe de América Latina, ya que cuenta con todo el potencial necesario para ello.

En reunión con integrantes de la Cámara Mexicana de la Industria de la Construcción, delegación Jalisco, el alcalde del municipio conurbado de Zapopan manifestó la necesidad de continuar con el modelo de ciudad que se pretende para esta metrópoli.

Destacó que se debe recuperar la calidad de vida que se tenía en esta zona metropolitana hace muchos años y para ello “se requiere de la participación de toda la ciudadanía, porque ahora nos interesa más lo que tenemos adentro de nuestras casas que el entorno”.

Dio a conocer que este año, el ayuntamiento de Zapopan canalizará más de 1,800 millones de pesos en su programa de obra pública, en el que se destaca la rehabilitación de 120 parques, 45 unidades deportivas y el crecimiento de la denominada Vía RecreActiva.

Aseguró que su administración dará mayor importancia a los espacios públicos y trabajará coordinadamente con los municipios aledaños para “redefinir el modelo de ciudad que queremos”.

Fuente: Milenio

Grand Rapids busca enlace cultural y económico con Zapopan
Una delegación de esta ciudad ubicada en el estado de Michigan, estuvo de visita en Ocho Columnas

Laura Gutiérrez

La ciudad de Grand Rapids, Michigan, tiene gran interés en enlazarse cultural, educativa, social y económicamente con el municipio de Zapopan.Consideran que se trata de dos urbes que tienen mucho en común y sobre todo, una visión de futuro muy coincidente.

Una misión de representantes de los más importantes sectores de la sociedad de Grand Rapids, estuvieron de visita en Ocho Columnas, acompañados por la directora de Asuntos Internacionales y Ciudades Hermanas de Zapopan, Patricia Malfavón de Gómez.

Integran la misión la presidenta de Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Jeanne A. Englehart; Arturo Armijo, representante de Grand Rapids Community College; John D. González, director de Espectáculos de The Grand Rapids Press; Carlos Sánchez, ejecutivo de Spectrum Health, y Dante Villarreal, director regional de Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center de Grand Valley State University.

Señalaron que tienen ya cerca de seis meses estudiando la posibilidad de hermanarse con Zapopan, ya que les parece que es la ciudad más convincente para ello, decisión que tomaron luego de buscar durante año y medio por varios lugares.

Revelaron que Zapopan será la primera ciudad del Continente Americano que sea hermana de Grand Rapids, ya que lo han hecho con localidades de Ghana, de Italia y de Polonia.

La actividad económica en Grand Rapids, de alguna manera se puede decir que está diversificada, pero especialmente está soportada por la industria mueblera, así como comercio y servicios. De manera especial destaca el área de la salud, ya que se tienen importantes conglomerados de hospitales.

Se tienen 17 universidades, además de que por lo menos existen seis periódicos que están hechos por latinos, además, desde luego, de diarios de lengua anglosajona como es The Grand Rapids Press, quien al día (de lunes a sábado) tiene un tiraje de 140 mil ejemplares y los domingos sube a 180 mil, según expresó el editor de Espectáculos, quien manifestó su deseo por hacer intercambios con Zapopan y en especial con Ocho Columnas.

Grand Rapids es una ciudad del estado de Michigan, con una población superior a los 200 mil habitantes de los cuales el 13 por ciento son hispanos y de este número, el 90 por ciento son mexicanos.

Constituye el centro administrativo del condado de Kent, la segunda ciudad más grande del estado (después de Detroit) y la principal de la región de West Michigan. Grand Rapids se asienta a orillas del Grand River.

Grand Rapids likely to gain fifth Sister City

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
By Jim Harger
The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS -- The city's family of Sister Cities is about to get bigger.

Zapopan, a city of nearly 1.2 million residents in the Mexican state of Jalisco, is about to become Grand Rapids' fifth Sister City.

City commissioners were expected to approve the relationship today, ending a six-year search for a municipal sibling in Mexico.

Susan Camp, president of Grand Rapids' Sister City International organization, said the new site was chosen from several compatible Mexican cities.

Camp said the local group has been looking for a Mexican sister city in response to Grand Rapids' growing Hispanic community, most of whom have roots in Mexico.
"It just seems to make sense for Grand Rapids Sister City to have that kind of connection and partnership," she said.

Zapopan (pronounced Zah-PO-pahn) is the second largest city in the state of Jalisco and an educational and cultural center, she said.

Like Grand Rapids, there are 13 colleges and universities with campuses in Zapopan. Michigan State University's College of Law has a program in Zapopan.

Assistant to the City Manager Jose Reyna was among several city officials who visited Zapopan this year. Mayor George Heartwell and 1st Ward City Commissioner Roy Schmidt were among the group.

Though Zapopan is much larger than Grand Rapids, its residents face many of the same issues as people in Grand Rapids, Reyna said.

"The difference is that U.S. cities tend to be much more developed with regard to infrastructure," said Reyna, whose mother was born near Zapopan.
"Although they have larger populations, the sophistication of their systems is not as highly developed."

Reyna said they expect to host a delegation from Zapopan in the early summer for a formal Sister City signing ceremony. Grand Rapids will send a delegation for a formal ceremony later this year.
Grand Rapids Sister City International is a nonprofit group largely funded by the individual Sister City organizations, Camp said.

The agreement with Zapopan is the first since 1994, when the city signed an agreement with Ga District, a city in the West African nation of Ghana. Grand Rapids also has sister city ties with Bielsko-Biala, Poland; Omihachiman, Japan; and Perugia, Italy.

The city's new JW Marriott hotel has featured the sister cities in its public spaces, meeting and guest rooms and parking decks.

JW Marriott and Sister City officials hope the theme will help land a Sister Cities International Convention in 2009. The four-day event would host about 1,000 international and domestic visitors.

Zapopan Delegation visits Grand Rapids

On October 29, 2007, our city had the honor of hosting representatives from our future Sister City: Zapopan, Jalisco. Dra. Patricia E. Malfavón, International Affairs and Sister Cities Coordinator for Zapopan and Lic. Maria del Carmen Mendoza, Comptroller for the State of Jalisco, visited several tourist spots in Grand Rapids and met with City leaders to exchange ideas for future collaboration.

“We are much exited to be here. On behalf of Sr. Juan Sánchez Aldana Ramírez, Mayor of Zapopan, we want to thank everyone for your gracious hospitality and want to deliver a message of commitment to work in developing projects for our sister city relationship”, expressed Dra. Patricia Malfavón. “We are working in several areas to develop cultural, economic technological and social projects”.

According to Dra. Malfavón, Zapopan has a very diverse economy with an emphasis in technology, culture and education “There are 13 internationally recognized Universities in Zapopan, with student exchange programs all over the world. Our objective is to increase this number with rand Rapids and Zapopan; this is just one of the topics we explored with the Grand Rapids Mayor, George Heartwell, who, by the way, is a very amiable person and very committed”.

As for technology, “we have are recipients of heavy investments from multinational corporations, most of them focused in Information Technology”, Dra. Malfavón added.

“Tourism is also very important for us. In Zapopan, we have the largest Convention Center in Latin America, home of many international exhibits and expos. Ours is a very strong municipality, we are part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, and 60% of our population is of young people”.

Although Dra. Malfavón considered Grand Rapids a modern city, she finds many similarities between cities, she stressed that “we share the same objectives towards the future; this will allow us to work together, in projects for growth and opportunities for our citizens”.

Finally, Dra. Malfavón expressed that this visit had impressed her “it was a great experience, one that we will share with our Mayor and, of course, with President Calderon, whose administration is very much focused in internationalization; here his words: México en el Mundo…“Dear people of Grand Rapids, we wait for you with open arms, we will support you in any way we can… Zapopanos in Grand Rapids, we would love for your children to know their culture and to get involved in many of the projects that will develop from this marvelous relationship”.

Amongst the many activities in their agenda, Dra. Malfavón and Lic. Maria del Carmen Mendoza met with Mayor George Heartwell; Juan Olivares, President, Grand
Rapids Community College, Vicente Sánchez Ventura, Consul of Mexico, Luis García, IME Councilperson for Michigan; representatives of Grand Valley State University; they also visited the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Meijer Gardens, and of course, the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Expo.

It is important to mention that this visit was made possible thanks to the excellent coordination of the Sister Cities-Mexico Committee; and its President Arturo Armijo, who plans to have the official signing ceremony on June, 2008.

More good news; this time from:

Grand Rapids Lays Foundations for a Health Mecca
By KEITH SCHNEIDER
July 11, 2007

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In the last decade or so, this city has been the beneficiary of investments in new academic campuses, a civic arena, a convention center, new parks, a transit center and more than 1,500 new units of downtown housing.

Even so, Grand Rapids has never experienced anything near the concentrated magnitude of the medical research, training and patient facility construction now occurring on Health Hill.

From the summit of the hill, on this city’s north end, and stretching roughly half a mile in both directions along Michigan Street, a stunning array of buildings is under construction, reflecting a commitment of nearly $1 billion by the area’s prominent families and medical institutions. There are a new medical school, a children’s hospital, a biomedical research center, a cancer treatment center, and two medical treatment and office buildings. Also under construction is a seven-level underground parking garage; it will hold 2,300 cars and cost $30 million.

All told, construction managers say, the buildings will cover 1.2 million square feet. By 2010, when construction is completed, those buildings, several designed by world-renowned architects, will provide enough space to treat thousands of people a day and employ 5,000 people, 2,500 more jobs than exist now on Health Hill.

The hill, also called Pill Hill here, earned its nicknames a few years ago when a medical research institute opened there.________________________________________

To read the rest of the article, click here

Article from a newspaper in Boston, MA

Why can’t we be more like Grand Rapids?
By JOANN FITZPATRICK

It’s such a big country, America. I don’t know it well, haven’t traveled from sea to shining sea, except by airplane from East to West several times. Last weekend I was in Michigan, not quite the heartland but close enough.The combined effect of television programs, chain stores and restaurants and electronic gadgets is that we think we’ve been homogenized.But it’s not so, thank goodness.I know that when I visited New Orleans, before and after Hurricane Katrina, this is a place very different from Boston or anywhere else in America.Texas, too. But what of the vast Midwest? Is it really different from New England or California?Darned right, it is. I was in Grand Rapids, Mich., for a wedding. What I knew about Grand Rapids before going there was that it was the hometown of President Gerald Ford and site of his presidential library and museum. And also the home of Amway, though I and other out-of-town guests had only a vague idea of what Amway sells.The small talk that predominates at events like this was punctuated repeatedly by wedding guests proclaiming to one another, ‘‘What a nice town, what a surprise!’’ Many if not most of the guests flew in from both coasts and interesting places in between, such as Santa Fe. There was elitism to spare but at the same time a willingness to be charmed by a place that truly seems to represent good old-fashioned American values.If there are surreptitious litter police, they keep themselves well hidden, but the streets of Grand Rapids are as gleaming as the refurbished buildings throughout the downtown. Community pride is everywhere. I couldn’t help but compare what I saw to cities and towns back home.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Boston and New England, from the coastline to the old mill towns like the one where I grew up, Manchester, N.H. But there’s no disputing that the quality of life in this area continues to deteriorate. We blame government for not investing more in parks and beaches, but who’s dropping the garbage? It’s not the government; it’s us. The mounds of Dunkin’ Donuts cups scarring off-ramps on our highways is disgusting. Local streets are no better and because we seem not to care, the habit just grows.In Grand Rapids, Midwestern friendliness and helpfulness were everywhere. I left my camera in a cab and within minutes of calling the hotel, staff was on the case. They called back 15 minutes later, not having located it yet but to let me know I had not been forgotten. I nearly fainted from the shock of random kindness. (Yes, I got it back.) When was the last time someone actually cared that you lost an item in their store, or even that you were shopping there?Downtown Grand Rapids, a city of about 200,000, is a laboratory of urban renewal. Formerly a manufacturing city - home of Kelvinator, for example - it faces a huge challenge in reshaping its economy. The state of Michigan is no help, since its automobile-reliant economy has been in the hopper for years, with more bad news sure to come.So what is Grand Rapids turning to? Health care. And here is where it could be interesting to Massachusetts. Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids’ biggest employer, is creating a cancer center and also expanding its medical research, including a new center for molecular medicine.

Michigan State University is moving its medical school to the city. You may say, ‘‘So what?’’ But think about all those Boston-area college graduates, our biggest source of human capital, and the cost of living in Massachusetts, and then compare it to Grand Rapids. There you can buy a five-bedroom house in the historic district for $400,000. Yup, $400,000, and you could walk to work, breathe clean air and not worry about litter blowing in your face. And your children could attend a neighborhood school. The historic district, a microcosm of American architectural styles, was rehabilitated decades ago solely because of the efforts of public-spirited citizens.

I am not writing this to encourage young people to leave Massachusetts. I think it’s important to recognize, though, that we don’t necessarily have it all here. We have first-class hospitals and colleges with costs to match and housing prices that make building a future here ever more difficult. We also have a shortage of the kind of community spirit I saw in Grand Rapids.There, the Amway Corp. and its founders put their names all over downtown, investing in public buildings they hope will rejuvenate the city.Here, corporations hand out a few dollars to local charities, but there is less to donate as they are bought up by national companies more interested in naming rights on arenas than in philanthropy or rebuilding communities.Look around your town: Can it be improved? Probably. I am tired of dirty streets and blaring car horns, bad manners and shoddy service. We’re better than that, aren’t we?

JoAnn Fitzpatrick, former editorial page editor, can be reached at joannftzptrck@yahoo.com .

Copyright 2007 The Patriot LedgerTransmitted Saturday, June 16, 2007
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/06/16/opinion/opin03.txt

First Learning Community Center for senior citizens opens in Zapopan
NEWS SERVICE/CARLOS GONZÁLEZ25/06/2007, 10:37

The Tecnológico de Monterrey, in its ongoing commitment to Mexico’s development and empowering its people to generate wealth and welfare, together with the Zapopan, Jalisco Municipal DIF Family Development Office, opened the first Learning Community Center for senior citizens (CCA), located at the Metropolitan Senior Citizens’ Center (CEMAM), in the Santa Margarita neighborhood.

During the CCA’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, which currently has 300 students in its various workshops, Guadalajara Campus General Director Víctor Gutiérrez mentioned that these installations “will allow people to learn to use a number of computer programs and to surf the internet, and even obtain their high school diploma through its distance-learning program.”

Also, he announced that this center marks the first of eight CCAs to be created, with the support of the Social Programs Office and the Learning Community Centers’ education and entrepreneurship development network, in concert with the Zapopan DIF, with the aim of impacting their communities. This one, in fact, is the first time the Tecnológico de Monterrey has devised a CCA whose services target senior citizens.