Change Ups: Potter’s House purchases Roosevelt Church

Change Ups: Potter’s House purchases Roosevelt Church

Thirty-four years ago, Potter’s House Christian Schools started with two volunteer teachers in the basement of Roosevelt Park Community Christian Reformed Church, 811 Chicago Drive SW, in Wyoming. Potter’s House recently purchased the church that sits roughly 10 feet away from the school’s location on the corner of Clyde Park and Grandville Avenue. The additional space will accommodate needed classrooms for its 2015-2016 record enrollment; the sanctuary will be used as an auditorium and chapel.

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

Extend Your Reach, an integrated marketing service provider and direct mail company, welcomed Kristen Nauss, marketing director.

ARTS

Michigan Dance Council announced Grand Rapids Ballet is co-host of the Oct. 24 Michigan Dance Festival at the Meijer Royce Center for Dance. This year’s festival celebrates the 20th anniversary of the council.

AWARDS

Downtown Howell is a semi-finalist in National Main Street Center’s Great American Main Street Award program, among 10 downtown communities nationwide. A winner will be announced in May at the 2016 National Main Street Conference in Milwaukee.

Michigan Primary Care Association honored the following at its 2015 Annual Conference: Cindy Cooley Nursing Leadership Award, Monica Whitfield, Family Health Center Inc., Kalamazoo; Finance Director/Officer of the Year Award, Valerie Blondin, Hackley Community Care Center, Muskegon; Distinguished Service Award, Michael Reagan and Linda Constantino, Cherry Health; and Moses Walker, Kathy Jackson and Adrienne Grimmett, Family Health Center, Kalamazoo. Peer Leadership Award: Diane Anderson, Hackley Community Care Center, Muskegon, and Alison Dault, Cherry Health. Legacy of Leadership Award: Jackie Prokop and Kathleen Stiffler, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

BANKING

West Michigan Community Bank announced Brigitte Curry has joined the bank as assistant vice president/branch manager for its Jenison office.

BUSINESS SERVICES

Blackford Capital announced the acquisition of Architectural Railings & Grilles. Staging Concepts, which Blackford acquired in 2010, will assume full ownership of the ongoing business and will go to market with its railing products as SC Railing Co.

Adamy Valuation Advisors senior analyst Alex Perry has completed the American Society of Appraisers accreditation, joining fewer than 5,000 fellow experts around the world who have earned this achievement.

CONSTRUCTION

Andy Odehnal has joined Triangle Associates as chief financial officer.

Elzinga & Volkers has hired: Dan Donavan, field manager; Colette Choryan and Jill Monte, marketing coordinators; Mark Impellizzeri and Nick Novakoski, assistant project managers; Eileen Madigan, accounting assistant; and Mike Parker, senior project manager. It has promoted Tom Puffpaff and EJ Calloway, field managers; Nate Meeuwsen, corporate trades manager; and Morgan Weaver, experience manager.

EDUCATION

Davenport University has received a gift to its endowment fund of $5.5 million over the next four years from the M.E. Davenport Foundation, the single largest gift in the university’s history.

For the fourth consecutive year, Davenport University received the 2015 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine. Davenport and 91 other recipients will be featured in the magazine’s November issue.

Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Davenport University announced a new partnership that expands their academic offerings and opportunities for students of both institutions starting this fall.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Financial advisor Tami Sytsma announced the opening of Sytsma Wealth Strategies, 922 Wealthy St. SE, in a refurbished storefront in Grand Rapids' Uptown neighborhood. Sytsma is the former co-owner and branch manager of The Sytsma Group in Grandville.

Plante Moran Financial Advisors, registered investment advisor affiliate of public accounting and advisory firm Plante Moran, was ranked as the largest CPA firm by assets under management in Accounting Today.

Steve Starnes has joined Grand Wealth Management as senior financial advisor with an emphasis on supporting families with financial challenges related to long-term care.

FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

Riveridge Produce Marketing Inc. in Sparta has hired Tom Curtis, account manager; Trish Taylor, account manager with a marketing communications focus;  Jackie Dyer, sales assistant; Aaron Debski, food safety manager and quality assurance; Jeremy Butler, logistics/sales support assistant; and Sydney Grove, assistant director of accounting. Also, Riveridge has promoted Jenna Kimball, accounting and human resources assistant.

FOUNDATIONS

The Wege Foundation announced the selection of Mark Van Putten to succeed Ellen Satterlee as president/CEO, effective Nov. 2. Satterlee is retiring after more than 25 years of service to Peter M. Wege and The Wege Foundation and will continue to serve as a foundation trustee.

GOVERNMENT

Ottawa County Parks has opened a 21-acre off-leash dog park at Grand Ravines South on Fillmore Street, east of 42nd Avenue. The park has separate fenced areas for large and small dogs and fenced trails for off-leash walking. There are no entry or membership fees. 

HEALTH

Carolyn F. Vollmer, M.D., has joined Mary Free Bed Medical Group as a physiatrist working primarily in the Spine Center and in occupational medicine/work-related injuries, interventional spine procedures, musculoskeletal conditions, sports medicine and women’s health.

Douglas Winstanley, a specialist in Mohs micrographic skin cancer surgery, has joined the dermatology practice of Jack Dekkinga, Gina Ang and J. Gabriel Vasquez. Winstanley will be available in both the Grandville and Holland offices of the practice.

Faith Hospice has added Gail Ranville, director of operations, and Therese Rouse, hospice physician and associate medical director.

LEGAL

Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced Brian E. Kersey, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law, has been selected by his peers as a 2016 Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America.

Miller Johnson welcomed Christopher E. Nyenhuis to its Grand Rapids office as an associate in the litigation section. 

Sara Fazio, David C. Hill and Jim Lance of Kreis Enderle Hudgins & Borsos PC in Kalamazoo have been named Rising Stars by Michigan Super Lawyers.

Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge announced the inclusion of the following attorneys in the 2015 Michigan Rising Stars: civil defense litigation, Kristen E. Guinn; personal injury defense, medical malpractice, Stephanie C. Hoffer; estate planning and probate, Nicholas A. Reister; business litigation, D. Adam Tountas; and personal injury plaintiff, general, Matthew L. Wikander.

WEBSITES

@Home Realty in Grand Haven has launched a website, homewestmichigan.com, targeted toward buyers and sellers of properties in Ferrysburg, Grand Haven, Holland, Hudsonville, West Olive and Zeeland, as well as other surrounding areas.