Muskegon developers and City officials, along with Grand Valley State University, took center stage yesterday at the Amway Grand Plaza as the Grand Rapids Rotary Club hosted the Grand Rapids Business Journal’s Newsmaker of the Year Luncheon. The Business Journal recognized Muskegon’s Edison Landing SmartZone as West Michigan’s Newsmaker of the Year based on the long-term impact this project is expected to have on the region. To date, nearly $23 million in public and private investment has been secured for this project and related infrastructure.

Officials from Lakefront Development, the City of Muskegon, Grand Valley State University, Muskegon Area First, and Siemens were on hand to accept the award. The project that started as a search for a lakefront lot on which to build an office building has become an initiative to redevelop Muskegon’s waterfront into a premier location for alternative energy technologies and companies. The first installment in this initiative broke ground last fall when GVSU and the City of Muskegon completed the negotiations for the construction of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center – a research center and incubator for energy technology companies. The Center has already secured a $3 million energy grant that is being used to integrate fuel cells, solar and energy storage technologies, and a state-of-the-art heat recovery system into the building’s design and operation. Siemens, one of the world’s largest electronics companies, is one of the technology partners that has been identified due to their fuel cell technology.

Additional work on site utilities and roadways has also started, adding to the marketability of the development.