Greetings. Last Friday, I had the great opportunity to attend meeting with some of the key stakeholders for downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. The topic we were discussing was “How to create a more inclusive and welcoming Downtown” for residents and visitors of this great city. This meeting was just one of a series of meetings that have occurred and will be ongoing. Admittedly, it’s a big mountain to climb. Not being born and raised in Grand Rapids gives me some disadvantages, in that I lack the long history and catalog of experiences of not being welcomed by downtown that some lifelong Grand Rapidians share…the very problem we are attempting to solve. However, I do easily recognize this issue as a consequence of a number of other diversity-related issues for the region that I have experienced and am working with others to address and fix. It’s the reason I started this business in the first place. I see, feel and experience the lack of Diversity & Inclusion in this region every single day. However, I also have seen, felt and experienced it work here in small ways. But I am convinced that small is sometimes the best way to start as long as it is sustainable. That’s where my passion to solve the problem resides.
I gathered from the discussions that some of the main issues around building a welcoming downtown include a lack of diverse employment in the downtown businesses, lack of ethnically and culturally diverse business establishments to patronize, lack of events that target diverse audiences, a downtown experience that is economically out of reach for mainstream urban consumers and a history of poor treatment of minority patrons. Because of this, people of all races and cultures don’t feel that downtown is for them, so they don’t come. I warned you, the mountain is big.
Compounding this problem is the fact that if our ethnically and culturally diverse citizens don’t come downtown to work, conduct business, shop, eat or patronize the arena and concert venues, then we also risk missing out on diversity from (1) sports teams and entertainment acts looking to fill seats, (2) national conventions and meetings looking to hold events and patronize the city’s hotels and restaurants and (3) visitors looking for a great experience. The risk is that if they don’t see people that look like and have some of the same cultural experiences as them, then they will not choose Grand Rapids as a welcoming destination. Now, one could easily say “good, that will teach the downtown stakeholders a lesson, and THEN maybe they will get it and start to change”. However, that statement could only be accurate if the problems described above were the downtown businesses and organizations to solve alone. You see, this truth of the matter is that we are all stakeholders in this issue. “They” is actually “We”.
Let’s examine further. Let us assume that everyone accepts that this is a universal problem and become invested in the solution. The more business that is conducted downtown, the more economic activity. This has several implications. It increases employment needs and opportunities, which in turn increases disposable incomes and the pool of taxpayers while bringing more diversity to the forefront of downtown businesses. More business activity results in a greater need for competition and the addition of more businesses to handle all of the new customers, especially businesses owned by people with a wider range of cultural connections and competencies to assist a broader customer base. More economic activity also results in a better story for entertainment promoters to tell. A good lesson comes from the failed Mary J. Blige concert. Here’s a quick recap: less than 10,000 tickets sold and a promise that she would NEVER come back to perform in Grand Rapids. Hence, more people and patronage downtown provides a greater chance of improving numbers to entice top-notch and diverse talent. Now if we add all of that up, it means more people working with more money to spend and businesses and venues being able to charge less due to higher volumes of customers.
Sounds logical, but that works for everything except one issue which is arguably the largest of all and the root of the problem….the history of poor treatment experienced by minority patrons of downtown. Should we be trying to convince them to “forgive and forget”? That’s a tough one and rightly so. Also, what about the downtown businesses? Will they get the logic and are they prepared to change? Before tackling these, I need to point a few things out. As one of the great minds in this “Think Tank” pointed out, we do have some diversity downtown. There is diversity in the workforces of a number of the downtown businesses, although not very pronounced. There are minority and woman-owned businesses downtown as well, although not in large numbers. There have also been a number of entertainment events and large meetings focusing on more diverse audiences coming to downtown grand rapids in more frequency, although still not frequent enough. To borrow a phrase from that great mind, we need to “showcase that diversity more” by making improvements in all areas.
How do we fix it?
The only way to move forward with solutions is for everyone to be willing to try something different. I’m convinced that it starts with content. We must first improve and then “showcase” that diversity, which means that the downtown businesses have to make changes first. The good news is that if nothing else, business people understand economics. I think if we keep speaking this common language, the social justice and imperatives that go hand-in-hand with economic benefits will begin to take shape…but not without help. It will definitely take some time and coaching for the needed changes to get into their DNA.
For consumers and residents, some forgiveness would need to occur. However, I don’t think anyone should forget. I think the emotions and passions garnered from past experiences should be preserved but channeled in a different and forward direction. That way when things are better, the stark contrast and improvements are vibrant. But in order to become invested, residents need to see, feel and trust the change. They also have to recognize that "they" are part of the “we”. Therefore, the downtown businesses that are already there (or moving forward with diversity) need to be frequented now. Entertainment and sports events, especially those brought to Grand Rapids for diverse audiences, need to be attended now. Museums and other major downtown attractions need to be visited now. The more we do now, the faster the future can get here.
Thanks. As always, I welcome your comments and reactions. Tune in tomorrow for another Daily Diversity Download.
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