Young professionals in the Lansing area are looking forward to the fourth Tuesday of every month as a time to connect with dozens of their peers, thanks to
Grand River Connection.
Created in 2005 to provide a network to support Lansing and East Lansing’s young workforce, GRC has grown to over 1300 members—young professionals, primarily in their 20s and 30s.
President Brian McGrain explains how GRC defines “young professionals”: “In some communities that means lawyer, architect, accountant—in a very defined sense. . . . We’ve been a lot more open with it. If it’s an artist or somebody who works in a salon—we’re looking to support young people in this community and give them connections to a lot of different people.”
As an informal social network, GRC does not have a staff, headquarters, or dues. It does have a few major committees to plan and support activities, but it seems to run pretty much on the copious adrenaline of its energetic leadership.
Gabrielle Johnson, who works for the
Michigan Department of Civil Rights, is a member of its Special Events and Networking Programs Committees, notes that this informal structure seems to make it easy for young people to become a part of GRC. “A lot of people tell us, ‘I moved to Lansing, I didn’t know anyone—I googled “Lansing young professionals” and this is what came up.’”
“Then they just come to our events by themselves and find it very easy to make new friends. It’s not weird or uncomfortable to come alone because they can talk to whoever they want.
Growing in placeMcGrain was unfamiliar with the Lansing area when he enrolled at
MSU, and he assumed that he would leave the area after graduation. But after graduation, he was hired by the
Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM), where he now serves as its associate director and chief operating officer.
“The sense was that people felt they had to leave Lansing for opportunity,” McGrain recalls. ”But when we came together [with GRC] we found that just wasn’t the case. There are a lot of young people around here. There is a lot of opportunity. And there are a lot of things going on that make Lansing an attractive place to be. We wanted to showcase that.”
One important—and popular—function of GRC’s events is to introduce young professionals to Lansing’s entertainment venues.
“Sure, some of our events are at bars,” says McGrain. “We want to be friendly and casual, but we also mix things up and go to places other than bars. We’ve toured art galleries, new developments, and we’ve been to historic landmarks. So we’ve really tried to expose young professionals not just to each other, but also to what Lansing has to offer.”
Johnson, a Lansing native who grew up with an appreciation of Old Town’s
Historic Turner-Dodge House, especially enjoyed the mixer held there by GRC. “Most of my friends would never go to Turner-Dodge. They would never have the opportunity to see a place like that, and they thought it was really cool that we had a networking event there.”
McGrain remembers the GRC reception held atop the
Boji Tower: “It was our most well-attended event ever. We brought in local CEOs and the Mayor, because we wanted our young professional audience to mix and mingle with people who have made it in Lansing. That’s another place that most people don’t get a chance to see. It was funky to get up there—it’s kind of a maze—and once we got everybody up there it was pretty crowded, but we had a great time.”
Developer InterestFor all of its apparent focus on providing a good time, GRC is very intentional in its choice of events and venues.
Lori Mullins, one of GRC’s founders and a senior project manager for the
City of East Lansing’s Planning and Community Development Department recalls: “One of our primary goals early on was to link the young professional community to the downtown areas—
Downtown Lansing, East Lansing,
Old Town, and make sure they experience what’s going on in our urban core. Building off the ‘cool cities’ idea, we wanted to support those pioneer businesses that are taking a chance in those markets.”
The strength of GRC’s network and savvy marketing approach has attracted the attention of Lansing’s growing group of downtown developers.
“A lot of our Tuesday night hosts are anxious to get exposure with the young professional market here.” Johnson notes. “With all these people coming to every event and 1300 people on our mailing list, they see us as a real marketing strategy to get to all these young people.”
“Thanks to our event sponsors, most of our events are free,” adds McGrain, with a grin. “Condo developers are chomping at the bit to host our events. It’s great for our group to get a sneak peek to go through
Motor Wheel Lofts and other new developments when only a handful of people have moved in and they’re still finishing the building.”
The Cool City grows upLori Mullins cites the City of East Lansing’s first
Cool Cities grant application in 2003 as a foundation for Grand River Connection. “The East Lansing Cool Cities Partnership, was set up not just to apply for the grant,” Mullins recalls, “but also to find ways to make East Lansing a cool city.”
While the first East Lansing application was not funded, the social networking project was carried on by a group of four co-founders, of which Mullins was a part.
Mullins notes the consistent, if informal, support provided to GRC by the City of East Lansing. “The whole idea actually came from [former East Lansing Mayor]
Sam Singh,” recalls Mullins. “His input at that first meeting in 2003 got the group talking about the need for a social networking component in this region.”
McGrain and Johnson note the importance of these connections to young professionals. For McGrain, a self-described “army brat” who grew up in various parts of the U.S. and a several foreign countries, these connections are paramount.
“Wherever you are,” McGrain observes, “you’ve got friends, family and a job, and you spend most of your time interacting in those places. Your day fills up with work, but you need to fill your evening hours with lots of things going on culturally and recreationally—and it’s pretty darn cheap to do it here.
"My quality of life is better here than it would be in Chicago, because there I wouldn’t be able to afford to do anything.”
Rick Ballard is a freelance writer in East Lansing. He single-handedly brings up the average age when he drops in a Grand River Connection event.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
Young professionals enjoy a recent Tiger game GRC event (photograph by Brian McGrain)
GRC President Brian McGrain at his office
GRC networking event in the Boji Towers (photograph by aenow.com)
Lori Mullins, one of GRC’s founders
A recent social reception for GRC participants (photograph by aenow.com)
Photographs © Dave Trumpie (unless noted)