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GOEI for Entrepreneurism. GOEI for Innovation. GOEI for Grand Rapids
The GOEI (pronounced "Go E") Center of Grand Rapids is a multi-purpose facility of opportunity. It’s part community business incubator; part meeting and collaboration center; part special events venue and 100 percent renovated vacant real estate of the city. And it's exactly the sort of project the Let's Save Michigan campaign wants to see more of here in Michigan.
It’s the brainchild of a Michigan entrepreneur named Bing Goei who gears the center’s resources towards women and minorities. Goei invested $2.5 million in the 80,000-square-foot former Kindel Furniture factory on Butterworth Ave., transforming it into a “loft-style venue with urban elegance and artistic class.”
Traveler and hotel enthusiast George Aquino writes in his blog “The Hotel Life” about Goei:
“Bing Goei needs no introduction in the Grand Rapids community. [He] has committed his life to serving this community through his philanthropical and volunteer efforts. Bing has championed inclusion and diversity in this community by passionately spreading his mission each and every day through his many speaking engagements and outreach events.”
The GOEI center currently provides office space for five vibrant, growing local businesses, including a catering and events company, a high-end florist shop—which Goei is also the CEO of— and a medical massage center. The business arm of the center is referred to as the International Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, or I.C.E.E.
Why locate a business at GOEI? The staff believe the “below -market rent” and the ability for small business tenants to network and collaborate makes the center attractive. The office digs aren’t shabby either, but don’t just take my word for it, see pictures of the space yourself.
The center has also provided numerous Grand Rapids companies and community leaders meeting and event space and has even hosted weddings. It’s an ideal place to host a memorable event as nearly all event details can handled in-house by the mainly event-centric businesses housed there. Massage after your meeting, anyone?
For Michigan to stay competitive in the 21st century we need to more effectively utilize what we already have; our entrepreneurs and our underutilized historic structures that add to the character and authenticity of our communities.
Top pic courtesy of George Aquino's site, "The Hotel Life"
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