Public Engagement and Grant Award Meeting Results
Public Engagement and Grant Award Meeting
Region 4 is comprised of 13 counties: Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, and Ottawa. Wednesday, October 10th, the West Michigan Regional Prosperity Alliance (WMPA) held a public engagement meeting at Fifth Third Ballpark at which attendees voted to rank six regionally significant projects for available funding. Additionally, updates were given on the West Michigan Regional Prosperity Alliance, West Michigan Regional Dashboard, and Connect Michigan Broadband program.
West Michigan Regional Dashboard Update
Fifty-eight area communities participated in the West Michigan Regional Dashboard project. The dashboard features 17 economic, 13 social, and 6 environmental indicators compared to regional, state, and national averages. The dashboard is viewed best on a desktop monitor and is not recommended for use on mobile devices.
Past Chair of WMPA, John Weiss, Executive Director of Grand Valley Metropolitan Council (GVMC)
Chair of WMPA, Erin Kuhn, Executive Director of West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission (WMSRDC)
West Michigan Broadband Update - Connect Michigan
Broadband availability was inventoried throughout the 13-county Region 4 to find all underserved communities. This Vertical Asset Inventory project found that over 69,950 households do not have access to the FCC’s target broadband speed of 25 Mbps. These households have been defined as underserved. The next phase of this project will work from north to south in Region 4 to address underserved communities by working with fixed wireless access, mapping these areas, and making the data available and publicly accessible.
Project ranking
The proposed projects were presented to the audience who then ranked them by priority. The ranking will now go on to the WMPA Steering Committee which, will decide final funding for each project.
Public Vote Project Priority Ranking:
West Michigan Express Project
Sustainable Watershed Funding
West Michigan Research Network 2020 Census
Green Infrastructure Training
LEAD Trail
Pitch North
West Michigan Regional Dashboard
