Outstanding Team Award

Induction Year: 2016

In April, 1991, more than 50 West Michigan community leaders and volunteers were assembled from business, labor, civic, academia and sports sectors to explore the possibility of building an arena and expanding and renovating local convention facilities.

The Van Andel Arena project resulted from the work of the Grand Action committee, and transformed the local sports landscape. Grand Action is a not-for-profit organization comprised of more than 250 community members. Its primary objectives have been to identify downtown building and revitalization projects, galvanize public opinion and support and design and implement funding strategies for each project, including securing enough private sector support to guarantee funding from existing public funds.

In April, 1993, the original Grand Vision committee officially changed its name to Grand Action and created a downtown office. John Canepa and David Frey joined Dick DeVos, who assembled the visionaries in 1991, as co-chairs of the new organization.