Mark Huizenga: Well, hey everybody, this is a state center, Mark Heisinga. Welcome to another podcast conversations with Mark. Today. I'm super excited to have with me mayor Gary Carey. you know, I was the mayor of Walker before Gary was, and we did a lot of really fun projects when I was mayor ⁓ Gary's really carried the water and moved that forward. we talk about job creation and I think, especially at the state level, we talk about economic development ⁓ and. Really what's the most things that's top of mind for people across not only our district, but across the state of Michigan. Good jobs, a safe place to live and work, ⁓ good roads, good bridges, all things that we worked really hard on. But it doesn't just happen without a lot of work. A lot of times people talk about economic development and it's not just Michigan, but across the country, we see people chasing these shiny, pretty things. Let's look for the next biggest headquarters. Let's think about the next big manufacturing plant. ⁓ Amazon was seeking a second major headquarters a number of years ago and it never really happened. They put one in Virginia, but it didn't really turn out to be the numbers they were expecting. Foxconn, the organization that makes ⁓ was going to build this new facility in Wisconsin. Yes, they built it, but they ⁓ really built the ⁓ ⁓ Blue Oval, Ford was trying to build this new plant in Marshall. With a promotion and promise of thousands of jobs that too got scaled back and they chase the big things. But what really happens in Walker is, is creating ⁓ a place, an ecosystem for organizations to land no matter who they are. They can be manufacturing, can be, ⁓ design, engineering, stamping, you name it. ⁓ but creating an, place to land, ⁓ easy place to do business, the roads and bridges to do it well. And I wanted to talk to you, Gary, a little bit about the work that we did on Northridge. I think when people drive by Northridge, they don't really know it exists. They drive in on 96 and they see this, but all of a sudden in the last 10 years, buildings everywhere. What kind of buildings do we see there? ⁓ seeing buildings that really are the fuel for the economy, ⁓ for not just the city of Walker, ⁓ but for West Michigan as a And when you look at the ⁓ job growth up there, it's been very purposeful. It's quite frankly too, the types of companies that are coming in up there. I don't want to say they're recession proof, but we're pretty darn close up there because you have such a wide diversity of the types of companies and what they do that are coming in there. What was really disappointing for me was back during the later stages of the pandemic, the connection that Northridge has made. You know, we were all out there in mass, no mass type, and we're going through all that stuff. It did not get the fanfare that it deserved. That was such a monumental road connection. that had been planned for quite some time before. You got it right, Tete, up to the point. We were able, just timing-wise, it just worked to get it over the finish line just a couple years later. But that's a significant connection. And even when we did the Fruit Ridge Bridge, we were out for, that Northridge Road connection made such a huge impact. But it's allowed the job growth to take place because they're able, the companies, the workers, they're able to get in and out a lot more expediently, a lot more efficiently through that area there. It's just that's the little things like that when you're doing those roads and bridges and being very purposeful and looking long term at it, realizing the thing that you're doing right now will pay dividends. Sometimes it's two, three years. Sometimes it's maybe 10 years. But you know it's coming. I think one of the big things that the general public doesn't really see is when industry talks about we need a new place to come to Michigan, West Michigan, Walker, what have you. It's not just farmland. That doesn't count. the roads that need to put in that are going to be designed to handle the heavy trucks, ⁓ electricity, gas, water. And when we did the Northridge construction project, it actually was started off because FedEx wanted to build a new building there. The city commission, we worked together to say, let's not just ⁓ create a road for one building, but let's work and say, let's create an ecosystem, a place for businesses to land. look, the... The construction company had to stick their neck out a little bit. We had to stick our neck out a little bit and push things and get things done. But we took that road and went all way to Bristol. The plan was this should give us places for businesses to come to Walker for the next five or 10 years. Well, once that thing was done, it wasn't long before that was completely filled up or nearly. And we knew we also had to plan for what was going to be west of there. So we pulled together teams to talk about acquiring property. ⁓ with the developer, not taking over, but finding a way to help them be successful. And that relationship that we built with the developer and the property owners really resulted in the extension of North Ridge all the way to the West, which connects to Fruit Ridge. But I think the most important thing here is that it isn't just one thing quick a minute. Even the idea, this notion of water, it sounds simple. put a pipe in the ground and you can connect it to your building. We actually had to build a new water tank there because there wasn't enough pressure for the fire sprinkling systems. It wasn't enough. And so they basically said, Hey, you're tapped out. You can't add any more. And that even, even a water tank like that, it takes months and really probably about two years to design, engineer and build those kinds of things. But we did it. And then that created the ability for businesses to come there. And you mentioned the diversity of businesses and probably much greater than most people think. from manufacturing, I know there's an organization that does like ⁓ stuff for automotives where they create ⁓ patterns for dashboards and things like that. There was an organization that does electrical work. There's an organization that does medical supplies. There's an organization that does robotics. There's an organization that does stamping. ⁓ Amazon. There's the Michigan State Police Post. And why did people want to come here? I would contend that it's because we created such an easy place. to land, an easy place to land and a place to say, we're open for business here in Walker, come here, we want you to be here. And that's what creates jobs. That's what creates a sustainable economy for us. And that's us working together for families, making things affordable. Ultimately, it grows the jobs and it helps our community grow. But we also did it in a very transparent way. And Walker has always been transparent. ⁓ You talk a little bit about what that bridge means to you and how important that... the Fruit Ridge Bridge was, I mean, you and I both worked on it for a long time. That was a journey. It was a journey. We got to where we needed to. What it means really is ⁓ we get involved as mayors. We get involved because of the ⁓ impact on our local economy and even for the good of West Michigan. ⁓ And that job growth is just so important. It's the fuel that drives, ⁓ allows us to hire more police officers, firefighters, snow plow drivers, ⁓ people within the city services to help our community. ⁓ So those jobs mean everything to us. When you have on that bridge, you we're north of 15,000 jobs are within a two mile radius of that bridge. ⁓ Which is incredible. Most people don't know that. phenomenal. Right. And ⁓ when you look at that, that impact was we would try and recruit businesses, we would have people come through here and they would drive through there and look and we're maybe talking about that bridge. They had the old two lane bridge. You went from five to four to two lanes back to four to five. ⁓ That it just, was not effective. It scared some people. I don't think it hurt us long-term. because we were working on the solution for it, but it came together. So it meant everything in the world because it allowed us to stay on track for the job growth, have those businesses come in. What the neat thing, you mentioned about the businesses a few minutes ago. The neat thing is some of those businesses along that corridor in Northridge make products that go on or in the buildings of those new buildings going down the street. I love using the example of a panel. You drive up and down Northridge. Almost three-quarters of those new buildings right now have Falk panels on them. Maybe even more. Falk is an incredible story. I actually met the owner on an economic business trip when I was in the Michigan House of Representatives. I met him in the Netherlands and he was talking about the fact that they were going to be building a new facility, their first one outside of Europe in Michigan. And I said, oh, where? And he said, oh, we're going to put it in Walker. And I said, are you kidding me? We're in Walker and he said, well, it's on Northridge. And I said, ⁓ my goodness, this is unbelievable. How did you choose this? He's like, well, a lot of it had to do with availability of land, proximity to good working population, ⁓ the trades that were available ⁓ and the infrastructure mattered. ⁓ So knowing that they're going to have lots lots of trucks in and of there was really, critical. The same exact thing happens with that Fruit Ridge Bridge. I know I went to Washington, DC to talk to the ⁓ federal Department of Transportation about getting dollars for that. You went there. I've had countless discussions with MDOT directors over the years to try to get money for it, but it wasn't until just a couple years ago that we got the Senate bill passed. Couldn't have been a more proud moment to get the money for this project that you and I both worked on it for more than 10 years. But you know, what does that do? It creates a place and access for people to take their kids to school. mean, Kenilwood Hills schools are right across on the north side there. We have to have that. That kind of road is so important to us. The buses that go there, that's important. But you know, the hundreds of Amazon vehicles that go in and out of there, the trucks that go up and down Northridge. And you know, when we did the ribbon cutting, a reporter asked me, what do think the motorists are going to notice about this new bridge? And my comment was probably nothing, because this is the way it's supposed to be anyways. And that's what the general public expects of us. They expect us to put good roads that are safe, build bridges that are safe, that have the right capacity, that don't create bottlenecks and to create jobs. It's a universal truth. I think that what do people want? No matter what, what economic or social status you're in, you want to raise a family. You want to have a nice home, maybe go on vacation once a while and have some money in the bank. The economy is tough and what Walker's done to create more jobs here. is really absolutely incredible. ⁓ think building on and you know further connection just mentioned the kids in the schools you think about that that used to be Tulane Bridge there was no walkway for families to be able to go across ⁓ it's not just the businesses it's about the the overall community ⁓ it's not just Walker it's about Alpine Township it's you know Tallmage and Ottawa County the impact that it has on everybody for to be able to safely traverse that area and get across there. I had a great picture. I totally whiffed on getting into the state of the city this year. I remember on a Saturday morning, I was going to get on the highway, heading up north for a breakfast meeting or something early in the morning, watching an Amazon employee had rode his bike up to the edge of the bridge, the old bridge, got off his bike, had looked around to make sure no cars were coming, and then ran with his bike over the bridge. And I have some pictures of that, the powerful visual there is that's what we were reduced to. We can do so much better for our communities. So I think just through persistence, patience, and really a really effective strategy, it eventually got done. It takes tenacity. takes tenacity, and it did. But it wasn't just the businesses, it's the community, it's the families that are impacted by it, the schools. It's a much safer area to go through now. Yeah, without a doubt. have a similar story. We were riding out our bikes, my son and I, and I'd never driven over that bridge on a bike before got there and we got to the other side and I said, you can never do this again. It's just not safe. Now we have a place that people can walk roller blade bike, you name it, connect to the down to Millennium park and South Walker. You can take that trail all the way out to Muskegon and the connections to white pine. I mean, we're kind of one of these crossroads ⁓ as a community of ⁓ metropolitan Grand Rapids that has great trails. for anybody and everybody to use. Next thing I want to talk to you about is community, just because we were talking about that and what it means and how important it is to have good community and places for people to go. And I'll go back to my comment about what do people want in their community. You've taken on a tremendous task of leading the charge for a new library. And I think maybe five or 10 years ago with the internet and podcasts and know, books on tape and all this kind of stuff. And now online, people thought, libraries are dead. And I think it couldn't be more further from the truth. And I think about what happens at libraries. ⁓ it's probably one of these also truths. Everybody probably remembers going to a library for story time at some point in time, but that gets you to read, to learn how to read, build the education system. It is inspires young kids, but it's also a place, a venue for people to gather, to come together, ⁓ to. to learn, to have events. Can you talk about this crown jewel that you're working on right now? ⁓ This is years and in the making for multiple mayors that we've all wanted this done. We are getting this over the finish line. ⁓ When I think about the library and what this is going to be to us, ⁓ this is, it's not the expense of building a new library. To me, it's an investment in our and some investment in our community. Every demographic within a family per se has a spot to call home there. whether young kids for story time, teenagers, that they have an e-gaming place to go there. You go to college and scholarships nowadays for that. then that transfers into the business world because you need some of those coding and some of the gamification skills to be able to ⁓ grow in the business. So there's somebody, and then a seniors area, and then just the adult area. There is a spot for everybody. And that's what has me the most excited, the impact by working together here and really strategically looking at how do we ⁓ make this for a place for everybody. ⁓ We are so excited about it. And this is something that it was long overdue, this is also when we look forward, we have a lot of room for growth in there in the coming years. ⁓ So this is a generational project that we were just very fortunate to be able to do. Well, and without question, when we talk about roads or bridges, these things last way beyond the period that we're elected office, ⁓ whether it's the mayor of the House or the Senate, creating ⁓ roads, bridges, infrastructure, things like the library. These are generational things. You just said it really well. The next generation will benefit from this. And I'm so proud to ⁓ see you carry the great work that we started off when I was mayor to transition to take it even better and to continue to make Walker a really great place to live, work, and play. And I can't thank you enough for being on Conversations with Mark today. ⁓ Thanks for all you Mayor. Appreciate it. Thank you for having me.