IRI is an American market research company which provides clients with consumer, shopper, and retail market intelligence and analysis focused on the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. IRI’s clients include 95 percent of the Fortune Global 500 CPG, retail and healthcare companies. The firm operates in 58 countries through stand-alone operations, wholly owned subsidiaries, partnerships and alliances.

History

IRI was formed Information Resources, Inc. ("IRI") in Chicago in 1979 with the introduction of the BehaviorScan service, a testing service that quantifies the ROI of a new TV advertising program. IRI became a public company in 1983. By 1993 Fortune Magazine had named IRI a "company to watch" for expanding into two of its biggest markets: analyzing nationwide scanner data on consumer products and producing computer software. At that time slightly more than half IRI's revenues came from Infoscan, its marketing data service. Shortly thereafter in 1995, IRI rolled out its ScanKey panel service, in which consumers nationwide could scan the barcode of their CPG product purchases at home to enable purchase tracking by various household demographics. In late 2003, IRI was acquired by Symphony Technology Group, run by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani. The new leadership led to a focus on IRI's predictive analytic applications.

In April 2013, SymphonyIRI Group, Inc. announced that it is rebranding as IRI.

In September 2013, IRI acquired Aztec, a provider of market measurement and related services for consumer packaged goods (CPG), liquor and pharmaceutical manufacturers and retailers in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This was the largest acquisition in IRI’s history and significantly expanded IRI’s geographic presence.

Products and Publications

• Infoscan - Each week several thousand grocery, drug, and department stores deliver the product data collected by their scanners. IRI sorts, analyzes, and verifies product price and volume, and then delivers final Infoscan sales information to its customers via tape, disk, or on-line service.
• Consumer Network - This consumer panel provides a view into consumer behavior by various household demographic groups. This platform is supplemented by a series of integrated insights, shopper and specialty panels, which are enabled through a new portable, personal collection device.
• IRI Liquid Data (ILD) â€" The Liquid Data platform offers data management capabilities driven through hardware, software, patented algorithms, industry models, data integration and supporting applications that are offered as a hosted service or as a separate infrastructure within the customer’s legacy data environment. The capability platform holds data in a flat or unstructured universe of points and leverages predictive automated analytics to generate information and insights to support specific decisions in minutes.

References

External links

• www.iriworldwide.com

The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) is a state cabinet-level agency in the government of California. The institution and jurisdiction of the Natural Resources Agency is provided for in California Government Code sections 12800 and 12805, et seq. Through its 25 departments, conservancies and commissions, the Natural Resources Agency is responsible for protecting historical, natural and cultural sites, monitoring and controlling state lands and waterways, and regulating fish and game use.

The current Secretary for Natural Resources is John Laird, and is a member of Governor Jerry Brown's cabinet.

Organization

Departments

The Natural Resources Agency is the parent department to a number of other departments:

• California Department of Boating and Waterways
• California Department of Conservation
• CALFED Bay-Delta Program
• California Department of Fish and Wildlife
• California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
• California Department of Parks and Recreation
• California Department of Water Resources
• California Conservation Corps

Commissions

Also included within its jurisdiction are a number of study and regulatory commissions, boards and councils:

• California Coastal Commission
• California Energy Commission
• California State Lands Commission
• San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
• Delta Protection Commission
• Colorado River Board of California
• Central Valley Flood Protection Board
• Board of Forestry
• Fish and Game Commission
• Mining and Geology Board
• Native American Heritage Commission
• Parks and Recreation Commission
• State Historical Resources Commission
• State Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission
• California Water Commission
• California Boating and Waterways Commission
• Wildlife Conservation Board
• Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Stewardship Council

Conservancies

• Baldwin Hills Conservancy
• California Tahoe Conservancy
• Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy
• Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy
• San Diego River Conservancy
• San Gabriel & Lower Los Angeles Rivers & Mountains Conservancy
• San Joaquin River Conservancy
• Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
• Sierra Nevada Conservancy
• State Coastal Conservancy

Museums

• California Science Center
• California African American Museum

McDonald's has been involved in a number of lawsuits and other legal cases in the course of the fast food chain's 70-year history. Many of these have involved trademark issues, but McDonald's has also launched a defamation suit which has been described as "the biggest corporate PR disaster in history".

Partnership suits

McDonald's India â€" Vikram Bakshi partnership case

On 30 August 2013, McDonald's published a public notice in select newspapers, declaring that McDonald's India partner Vikram Bakshi had ceased to be the managing director of Connaught Plaza Restaurants (CPRL) pursuant to the expiration of his term on July 17, 2013. CPRL, a joint venture between McDonald's and Vikram Bakshi, is responsible for managing the over 150 McDonald's outlets in North and East regions of India. Bakshi had been the face of the company in India for almost two decades. After being ousted abruptly, Bakshi sought to fight for his stake and rights in the Company Law Board (CLB). Bakshi claims to have clocked over 490 crore worth of revenue for the American food chain. While McDonald's seeks to buy out Vikram's share despite a huge profit margin, its other joint venture with Amit Jatia, who manages the chain in West and South India under Hardcastle Restaurants, has been brought under radar. On books, McDonald's sold their share of the Hardcastle Restaurants joint venture to co-owner Amit Jatia at a reported loss of 99% in 2011, making it a master franchisee.

The court is under the ambit of CBL with next hearing scheduled in early October 2013.

Defamation

McLibel (UK)

In 1990, McDonald's took environmental campaigners Helen Steel and Dave Morris to court after they distributed leaflets entitled "What's Wrong with McDonald's?" on the streets of London. The high-profile trial, which came to be known as the McLibel Case, lasted seven and a half years, the longest in English legal history.

Though a High Court judge eventually ruled in favour of McDonald's on some counts, John Vidal called it a Pyrrhic victory. The extended legal battle was a PR disaster, with every aspect of the company's working practices being scrutinised and the media presenting the case as a David and Goliath battle. Additionally, the damages received were negligible compared to the company's estimated £10 million legal costs because the court ruled in favour of a number of the defendants' claims, including that McDonald's exploited children in its advertising, was anti-trade union and indirectly exploited and caused suffering to animals. McDonald's was awarded £60,000 damages, which was later reduced to £40,000 by the Court of Appeal. Steel and Morris announced they had no intention of ever paying, and the company later confirmed it would not be pursuing the money. Steel and Morris went on to challenge UK libel laws in the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that the lack of access to l egal aid and the heavy burden of proof that lay with them, as the defendants' requirement to prove their claims under UK law was a breach of the right to a fair trial and freedom of expression. The court ruled in their favour and the UK Government was forced to introduce legislation to change defamation laws.

Intellectual property

MacJoy (Philippines)

In 2004, McDonald's sued Cebu-based fast food restaurant MacJoy for using a very similar trade name. In its defense, MacJoy insisted that it was the first user of the mark under the title "MACJOY & DEVICE" for its business in Cebu City which started in 1987, five years before McDonald's opened its first outlet in the same city. MacJoy stated that the requirement of “actual use” in commerce in the Philippines before one may register a trademark pertains to the territorial jurisdiction on a national scale and is not merely confined to a certain locality or region. It added that "MacJoy" is a term of endearment for the owner's niece whose name is Scarlett Yu Carcel. In response, McDonald's claimed that there was no connection with the name Scarlett Yu Carcel to merit the coinage of the word "MacJoy" and that the only logical conclusion over the name is to help the Cebu restaurant ride high on their (McDonald's) established reputation.

On February 2007, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the right of McDonald's over its registered and internationally recognized trademarks. As a result, the owners of MacJoy, the Espina family, was forced to change its trademark into MyJoy, which went into effect with the re-opening of its two branches in Cebu City on August that year.

McCoffee (US)

In 1994, McDonald's successfully forced Elizabeth McCaughey of the San Francisco Bay Area to change the trading name of her coffee shop McCoffee, which had operated under that name for 17 years. "This is the moment I surrendered the little 'c' to corporate America," said Elizabeth McCaughey, who had named it as an adaptation of her surname.

Norman McDonald's Country Drive-Inn (US)

From the early 1960s to the mid-1980s, Norman McDonald ran a small "Country Drive-Inn" restaurant in Philpot, Kentucky called simply "McDonald's Hamburgers; Country Drive-Inn", which at the time also had a gas station and convenience store. McDonald's the restaurant chain forced Norman to remove the arches and add the full Norman McDonald's name to its sign so customers would not be confused into thinking the restaurant was affiliated with the McDonald's restaurant chain. The restaurant is still open to this day (though it no longer has the gas station).

McChina Wok Away (UK)

In 2001, McDonald’s lost a nine-year legal action against Frank Yuen, owner of McChina Wok Away, a small chain of Chinese takeaway outlets in London. Justice David Neuberger ruled the McChina name would not cause any confusion among customers and that McDonald's had no right to the prefix Mc.

McMunchies (UK)

In 1996, McDonald's forced Scottish sandwich shop owner Mary Blair of Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire to drop McMunchies as her trading name. Mrs. Blair did not sell burgers or chips. She said she chose the name because she liked the word munchies and wanted the cafe to have a Scottish feel. The cafe's sign reflected this, featuring a Scottish thistle and a St Andrew's flag. But in a statement to Mrs. Blair's solicitors, McDonald's said if someone used the Mc prefix, even unintentionally, they were using something that does not belong to them.

MacDonald's (UK - Cayman Islands)

McDonald's filed a lawsuit against MacDonald's Family Restaurant, located in Grand Cayman. McDonald's lost the case, and in addition, was banned from ever opening a McDonald's location on Grand Cayman. This ruling still stands today.

McAllan (Denmark)

In 1996, McDonald's lost a legal battle at the Danish Supreme Court to force Allan Pedersen, a hotdog vendor, to drop his shop name McAllan. Pedersen had previously visited Scotland on whisky tasting tours. He named his business after his favorite brand of whisky, MacAllan's, after contacting the distillery to see if they would object. They did not, but McDonald's did. However, the court ruled customers could tell the difference between a one-man vendor and a multi-national chain and ordered McDonald's to pay 40,000 kroner ($6,900) in court costs. The verdict cannot be appealed.

McCurry (Malaysia)

In 2001, McDonald's sued a small restaurant named McCurry, a popular eatery serving Indian food in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. McDonald's claimed that the use of the "Mc" prefix infringed its trademark, while the defendant claimed that McCurry stood for Malaysian Chicken Curry.

In 2006, McDonald's won an initial judgment in the High Court. The judge ruled that the prefix Mc and the use of colors distinctive of the McDonald's brand could confuse and deceive customers. In April 2009, however, a three-member Appeal Court panel overturned the verdict, saying that there was no evidence to show that McCurry was passing off its own product as that of McDonald's. The Appeals Court also said that McDonald's cannot claim an exclusive right to the "Mc" prefix in the country. McDonald's appealed the decision to the Federal Court, the highest court in Malaysia. In September 2009, the Federal Court upheld the Appeal Court's decision. McDonald's appeal was dismissed with costs, and was ordered to pay RM10,000 to McCurry.

South African trademark law

Apartheid politics had prevented earlier expansion into South Africa, but as the apartheid regime came to an end in the early 1990s, McDonald's decided to expand there. The company had already recognized South Africa as a potentially significant market and had registered its name as a trademark there in 1968.

Under South African law, trademarks cease to be the property of a company if they are not used for a certain amount of time. McDonald's had renewed the 1968 registration several times, but missed a renewal deadline. The registration expired and McDonald’s discovered two fast food restaurants in South Africa were trading under the name MacDonalds. Moreover, a businessman had applied to register the McDonald’s name.

Multiple lawsuits were filed. The fast food chain was stunned when the court ruled it had lost the rights to its world-famous name in South Africa. However, the company eventually won on appeal.

The real Ronald McDonald (US)

The company waged an unsuccessful 32-year legal action against McDonald's Family Restaurant which was opened by a man legally named Ronald McDonald in Fairbury, Illinois in 1956. Mr. McDonald ultimately continued to use his name on his restaurant, despite objections by McDonald's.

The McBrat case (Australia)

In 2005, McDonald’s tried to stop a Queensland lawyer, Malcolm McBratney, from using the name 'McBrat' on the shorts of the Brisbane Irish Rugby team. McDonald’s claimed the McBrat name should not be registered because it was too similar to its McKids trade mark, since the word 'brat' is another term for 'kid'. McBratney, a solicitor specialising in trademarks and intellectual property, argued that his family name had been used in Ireland since the 1600s, and that he had a right to use an abbreviation of that name. In 2006, the Delegate of the Register of Trade Marks held that McBratney could register 'McBrat' as a trademark and that McDonald's had no intellectual property rights over 'Mc' and 'Mac' prefixed words.

McBratney, who specialises in intellectual property law, then brought a suit against McDonald's for its registration, in Australia in 1987, of 'McKids'. This trademark had never been used in Australia and can therefore be removed for non-use.

Cases brought against McDonald's

H.R. Pufnstuf / McDonaldland

In 1973, Sid and Marty Krofft, the creators of H.R. Pufnstuf, successfully sued McDonald's in Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., arguing that the entire McDonaldland premise was essentially a ripoff of their television show. In specific, the Kroffts claimed that the character Mayor McCheese was a direct copy of their character, "H.R. Pufnstuf" (being a mayor himself). McDonald's initially was ordered to pay $50,000. The case was later remanded as to damages, and McDonald's was ordered to pay the Kroffts more than $1 million.

McDonaldland itself, as it was depicted in the commercials, was a magical place where plants, foods, and inanimate objects were living, speaking characters. In addition to being the home to Ronald and the other core characters, McDonaldland boasted "Thick shake volcanoes", anthropomorphized "Apple pie trees", "The Hamburger Patch" (where McDonald's hamburgers grew out of the ground like plants), "Filet-O-Fish Lake", and many other fanciful features based around various McDonald's menu items. In the commercials, the various beings are played by puppets or costumed performers, very similar to the popular H.R. Pufnstuf program.

McDonald's had originally hoped the Kroffts would agree to license its characters for commercial promotions. When they declined, McDonaldland was created, purposely based on the H.R. Pufnstuf show in an attempt to duplicate the appeal.

After the lawsuit, the concept of the "magical place" was all but phased out of the commercials, as were many of the original characters. Those that remained would be Ronald, Grimace, The Hamburglar, and the Fry Kids.

McSleep (Quality Inns International)

In 1988, Quality Inns (now Choice Hotels) was planning to open a new chain of economy hotels under the name "McSleep." After McDonald's demanded that Quality Inns not use the name because it infringed, the hotel company filed a suit in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment that "McSleep" did not infringe. McDonald's counterclaimed, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. Eventually, McDonald's prevailed. The court's opinion noted that the prefix "Mc" added to a generic word has acquired secondary meaning, so that in the eyes of the public it means McDonald's, and therefore the name "McSleep" would infringe on McDonald's trademarks.

Viz top tips (UK)

In 1996, British adult comic Viz accused McDonald's of plagiarizing the name and format of its longstanding Top Tips feature, in which readers offer sarcastic tips. McDonald's had created an advertising campaign of the same name, which showcased the Top Tips (and then suggested the money-saving alternative - going to McDonald's). Some of the similarities were almost word-for-word:

"Save a fortune on laundry bills. Give your dirty shirts to Oxfam. They will wash and iron them, and then you can buy them back for 50p." â€" Viz Top Tip, published May 1989.

"Save a fortune on laundry bills. Give your dirty shirts to a second-hand shop. They will wash and iron them, and then you can buy them back for 50p." â€" McDonald's advert, 1996

The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, which was donated to the charity appeal Comic Relief. However, many Viz readers believed that the comic had given permission for their use, leading to Top Tips submissions such as: "Geordie magazine editors. Continue paying your mortgage and buying expensive train sets ... by simply licensing the Top Tips concept to a multinational burger corporation."

Labor

Coalition of Immokalee workers (US)

In March 2001, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a group of South Florida farmworkers, began a campaign demanding better wages for the people who pick the tomatoes used by McDonald's and other fast food companies. McDonald's was the second target after the group succeeded against Taco Bell.

Strip search Suit (US)

Advertising

Fries advertisement (UK)

In 2003, a ruling by the UK Advertising Standards Authority determined that the corporation had acted in breach of the codes of practice in describing how its French fries were prepared. A McDonald's print ad stated that "after selecting certain potatoes", "we peel them, slice them, fry them and that's it." It showed a picture of a potato in a McDonald's fries box. In fact, the product was sliced, pre-fried, sometimes had dextrose added, was then frozen, shipped, and re-fried and then had salt added.

Beef content in fries

Lawsuits were brought against the McDonald's Corporation in the early 1990s for including beef in its French fries despite claims that the fries were vegetarian. In fact, beef flavoring is added to the fries during the production phase. The case revolved around a 1990 McDonald’s press release stating that the company's French fries would be cooked in 100% vegetable oil and a 1993 letter to a customer that claimed their French fries are vegetarian. McDonald's denied this. The lawsuits ended in 2002 when McDonald's announced it would issue another apology and pay $100M to vegetarians and religious groups. Subsequent oversight by the courts was required to ensure that the money that was paid by McDonald's: "to use the funds for programs serving the interests of people following vegetarian dietary practices in the broadest sense." There was some controversy in this ruling, as it benefited non-vegetarian groups such as research institutions that research vegetarian diets but d o not benefit vegetarians. In 2005, the appeal filed by vegetarians against the list of recipients in this case was denied, and the recipients of the $10M chosen by McDonald's was upheld.

Further ingredient-related lawsuits have been brought against McDonald's since 2006. McDonald's had included its French fries on its website in a list of gluten-free products; these lawsuits claim children suffered severe intestinal damage as a result of unpublicized changes to McDonald's French fry recipe. McDonald's has provided a more complete ingredient list for its French fries more recently. Over 20 lawsuits have been brought against McDonald's regarding this issue, which the McDonald's Corporation has attempted to consolidate.

"McMatch and Win Monopoly" promotion (Australia)

In 2001, 34 claimants (representing some 7,000 claimants) filed in a class action against McDonald's for false and misleading conduct arising from the "McMatch & Win Monopoly" promotion before Justice John Dowsett of the Federal Court of Australia. The claimants had attempted to claim prizes from the 1999 promotion using game tokens from the 1998 promotion, arguing unsuccessfully that the remaining 1998 tokens may have been distributed accidentally by McDonald's in 1999.

Halal food lawsuit (Dearborn, Michigan)

In 2013, McDonald's quit serving halal food at the only two locations in the US that served halal food, both located in Dearborn, MI after a $700,000 lawsuit filed in 2001 where a customer alleged the menu items were not consistently halal. The case was brought to court by Michael Jaafar, a Detroit lawyer of Fairmax Law who filed a consumer protection class action lawsuit against McDonald's for advertising halal foods.

Health and safety

Also known as the "McDonald's coffee case", Liebeck v. McDonald's is a well-known product liability lawsuit that became a flash point in the debate in the U.S. over tort reform after a jury awarded $2.9 million to Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old woman from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who sued McDonald's after she suffered third-degree burns from hot coffee that was spilled on her at one of the company's drive-thrus in 1992. The trial judge reduced the total award to $640,000, and the parties settled for a confidential amount before an appeal was decided. The case entered popular understanding as an example of frivolous litigation; ABC News calls the case "the poster child of excessive lawsuits." Trial-lawyer groups such as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and other opponents of tort reform sometimes argue that the suit was justified because of the extent of Liebeck's injuries. In addition, McDonald's failed to provide proper warning. Warning consumers of possible dang ers of their products is strictly enforced by the FDA. Furthermore, McDonald's should not be serving substances that are potentially harmful to their consumers.

Discrimination

Magee v. McDonald's is a United States federal lawsuit begun in May 2016 in the Illinois Northern District Court, case number 1:16-cv-05652, in which Scott McGee of Metairie, Louisiana is pursuing action against McDonald's due to the company being unwilling to serve people who are visually impaired via the drive thru lane. Because the drive thru lane is sometimes the only method of ordering food once the dining room is closed, this creates a situation in which people who are legally blind, and unable to operate a motor vehicle can not order food from the restaurant while other people are able to do so.

Polaris is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent modern-day slavery and human trafficking. The organization works directly with victims, hosts tip and crisis hotlines, and offers solutions to those victimized by human trafficking. The organization is one of the largest anti-trafficking organizations in the US, with programs operating at local and national levels through their offices in Washington, D.C. and Newark, New Jersey. They operate the National Human Trafficking Resource Center NHTRC) which serves as a central national hotline on human trafficking. Other anti-trafficking organizations, such as International Justice Mission and Truck ers Against Trafficking, cite Polaris data. Polaris also advocates for stronger state and federal anti-trafficking legislation, and engages community members in local and national grassroots efforts. Polaris has been criticized for releasing false and misleading data regarding sex trafficking. Critics of Polaris state that the organization fails to distinguish between consensual sex work and coercion, and that the policies Polaris lobbies for harm sex workers.

History

Polaris was founded with the name Polaris Project in 2002, by Derek Ellerman and Katherine Chon, who were seniors at Brown University, when they were inspired to create a nonprofit organization that focuses on ending human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The inspiration came to them after learning about a forced labor criminal case which exposed how six South Korean women were forced to work at a brothel in Providence, Rhode Island. The organization was named after the North Star, which slaves in the Southern United States used to help find their way along the Underground Railroad to freedom in the North. The organization is committed to ending human trafficking and slavery and focuses its efforts in the United States. Polaris is one of the few organizations working on all forms of trafficking, including supporting survivors who are male, female, transgender people and children, US citizens and foreign nationals and survivors of both labor and sex trafficking. In April 2013, Polaris Project launched their Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network to connect with international anti-trafficking organizations running hotlines and coordinate efforts.

The Hotline and Organization Programs

These are some of their current and past programs striving to bring an end to human trafficking according to GuideStar.

• Washington, DC Trafficking intervention Program
• New Jersey Trafficking Intervention Program
• National Human Trafficking Resource Center
• U.S. Policy Program
• National Public Outreach Program

Through Polaris Project, there exists a National Human Trafficking Resource Center and a hotline number to help bring an end to modern day slavery. Polaris Project used Salesforce to help improve tactics and increase their social impact. In early 2013, Polaris Project, along with Thorn, Salesforce, and Twilio, launched a new hotline for texting. By simply texting "BeFree" (233733), victims and captives could quickly and directly send out a message. This method of communication gives Polaris Project the ability to gather information and use it to coordinate with law enforcement to help victims of human trafficking.

Allegations of Publishing False and Misleading Data

The accuracy of Polaris’ data on human trafficking has been questioned by multiple sources. In 2011, Polaris was criticized for knowingly using false and misleading data to exaggerate the number of trafficked sex workers and understate their age of entry into sex work. Since then, Polaris has partnered with data analysis firm Palantir Technologies to improve the organization of data reported to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and the accuracy of statistics released to the public. More recently, in 2015, Polaris was accused of using unreferenced and uncorroborated data to exaggerate the income and number of clients seen by street based and massage parlor based sex workers and the prevalence of "pimps".

Criticism

Polaris Project has been criticized by sex workers and some public health advocates. Critics point out that Polaris Project fails to distinguish between consenting adults who choose to participate in sex work from those who are actual victims of coercion. They also state that because Polaris advocates law enforcement solutions to abolish sex work, sex workers themselves are harmed, face arrest, or may be driven further underground. Others have questioned specific tactics of Polaris. Polaris has advocated shutting down online advertising site Backpage, claiming that it facilities human trafficking. Polaris Project's Executive Director, Bradley Myles, has stated in interviews and in an open letter to Village Voice Media, the owner of Backpage, that the site "facilitates human trafficking," and called for the website to stop accepting ads for sexual services. Critics of Polaris point out that this tactic would likely only spread sex advertisements to other, less regulated websites. T hey point out that the number known advertisements for coerced sexual activity is exceedingly low, and that almost all ads the site carries are from willing adults. Others have pointed out that law enforcement agencies have themselves utilized Backpage to identify possible illegal and coerced activities.

Honors and awards

Since its founding, Polaris has received awards and honors for its achievements, including those below:

References

Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education and media company known for publishing, selling, and distributing books and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, and children. Products are distributed to schools and districts, to consumers through the schools via reading clubs and fairs, and through retail stores and online sales. The business has three segments: Children Book Publishing & Distribution (Trade, Book Clubs and Book Fairs), Education, and International. Scholastic holds the perpetual U.S. publishing rights to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games bo ok series. Scholastic is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in print and digital educational materials for pre-K to grade 12.

In addition to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, the company is known for its school book clubs and book fairs, classroom magazine Scholastic News, and popular book series: Clifford the Big Red Dog, Goosebumps, The Magic School Bus, Captain Underpants, Animorphs, and I Spy. Scholastic also publishes instructional reading and writing programs, and offers professional learning and consultancy services for school improvement. Clifford the Big Red Dog serves as the mascot for Scholastic.

History

In 1920, Maurice R. "Robbie" Robinson founded the business he named Scholastic Publishing Company in his hometown of Wilkinsburg, right outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a publisher of youth magazines, the first publication was The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic. It covered high school sports and social activities and debuted on October 22, 1920.

In 1926, Scholastic published its first book, Saplings, a collection of selected student writings by winners of the Scholastic Writing Awards.

For many years the company continued its focus on serving the youth market, publishing low-cost magazines and later paperback books. The company continued under the name Scholastic Magazines throughout the 1970s.

After World War II, cheap paperback books became available. In 1948, Scholastic entered the school book club business with its division T.A.B., or Teen Age Book Club, offering classic titles priced at 25 cents.

In 1957, Scholastic established its first international subsidiary in Toronto Scholastic Canada, later moving to Markham, Ontario.

By the 1960s, international publishing locations were added in England (1964), New Zealand (1964) and Sydney (1968).

In 1974, Richard "Dick" Robinson, the son of founder M. R. Robinson, became President of Scholastic Inc. Named Chief Executive Officer in 1975 and Chairman in 1982, he remains in these positions.

During the 1970s, Scholastic was well known for Scholastic Book Clubs, now called Scholastic Reading Club, a book purchasing service delivered through schools, and magazine publications aimed at youths: Wow (preschoolers and elementary schoolers), Dynamite (pre-teens), and Bananas (teens). Scholastic now publishes 33 classroom magazines including Scholastic News, Action, Scope, Storyworks, SuperScience, Science World, Math and more, that reach 14 million readers.

The Scholastic Education business sells instructional reading and writing programs such as Guided and leveled reading and print and digital classroom magazines, along with professional learning programs and consulting/training on Family & Community Engagement and Learning Supports. Classroom Magazines have 15 million subscribers.

During the mid-1990s, Scholastic entered the educational technology market, working with Dr. Ted Hasselbring of Vanderbilt University to create READ 180, a blended-learning, reading intervention program for students in grades 4 through 12 who are two or more grades below grade level. Since then, READ 180 has been listed in the What Works Clearinghouse and has a record of positive results in a wide range of efficacy studies with various student populations, including special education students and English language learners. Scholastic Education has since created SYSTEM 44, a technology-based phonics program for students in grades 3 through 12, iREAD, a supplemental educational technology program for grades K-2, MATH 180, mathematics intervention for middle school, and FasttMath, a technology based program to teach basic math facts. The EdTech and Services business was sold to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2015 for $575 million.

To appeal to American children, in 1997, Scholastic (through Arthur A. Levine Books) purchased the U.S. publication rights to the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; it was renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It continues to publish Harry Potter books, each title a best seller.

Scholastic's growth has continued by acquiring other media companies. In February 2012, it bought Weekly Reader Publishing from Reader's Digest Association, and announced in July that year that it planned to discontinue separate issues of Weekly Reader magazines after more than a century of publication, and co-branded the magazines as "Scholastic News/Weekly Reader". Other acquisitions include Klutz in 2002, and the reference publisher Grolier, which publishes the Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia and The New Book of Knowledge in 2000 and Weston Woods Studios in 1996. In 2015, Scholastic acquired Troubadour, Ltd. in the U.K.

During the 2000 presidential election, Scholastic organized the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps, which today includes more than 30 national and International kid reporters ages 10â€"14.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Founded in 1923 by Maurice R. Robinson, The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, administered by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, have motivated more than 13 million students, recognized more than 9 million young artists and writers, and provided more than $25 million in awards and scholarships. These Awards have been the largest source of scholarship funding for teenage artists and writers, and the nation's longest-running, most prestigious art and writing awards.

In the U.S.A, the process begins as young artists and writers submit creative works to the Alliance's regional affiliates. The most outstanding works of art and writing (Gold Key and Silver Key winners) from each region are forwarded to the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers in New York City to be reviewed on a national level. Panels of professional jurors select the national award recipients. Regional awards are administered by a network of nearly 100 affiliates that include school systems and school boards, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, foundations, arts agencies, businesses, libraries, museums, teacher councils and institutions of higher education, which share a commitment to identifying emerging local artists and writers.

The Awards recognize written and artistic works in 30 categories, including Architecture, Comic Art, Ceramics & Glass, Digital Art, Design, Drawing, Fashion, Film & Animation, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Video Games, Art Portfolio, Photography Portfolio, Dramatic Script, Humor, Journalism, Personal Essay/Memoir, Persuasive Writing, Poetry, Novel Writing, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Short Story, Short, Short Story, General Writing Portfolio, Nonfiction Portfolio, and Creativity & Citizenship.

Recipients of The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards include Richard Anuszkiewicz, Richard Avedon, Harry Bertoia, Mel Bochner, Truman Capote, Paul Davis, Frances Farmer, Red Grooms, Robert Indiana, Bernard Malamud, Joyce Maynard, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Pearlstein, Peter S. Beagle, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford, Jean Stafford, Mozelle Thompson, Ned Vizzini, Kay WalkingStick, Andy Warhol, and Charles White, all of whom won when they were in high school.

Imprints and corporate divisions

Trade Publishing Imprints include:

• Arthur A. Levine Books, which specializes in fiction and non-fiction books for young readers. The imprint was founded at Scholastic in 1996 by Arthur Levine in New York City. The first book published by Arthur A. Levine Books was When She Was Good by Norma Fox Mazer in autumn of 1997. The imprint is most notable as the publisher for the American editions of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.
• The Blue Sky Press
• Cartwheel Books
• The Chicken House
• Franklin Watts
• Graphix
• Klutz Press
• Little Apple Books
• Little Shepherd
• Michael di Capua Books
• Orchard Books
• Point
• PUSH
• Éditions Scholastic (French Canada)
• Scholastic Australia made up of Koala Books, Margaret Hamilton Books, Omnibus Books, and Scholastic Press.
• Scholastic en español
• Scholastic Paperbacks
• Scholastic Press
• Scholastic Reference

Corporate divisions:

• Children's Book Publishing and Distribution
• Children's Press (spelled until 1995 as Childrens Press). Founded in 1945 and originally based in Chicago, Illinois, this press published the Rookie Read-About series and also has a secondary imprint, Franklin Watts. In 1996, Children's Press became a division of Grolier, which became an imprint of Scholastic Corporation in 2000.
  • Scholastic Trade Publishing
  • Scholastic Reading Club
  • Scholastic Book Fairs
• Scholastic Education
• Scholastic Classroom and Community Group (Classroom Books, Guided Reading, Classroom Magazines, Teaching Resources and F.A.C.E. - Family & Community Engagement)
• Scholastic International
• Media, Licensing and Advertising (Scholastic Media, Consumer & Professional Magazines, Scholastic National Partnerships)
  • Scholastic National Service Organization (Distribution center in Jefferson City, MO)
  • Scholastic.com

Selected list of publications

• The 39 Clues
• Adventure Time series
• Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series
• Animorphs series
• The Baby-sitters Club
• Back to the Future series
• Bone series
• Book of World Records series
• Captain Underpants series
• Clifford the Big Red Dog series
• Flat Stanley series (2006; 2009â€"present)
• Freak the Mighty series
• Geronimo Stilton series
• Ghostbusters series
• Good Night, Sleep Tight
• Goosebumps series
• Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole series
• Harry Potter (American Version) series, by J.K. Rowling
• The Hobbit (American Version) by J. R. R. Tolkien
  • The Lord of the Rings (American Version) series by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Horrible Histories series
• The Hunger Games series
• I Spy series
• Indiana Jones series
• The Lego Movie series
  • Lego Legends of Chima series
  • Lego Ninjago series
• The Magic School Bus series
• Main Street series
• Pirates of the Caribbean series
• Pokémon (American Version) series by Satoshi Tajiri
• Portal series
• Power Rangers series
• The Raven Cycle
• Ripley's Believe It or Not! Special Edition (annual)
• The Royal Diaries series
• Scooby-Doo series
• The Simpsons series
• Spirit Animals series
• Ulysses Moore series
• Wings of Fire series

Scholastic Media

Scholastic Media is a corporate division led by Deborah Forte since 1995. It covers "all forms of media and consumer products, and is comprised of four main groups â€" Productions, Marketing & Consumer Products, Interactive, and Audio." Weston Woods is its production studio, acquired in 1996, as was Soup2Nuts from 2001-2015 before shutting down.

Scholastic has produced audiobooks such as the Caldecott/Newbery Collection; TV serial adaptations such as Clifford the Big Red Dog, Animorphs, The Magic School Bus, and Goosebumps; and feature films such as Tuck Everlasting, Clifford's Really Big Movie, Goosebumps, and The Golden Compass. It will produce the 39 Clues and as Scholastic Productions produced the series Voyagers!, My Secret Identity, and Charles in Charge.

Reading clubs

Scholastic reading clubs are offered at schools in many countries. Typically, teachers administer the program to the students in their own classes, but in some cases, the program is administered by a central contact for the entire school. Within Scholastic, Reading Clubs is a separate unit (compared to, e.g., Education). Reading clubs are arranged by age/grade.

Scholastic also offers a host of specialty book club fliers including Club Leo (Spanish language for grades Kâ€"8), and Click (Computer games and media for all ages).

Scholastic typically offers participating schools and classrooms 1 "point" for every dollar (or local unit of currency) of products ordered. Additional points may be earned during special promotion times, such as the beginning of the school year. Points may then be redeemed for books and school supplies at a rate of approximately 20 points to the dollar. At minimum, schools earn 5% of book orders in free products. With special promotions, return rate can be higher (15â€"100%).

Going Green

Under the guidance of the Rainforest Alliance and other environmental groups, Scholastic set a goal to have 30 percent of the publication paper it buys be Forest Stewardship Council-certified within five years. A quarter of the paper it uses also will be recycled, with 75 percent being post-consumer waste.

Scholastic Parents Media

Scholastic Parents Media publishes the Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine. The group also specializes in online advertising sales and custom programs designed for parents and children ages 0â€"6.

Criticism

Scholastic has been criticized for inappropriately marketing to children. Also, Scholastic now requires parents to submit children's names with birth dates to place online orders, creating controversy. A significant number of titles carried have strong media tie-ins and are considered relatively short in literary and artistic merit by some critics. Consumer groups have also attacked Scholastic for selling too many toys and video games to children, rather than focusing on just books. In July, 2005, Scholastic determined that certain leases previously accounted for as operating leases should have been accounted for as capital leases. The cumulative effect, if recorded in the current year, would be material. As a result, it decided to restate its financial statements.

Key personnel

• Richard Robinson - Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, Scholastic Inc.
• Maureen O’Connell - Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Scholastic Inc.[1]
• Ellie Berger - Executive Vice President and President, Trade Publishing
• Alan Boyko - President, Scholastic Book Fairs
• Kyle Good - Senior Vice President Corporate Communications and Media Relations, Scholastic Inc.
• Andrew Hedden - Executive Vice President, General Counsel
• Nelson Hitchcock - Executive Vice President, President, International
• Judy Newman - President, Reading Club and E-Commerce
• Hugh Roome - Executive Vice President and President, Consumer and Professional Publishing
• Greg Worrell - President, Scholastic Education

ERC is Northeast Ohio's largest organization providing Human Resources and workplace programs, practices, training and consulting. ERC also hosts the NorthCoast 99 program and sponsors the ERC Health insurance program. It is not uncommon for the media to quote ERC in their stories when looking for an authority on the subject. ERC's mission is to assist organizations in attracting, retaining, and motivating top performing employees.

ERC was founded in July, 1920 as the American Plan Association of Cleveland. One of the organization’s main goals was to promote open shop employment instead of the common closed shop practice, which meant an employer was either union or non-union, but could not hire some of each. Another early goal was to help reduce the number of strikes locally, and the organization claimed it was at least partially responsible for reducing the number of strikes in Cleveland from 41 in 1920 to 21 in 1922. In 1920 Cleveland had been one of the only large cities in the US without a general employer’s association, yet by 1922 the APA of Cleveland had grown to be one of the largest such organizations in the country. In 1930 the organization was renamed The Associated Industries of Cleveland, and in 1986 the name Employer's Resource Council was coined. The organization is now more commonly referred to simply as ERC.

ERC is a currently membership organization. Members of ERC receive access to salary, wage and benefits survey data, an HR Help Desk, online HR resources and tools, networking opportunities and cost savings through a network of preferred partners. ERC also offers employee and job training locally and nationally including Supervisory Training, Management, Leadership, HR topics, Soft Skills, Computer/Software, and Technical training.

References

External links

• Official website
• NorthCoast 99 Program website
• ERC's Health Insurance Program

Resource depletion is the consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished. Natural resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources (see also mineral resource classification). Use of either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be resource depletion.

Resource depletion is most commonly used in reference to farming, fishing, mining, water usage, and consumption of fossil fuels.

Causes

• Aquifer depletion
• Habitat degradation leads to the loss of biodiversity (i.e. species and ecosystems with its ecosystem services)
• Irrigation
• Mining for fossil fuels and minerals
• Overconsumption, excessive or unnecessary use of resources
• Overpopulation
• Pollution or contamination of resources
• Slash-and-burn agricultural practices, currently occurring in many developing countries
• Soil erosion
• Technological and industrial development
• Deforestation

Minerals

Minerals are needed to provide food, clothing, and housing. A United States Geological Survey (USGS) study found a significant long-term trend over the 20th century for non-renewable resources such as minerals to supply a greater proportion of the raw material inputs to the non-fuel, non-food sector of the economy; an example is the greater consumption of crushed stone, sand, and gravel used in construction.

Large-scale exploitation of minerals began in the Industrial Revolution around 1760 in England and has grown rapidly ever since. Technological improvements have allowed humans to dig deeper and access lower grades and different types of ore over that time. Virtually all basic industrial metals (copper, iron, bauxite, etc.), as well as rare earth minerals, face production output limitations from time to time, because supply involves large up-front investments and is therefore slow to respond to rapid increases in demand.

Minerals projected by some to enter production decline during the next 20 years:

• Gas (2023)
• Copper (2024). Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) suggest that it is very unlikely that copper production will peak before 2040.
• Zinc Developments in hydrometallurgy have transformed non-sulphide zinc deposits (largely ignored until now) into large low cost reserves.

Minerals projected by some to enter production decline during the present century:

• Aluminium (2057)
• Coal (2060)
• Iron (2068)

Such projections may change, as new discoveries are made and typically misinterpret available data on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves.

Oil

Peak oil is the period when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. It relates to a long-term decline in the available supply of petroleum. This, combined with increasing demand, will significantly increase the worldwide prices of petroleum derived products. Most significant will be the availability and price of liquid fuel for transportation.

The United States Department of Energy in the Hirsch report indicates that “The peaking of world oil production presents the U. S. and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will increase dramatically, and, without timely mitigation, the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented. Viable mitigation options exist on both the supply and demand sides, but to have substantial impact, they must be initiated more than a decade in advance of peaking.”

Deforestation

Deforestation is the clearing of forests by logging or burning of trees and plants in a forested area. As a result of deforestation, presently about one half of the forests that once covered Earth have been destroyed. It occurs for many different reasons, and it has several negative implications on the atmosphere and the quality of the land in and surrounding the forest.

Causes

One of the main causes of deforestation is clearing forests for agricultural reasons. As the population of developing areas, especially near rainforests, increases, the need for land for farming becomes more and more important. For most people, a forest has no value when its resources aren’t being used, so the incentives to deforest these areas outweigh the incentives to preserve the forests. For this reason, the economic value of the forests is very important for the developing countries.

Environmental impact

Because deforestation is so extensive, it has made several significant impacts on the environment, including carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, changing the water cycle, an increase in soil erosion, and a decrease in biodiversity. Deforestation is often cited as a cause of global warming. Because trees and plants remove carbon dioxide and emit oxygen into the atmosphere, the reduction of forests contribute to about 12% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. One of the most pressing issues that deforestation creates is soil erosion. The removal of trees causes higher rates of erosion, increasing risks of landslides, which is a direct threat to many people living close to deforested areas. As forests get destroyed, so does the habitat for millions of animals. It is estimated that 80% of the world’s known biodiversity lives in the rainforests, and the destruction of these rainforests is accelerating extinction at an alarming rate.

Controlling deforestation

The United Nations and the World Bank created programs such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), which works especially with developing countries to use subsidies or other incentives to encourage citizens to use the forest in a more sustainable way. In addition to making sure that emissions from deforestation are kept to a minimum, an effort to educate people on sustainability and helping them to focus on the long-term risks is key to the success of these programs. The New York Declaration on Forests and its associated actions promotes reforestation, which is being encouraged in many countries in an attempt to repair the damage that deforestation has done.

Wetlands

Wetlands are ecosystems that are often saturated by enough surface or groundwater to sustain vegetation that is usually adapted to saturated soil conditions, such as cattails, bulrushes, red maples, wild rice, blackberries, cranberries, and peat moss. Because some varieties of wetlands are rich in minerals and nutrients and provide many of the advantages of both land and water environments they contain diverse species and provide a distinct basis for the food chain.

Traditionally, wetlands were assumed to be useless so it was not a large concern when they were being dug up for settlements, agricultural use etc.. It is now believed that the wetland habitats contribute to a environmental health and biodiversity.

In the USA, less than half of the wetlands that still existed in the 1600s have vanished.

Wetlands provide environmental services for:

1. Food and habitat
2. Improving water quality
3. Commercial fishing
4. Floodwater reduction
5. Shoreline stabilization
6. Recreation

Some loss of wetlands resulted from natural causes such as erosion, sedimentation (the buildup of soil by the settling of fine particles over a long period of time), subsidence (the sinking of land because of diminishing underground water supplies), and a rise in the sea level.

Nonnatural causes of wetland degradation and loss include:

• Hydrologic alteration
  • drainage
  • dredging
  • stream channelization
  • ditching
  • levees
  • deposition of fill material
  • stream diversion
  • groundwater drainage
  • impoundment
• Urbanization and urban development
• Marinas/boats
• Industrialization and industrial development
• Agriculture
• Silviculture/Timber harvest
• Mining
• Atmospheric deposition

Grand Rapids Medical Mile is a designated area within the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It began with medical-related development in the Hillside District Grand Rapids, Michigan, bordering both sides of Michigan Street. More than a decade later it encompasses an area five times larger. It has also been referred to as Grand Rapids Medical Corridor, Michigan Street Medical Corridor, Health Hill, Medical Hill, and Pill Hill, among other names. It was started in 1996 with the founding of Van Andel Institute by Jay and Betty Van Andel. It has since expanded to include the Grand Rapids Community College's Calkins Science Center across Bostwick Avenue, Spectrum Health's Butterwort h Hospital complex, Grand Valley State University's Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, and Michigan State University Secchia Center Medical School, among other facilities in the area.

Van Andel Institute

Van Andel Institute (VAI) is a research institution that primarily conducts cancer research, but also studies other diseases such as osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. It was founded in 1996 by philanthropists Jay and Betty Van Andel. At the time "there was little scientific activity in Grand Rapids." The institute opened in 2000 and expanded in 2009. Initially, most of the research was funded by an endowment from Jay Van Andel, which has been estimated at $1 billion. Jay Van Andel suffered from Parkinson's disease; Betty suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Their son, Dave, is the current CEO.

The VAI facility was built in two phases. The $60 million first phase was 160,000 square feet (15,000 m²) and included 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) of laboratory space. It also featured the 325-seat Tomatis Auditorium and the Cook-Hauenstein Hall. It is located on Bostwick Avenue with the north end on Michigan Street.

On May 17, 2005, VAI announced plans to expand. The expansion was approved by the City of Grand Rapids in October 2006, and construction for the expansion began on April 12, 2007. The cost of the expansion was $178 million, raised through donations and a bond. The second phase added an additional 242,000 square feet (22,500 m²), including 95,000 square feet (8,800 m²) of lab space. The new facility houses the Van Andel Education Institute's PhD-granting graduate school, which was founded in 2007. Michigan State University medical students also have research space in the facility. The building was designed by "world-renowned architect" Rafael Viñoly and will be LEED-certified. The second phase added a 100-seat cafeteria and 90-seat conference center.

The institute has 270 employees. Over the next several years, it is expected to grow to about 800 employees, most of them research scientists. VAI operates on an annual budget of $40 million, much of which comes from research grants and donations. Numerous local schools have donated money to fund medical research. The VAI endowment allows all donations to go directly to research.

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Secchia Center

The MSU College of Human Medicine Secchia Center houses the Grand Rapids portion of the MSU's M.D. medical school. Its purpose was to expand MSU CHM's class size from its traditional 106 students to 206 entering students per year in 2010; with 100 of those students spending all four years in Grand Rapids. Historically, first and second year students attended the East Lansing campus; the third and fourth year students then spread to six different urban areas in the state in order to complete their training.

Grand Rapids has been such a host for many years, and with the advent of the Medical Mile they were asked to expand the medical school in Grand Rapids. The center is home to 400 students a year. The project was ratified by the MSU Board of Trustees on January 18, 2007. It was funded by private dollars through a joint fundraising initiative by MSU and Grand Action, a nonprofit Grand Rapids based organization designed to revitalize and attract business to downtown Grand Rapids. A $10 million lead donation of the $90 million construction budget was given by Ambassador Peter F. Secchia.

The campus is a seven-story building atop a five-story parking garage. It is approximately 180,000 square feet (17,000 m²) and is a part of the four-tower RDV/Christman Michigan Street development bounded by Interstate 196 (I-196) to the north, Michigan Street to the south and North Division to the west. It is skywalk-linked into Tower 25 of the Medical Mile, which is connected to the Van Andel Institute and the remainder of the Medical Mile.

Spectrum Health System

Spectrum Health System operates several facilities on Michigan Street. First is Butterworth Hospital, the main downtown hospital for the health group. This campus has the only level I trauma center in West Michigan. It includes the Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center, the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, and the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion.

Butterworth Hospital

The Butterworth Hospital was founded by St. Mark's Church in 1873. The first patients were limited to elderly women, but two years later, a new facility opened to allow a more diverse patient load. By 1887 a need for further expansion led Richard E. Butterworth to offer the present site of Michigan Street and Bostwick Avenue. On April 26, 1890, the new facility opened, and it was renamed four years later in honor of Mr. Butterworth, who was not alive to see the opening. In the 1920s, the Butterworth family donated enough to open a new 220-bed facility at the hospital's current location. A further expansion in the early 1950s increased the number of beds to 425. In 1973, the North Towerâ€"another expansionâ€"was completed, bringing the number of beds to 529. In 1987, Health Connections started Aero Med to provide air transport service, and in 1993 the Helen DeVos Women and Children's Center was opened.

Meijer Heart Center

Opened in 2004, the Meijer Heart Center was the combination of both of Spectrum Health's heart programs from its Blodgett campus in East Grand Rapids, and the one at its Butterworth campus. It was built using the donations of over 3000 people donating almost $35 million. The center has been named in the Solucient 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals multiple times. It also ranked number one in open heart surgeries performed in 2005. It is also Michigan's first chest pain center.

Helen DeVos Children's Hospital

The Helen DeVos Children's Hospital first opened on September 1, 1993. At the time of its opening, it was the only children's hospital in West Michigan. The hospital was started 20 years earlier by the Fremont, Michigan based Gerber Baby Foods as a neonatal intensive care unit at Butterworth Hospital. The original $100,000 donation allowed it to be opened the next year, and in the next decade the need for more services grew substantially. In 1990, Richard and Helen DeVos donated $5 million to expand its services and to offer specialized pediatric care. They also donated $50 million in the $100 million cost for the new 14-story, 440,000-square-foot (41,000 m²) facility. This facility called the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital wheeled its first kids through the doors on January 11, 2011. There are well over 200 beds and all are private rooms that view the city. The hospital is next door to a heliport .

Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion

The Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion was developed to bring all cancer research and patient service delivery in the Spectrum Health System under one roof. The land for the project was purchased in 2002 with a donation from Fred and Lena Meijer. The $78 million facility opened on June 30, 2008. It is located across the street from Butterworth Hospital on Michigan Street and is connected to it by an underground tunnel. Since the location is also near the VAI, the hospital has a high rate of cancer patients on clinical trials: eight percent compared to the national rate of three percent. The Pavilion is named after two employees that worked for Meijer and advanced their way to the top of the company.

GVSU Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences

The GVSU Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences is a 273,000-square-foot (25,400 m²) facility opened in 2003 by Grand Valley State University. The project cost was $32 million, and is located with Michigan Street on the south side and Lafayette on the west side. It currently has four specialized laboratories dealing with different rehab services. It also houses a portion of the GVSU library system in the Frey Foundation Learning Center. This portion of the system deals with medical fields. The center also houses the 150 seat Hagar Auditorium, the 120 seat Steelcase lecture hall, and six conference rooms with 12 to 20 seats each. Also in the facility is the West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative, a GVSU project that is designed to aid medical business by providing lab space and allocates around 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²) allocated for this purpose. It was founded in 2003 by GVSU, VAI, GRCC, the City of Grand Rapids, and the Right Place, a Grand Rapids-based strategic alliance.

Medical Mile Resource Group

The Medical Mile Resource Group provides assistance and direction to all individuals and businesses within the greater West Michigan area who seek to expand or grow their business in relation to the growth of the Medical Mile. The group, which consists of local professionals and businesses, is designed to represent both business-to-business and business-to-consumer enterprises. It is not limited to addressing only the needs of those within the medical field, but hopes to provide assistance to the businesses and communities in the greater Grand Rapids area that are impacted by the economic growth. "We are the primary resource for professionals and organizations that are impacted by the growth of the Medical Mile,” group founder Paul Spoelstra said. “We are fielding calls from a variety of different size businesses that are looking to grow or move into the area. Our team focuses on the three ‘E’s’ of corporate growth. We are finding emerging, evolving and established compa nies all have their unique needs stemming from the Medical Mile. We seek to meet those needs.” The Medical Mile Resource Group provides solutions within the community using local resources and businesses. The group emphasizes a belief in cooperation, sighting the idea that “...a combined effort is greater than the sum of the individual parts.” The Medical Resource Group provides solutions and opportunities to individuals and businesses impacted by growth within the emerging medical and life sciences community. The expansion of the Medical Mile on Michigan Street will also create an expansion of ideas and work force. The Medical Mile Resource Group is assisting in the “second wave” of ideas and people.

RDV/Christman Michigan Street Development

The RDV/Christman Michigan Street Development is an integrated series of mixed-use buildings constructed along the north side of Michigan Street spanning between Division Avenue to Coit Avenue. It was a $250 million project that is jointly owned by RDV Corp. and The Christman Company, collectively known as Michigan Street Development, LLC. Several properties were acquired by the partnership: a State of Michigan surface parking lot, the Towers Building, an aboveground parking structure, a private practice medical building, and a Burger King. All of these were razed in preparation for the new facilities. Numerous tax incentives allowed financing of the development to become finalized.

The design of the facility includes a four-story, 2,300 space underground parking structure with four buildings built on the top levels. The four buildings will have approximately 740,000 square feet (69,000 m²) of space and created approximately two thousand new jobs.

The project is scheduled to be completed in two primary phases.

Phase I consisted of:

• Demolition of the Burger King, surface parking lots, aboveground parking structure, and medical office.
• Mass excavation and an earth retention system at the east and west thirds of the site.
• A parking structure below grade from Division Avenue to Bostwick Avenue and just east of Bostwick Avenue to Coit Avenue.
• Michigan Street Tunnel connecting the Butterworth Campus to the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital and the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion.
• Tower 25 - seven-story medical office building.
• A pedestrian bridge connecting the parking structure to the Van Andel Institute.
• Construction of the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion and the Michigan State University Secchia Center College of Human Medicine.

Phase II consisted of:

• Demolition of the Towers Building and surface parking lot.
• Mass excavation and earth retention at the center third of the development.
• Tower 35 - seven-story medical office building including lab space located at 35 Michigan Street NE.
• A pedestrian bridge connecting Tower 35 to the Butterworth Campus and the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.
• A food court located between Tower 25 and Tower 35.

Mid Towne Village

The Mid Towne Village is the first Planned Redevelopment District in the 2003 Grand Rapids passed zoning law. It is designed to be a mixed use facility and is at the northeast corner of Michigan Street and College Avenue. It has six buildings and a 15,000 square feet (1,400 m²) Village Green Park in the center of the development. Key facilities in the project includes the Women’s Health Center, Park Row Condominiums, an office building for the development along with three other buildings. Along with being the first in project of this type in the state it is also the second to receive Brownfield tax credits for a blighted neighborhood.

The Women’s Health Center is a four-story 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m²) facility designed to combine many of the women based services in Spectrum Hospital, Metro Health and other Grand Rapids-based groups. Connected to the building is a five-story parking ramp providing 500 spaces. At the facility is a lower floor that includes an estimated 500 square feet (46 m²) conference room On the third floor is Metro Health's Heart & Vascular specialists. Cost of the facility is at $25 million. It is located at the northern end of the facility with the north face of the building looking over I-196. The east face looks over the parking ramp and into a neighborhood.

Building A of the facility is a three-story 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²) building. It currently has 46 parking spots in a garage underneath the building. The building is on the west side of the development and is just south of Women's Health Center. Its east side faces the park and its north side also has a view of I-196. A plaza is planned to be placed between it and the Health Center. The building has been planned to be a Medical use only facility.

Building C of the facility is a three-story 29,000-square-foot (2,700 m²) building. It has eight parking spots with two in a residential style garage. Its north side faces the central park, the south side faces the offices of the complex. The east side will overlook the Midtown neighborhood. The west side will overlook a large parking lot and to College Ave.

The residential section of the complex is the Park Row Condos. It has a max of 34 units for purchase with a combined 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) of space. According to their site they can combine units together to create larger units than what they presently offer. They have four floors on the site and have on-site parking on the east side of the building. The building itself offers both two-story and one-story condos. The one story or flats are located on the first and second levels. The two-story condos are located on the third and fourth floors. This building replaces the 48 residential homes that were purchased and torn down to make way for the complex. The west side will face the Park, the north side will overlook the parking ramp and I-196, the east side will overlook the Midtown neighborhood and the south side will overlook several offices.

The final building of the complex is Building D. It is a three-story 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m²) building. It is being planned for mixed use. It is set up to host seven suites and has no parking garage but has access to the parking on the complex site. Its north side faces a parking lot that will overlook Building B, the south side faces Michigan Street, the east side overlooks the complex offices, and the west side overlooks offices between it and College Avenue.

Calkins Science Center

The Grand Rapids Community College Calkins Science Center was opened in the winter semester of 2000. It was named after the 25 year president, Richard W. Calkins. It is located on Bostwick Avenue across Crescent Street, with Butterworth Hospital on its north side. It is a 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m²) education building with a 150-seat auditorium. It contains several computer laboratories, biology laboratories, physical science laboratories, a cadaver room, a prehistoric rooftop garden, and a 1,700-square-foot (160 m²) greenhouse.

References

External links

• Van Andel Institute
• Grand Rapids Community College
• Spectrum Health
• Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
• Grand Valley State University Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences
• Map of the Medical Mile Area
• West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative
• Mid Towne Village
• Park Row Condominiums
• MedicalMile.com Website
• Medical Mile Resource Group