Neo-Liberal Capitalist project Grand Action makes a comeback

While we are all faced with an uncertain future with Covid – 19, we also have to pay attention to what systems of power are up to. Scholar/activist Naomi Klein calls these moments Disaster Capitalism, where governments use a disaster to push further austerity measures.

GRIID hopes to spend time looking at how local systems of power might also try to take advantage of the current crisis to further their own agendas.

Grand Action 2.0

Despite their announcement a few years ago to shut down, Grand Action recently announced that they are coming back. 

The business press reported on this announcement, with the headline, Grand Action reboots to tackle new transformational projects in GR.  I’m not sure how “transformational” the work of Grand Action can be, unless by transformational they mean it will transform more public money to fund private projects.

The previous version of Grand Action was led by David Frey, John Canepa and and Dick DeVos. DeVos is the only holdover with Grand Action, but he will be joined by Carol Van Andel and Tom Welch. Carol is the wife of David Van Andel, the current CEO of the Van Andel Institute. Tom Welch is the regional president of Fifth Third Bank.

The reporter from MiBiz, which ran a short article on Grand Action’s return, only ran a brief intro and then asked several questions, which we deconstruct below.