Communities resisting data centers in West MI show up to protest The Right Place Inc. during “developer day”.

A dozen people showed up late Tuesday morning at the old Rogers Department Store at 1001 28th St. SW in Wyoming, since The Right Place Inc. was hosting their annual Developer Day event.

According to a Press Release made available to GRIID:

The protest, held outside the Developer Day follows mounting public concerns and calls for transparency after The Right Place’s CEO Randy Thelen ignored requests to meet with community members to discuss the data center projects its spearheading in Solon, Lowell, and Gaines Townships and the detrimental effects they would have on those communities and West Michigan.

“As a public-private organization receiving taxpayer funds, The Right Place has a duty to conduct due diligence with the communities their proposed projects would impact for generations,” said Cedar Springs resident Katie Valtchev of Stop Solon Township Data Center.

There were roughly 100 cars that showed up for The Right Place Inc. event and early on they held what was billed as a Walking Tour along 28th Street in Wyoming, which was intended to provide examples of what development spaces existed in that area. As people were beginning their Walking Tour, those who showed up to protest The Right Place Inc. greeted them with chants, as you can see in this short video.

The Right Place Inc.

For those who may not be deeply familiar with The Right Place Inc. they are a non-profit organization that works to bring businesses to the greater Grand Rapids Area. GRIID has identified them as one of the organizations that makes up the Grand Rapids Power Structure, plus their Board of Directors is made up of representatives from business  and government that also represent powerful interests. 

GRIID has documented over the years The Right Place Inc.’s involvement in bringing Israeli military companies to Grand Rapids. In 2016, The Right Place Inc. was the target of Israeli Apartheid Week in Grand Rapids and over the years they have continued to solicit and support Israeli military companies, even after the Israeli government began their genocidal campaign against Palestinians in 2023. The Right Place Inc. was also involved in attempting to lure Amazon in 2017-2018 in a failed campaign, but not before they were forced to reveal economic incentive documents.

The groups in West Michigan opposing data centers that The Right Place Inc. has been cheerleading for had strong words targeted at The Right Place Inc. Quoting from the Press Release:

“The Right Place’s lack of meaningful community engagement on these proposed hyperscale AI data centers shows, even at a perfunctory level, its only mission is to support Big Tech at the expense of our public health, environment, and community values of being good, honest neighbors – all while using taxpayer funds.” said West Michigan residents Betsy López-Wagner and Kathryn Robertson of Residents United for a Healthy Lowell.

Marjorie Steele, Executive Director of the Economic Development Responsibility Alliance of Michigan, says that The Right Place’s large-scale economic development projects have already scarred Michigan’s communities. “The work of Mr. Thelen and his colleagues has left a $23M crater in the Big Rapids community thanks to the Gotion project,” she says, “which was the inevitable outcome of The Right Place’s gross negligence, corrupt dealings, and total disregard for the local community’s right to self-determination. There is no evidence to indicate that The Right Place is conducting these hyperscale data center projects any differently. These communities are right to be concerned, and we’re here to stand with them.”

The people who showed up to protest the Right Place Inc. received lots of positive feedback with honking horns and thumbs up from lots of motorists driving up and down 28th Street. However, when the “walking tour” was returning, one of the developers shouted something like, “you all should be grateful for all the good things we have done for your communities.” One of the protesters responded by saying, “not in my community.”

I helped myself to one of The Right Place Inc.’s agenda handouts, which included breakout sessions that were partnering with the DeVos-created entity AmplifyGR and the Grand Rapids Chamber-created group Housing Next. Other breakout session included housing development incentives, gas and electric development planning and community engagement best practices. There were also Wyoming and Grand Rapids city staff there to assist developers, along with the support from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

One important take away for me was that it is vitally important that we understand how groups like The Right Place Inc. insert themselves in to municipal issues like data centers, and realize that they represent business interests, not most residents and communities.