Latest / Conversations with Mark / Conversations with the City of Coopersville
Transcript
- Camera W: This is another episode of conversations with Mark. Today we have with us is Kate Terpstra. Kate's the marketing and economic administrator and senior recreational director for the city of Coopersville. Kate. Thank you so much for joining us today. It's really exciting to have you with us here today. Coopersville is really a thriving small town, just west of Grand Rapids, but it's a lot more than people think. I think probably the interstate changes the perspective a little bit because you kind of see two exits there, but you know, lots of small towns around our country and state are seeing decline. Coopersville is not one of those. Can you tell us a little bit about from your perspective, what the biggest drivers are behind Coopersville's growth? and maybe some of the cool programs you have here. Yes. So I think a lot of our growth is coming from the new businesses coming in and expanding. We all know Fairlife in CooberZone. We all know that name. And sometimes big places like that are scary, but they bring in good people too. And those people are going to live and work in the community that they're in as well. same as Continental Dairy, Bay Logistics, Baker Auto is growing constantly. And all of these are people are coming here and they see we have that small town feel just outside of the city. We're not that far away. And people want to live here and move. And I see great things happening with that because one of the things like Fairlife has a community engagement program team and that team, whenever I need help with anything, I can reach out and somebody would be there in an instant to help me. And it's really great knowing I have that. Well, you know, I'm going to stop you because you mentioned Fairlife and I don't think a lot of people that listen to this podcast know what Fairlife is. Fairlife is not owned by Coca-Cola. It's a huge milk producer and literally millions and millions of pounds. Last time I heard something like 11 million pounds of milk a day gets processed out of this facility and really provides the Fairlife Farms product for a good chunk of the country right now. This last I knew, this location was actually one of the largest producing Coca-Cola plants in the world. I don't know if they're still holding that record, but yeah, so having people like that come in and help our community grow and expand, there's more job opportunities and people want to live here. And it's also bringing in some of those people to the downtown that every small town especially in Michigan wants to revive their downtown. Every downtown wants to grow again because those box stores are becoming obsolete. Of course, I want to walk down the main street and hear Christmas music and the middle of winter playing and I want to hear like, you know, kids playing and stuff at the parks and that kind of thing. think that all of that helps to create the the feel we have going on right now. One of the things that people organizations and probably places like Fairlife look for is good schools. Coopersville School District itself is actually pretty big and the way that they've structured their campus is almost like a college campus. You've got everything at one place, but it's more than just schooling. You see a lot of activity, whether it's the trades being involved and this is both a farming community, but industrial now and a lot of different things. What's the secret sauce that makes Coopersville schools so great and how do they do it? I may be biased. I grew up born and raised here, so I went to Coopersville. I think it's a great school and wanted my kids to go here. And over the years you've seen that growth. They offer so much in curriculum that starting even with the younger kids getting older, they're very in tuned to what's going on and All of the admin team, care about the kids. You don't see a whole lot of turnover there when it comes to the admin and the teachers because they're all working together. And they also are part of the community. A lot of them live here as well. And that makes it even more special. And I think that's something that they're starting to recognize here, especially I see with the trade schools and kids working outside of college programs, like the tech center programs. being able to offer those kinds of things, help those kids get a different direction. And I personally in the house have a daughter going to cosmetology through CareerTech. So I think it's fantastic that she's already taken steps towards that goal for after her high school career. And you also have kids with the MET program, which is manufacturing, engineering and program that teaches them what else is available in the area. They go visit different places like Baker Engineering, device manufacturing, and learn what is available out there besides just what's listed in a college course. But they also work with the colleges to prep too. So there's a lot going on there and I just think it's fantastic. You know, probably one of the biggest things that I see, and I've been in the school in many classrooms and have seen the teachers engaging, and it's this strong culture that really feels like you've got kids that are listening, kids that want to learn and teachers that are so engaged. And usually that starts with the top. So I'm sure they're incredible principals. I've met some of the principals before and just seems like they really have a great program. And Cooper's is lucky to have such a great school system in what people, again, oftentimes might think of as a small town, but there are so many things right here for people to look for. Every community, especially during periods of growth is going to face some challenges. You went from being this kind of quiet place to having a huge Coca-Cola factory right in your town. How do you guys manage the growth and make sure you still maintain that small feel? Nobody likes change, especially. I mean, I'll just say myself included. This is everybody. But like you've changed the footprint of how this town works and what what people see and what they like about things, whatever. How do you maintain that small town feel? It is a really difficult balance. think it's obviously the people that have been here forever don't want to see change because they've always seen what's great. But now we need to show everybody else what's great and so fabulous about it as well. And one of those things is helping the organizations work together is something that I really feel passionate about. All cities have different kinds of, we have a rotary here that's very active, we have our circle of friends very active. And when all of those are working separately, little bits get done, but when they start working together, you really see that momentum in the community. And I think that that really helps us here. We're seeing our music on main events that are just huge with people, and we're having people come from all over to see them. And then they say, my gosh, I didn't know this was here. So keeping up with that kind of thing has really helped us out a lot in the positive side of the community. We've seen a lot of hardship when it comes to the Planning Commission and City Council and the DDA because the residents aren't so sure that they want the growth pattern to happen. We live really close to Grand Rapids. The growth is gonna happen whether we like it or not. So in order to have some say in that... Planning Commission has started working towards a new master plan and the DDA is working on a TIF and development plan that's updated to kind of move those steps forward to help keep what people want here and In order to do that, we need people's voices I was on the Planning Commission for six years and I would say this that it's it's universal It isn't just Brazil. Nobody really wants any sort of change like that You know the the other thing that I that I've seen from Coopersville is is really incredible community engagement. I've been to a Rotary Club. I've seen your Memorial Day Parade. You've been in it many times. And your Christmas parade last year was the first time I was able to make that. I got to tell you, I was completely blown away how big that parade is and how many people were here. I'm sure you pull from way bigger than Coopersville, but let's just say there were lights on trucks, cars, fire trucks. I wrote in a convertible, was super cool. It was a little chilly maybe, but, but it was, it was just incredible. Then the number people that showed up and how many entries were in that parade. Really cool. Thanks. Yeah. I, I think that all of those things tied to the school still too. And surprisingly enough, there's not that many outside of our Coopersville that end up coming to that parade. It's really crazy. Just everybody that lives here. Everybody wants a piece of the action. Who doesn't? Can you tell me is there a moment or a story from your time working here that that really captures what you think makes Coopersville special to you? In my time here, I think that what really makes a difference to where I've gotten and how I am is my different job titles. I work with everyone possible and I didn't come here with the idea of being a senior citizens rec director, but once I became that, it's so nice to connect with all different people in the community. I have an office at the school and the community services building that keeps me close to that and I can connect with everybody and I love that. That's like my favorite part about it is I see every single piece of the community, no matter which way I turn. again, having been born and raised here, just, my heart is here. I really have a heart for the community and it's, that's my favorite thing is that I get to see so many people enjoying where they live, work and go to school. Great. Well, thank you, Kate, for taking the time to talk to us today about Coopersville and all the great things you have going on here. I appreciate you so much. Yeah, thank you so much.