June 8, 2006
Mayor Heartwell to Give Wireless Update at glimaWest Meeting
Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell will join local community and technology
leaders to give an update on the city’s broadband wireless initiative on
Thursday, June 29.
Heartwell will serve as the keynote speaker for the June glimaWest meeting,
which is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. at the Donnelly Center on the campus
of Aquinas College. Heartwell and city staffers who are leading the project
will deliver remarks at 6:30 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer period.
The GLIMA event is co-sponsored by CBS Solutions and DPT Solutions, two Grand
Rapids-based IT consulting firms. The event is open to the media.
“We are pleased that Mayor Heartwell will be able to join us for an update on
the broadband wireless initiative,” said Randy Shier, president of glimaWest.
“Grand Rapids is on the leading edge of cities across the country interested in
providing affordable community-wide access to the Internet. We see tremendous
potential for this type of network and look forward to facilitating discussion
as the project moves forward.”
Grand Rapids leaders first proposed the idea of community-wide broadband
wireless network during the summer of 2005. In January 2006, the city held a
Wireless Summit and began focusing on the shape such an initiative would take.
City leaders sent out requests for proposals to prospective wireless providers,
receiving responses from nine providers.
During the glimaWest meeting, Heartwell and project leadership will discuss the
review and evaluation process for proposals, which is scheduled to begin in
mid-June. The city plans to award the contract in mid-July, with the project to
begin in late October.
“We strongly support the Grand Rapids wireless initiative and are pleased to
co-sponsor this important update meeting,” said Mike TenHarmsel, president of
CBS Solutions. “A network of this type can offer substantial economic and
business benefits to our community, opening doors to all residents.”
Henry Morley, president of DPT Solutions, agreed and added: “Grand Rapids is
very forward thinking to engage with the private sector to ensure that a
city-wide wireless network will be viable, both technologically and
financially. DPT Solutions is pleased to be part of this important initiative.”
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