Over the past three months I have been interning at Deksia. Coming straight from graduating college to the “real world” without any professional experience, I was terrified! All I had to fall back on were the horror stories from my brothers of the pains that come from having a “real job” (opposed to all the “fake” ones I have had over the years.) I had little to no idea of what to expect or if my education would be enough to get the work done that was expected of me.

After my first week of working I started to settle in a little bit. During that first week I didn’t seem to have any troubles accomplishing the tasks that were given to me (Ferris State education at work)! Throughout the next couple of weeks, I started to really get a feel for the culture at Deksia and how business operates. Every business one comes in contact with has one thing in common: everything they do is with their customers’ best interest in mind. Like the others, Deksia has the same philosophy, the difference being that Deksia walks the walk.  A billing issue occurred and that is when I first realized how true Deksia is to their customers. Our quote for some client work was significantly lower than what the bill was; upon contacting our vendor it turned out the vendor made the mistake and was going to have to take a huge hit. Deksia stepped up and altered the order without compromising quality or the client’s needs to help lower the hit as well as taking on some of the costs and not turning the cost over to our client. On this occasion as well as several others throughout the summer, I was reminded of the passion that Deksia has for what they do.

Overall, my intern experience has been great here at Deksia. The guys here have helped to give me a taste of what the “real world” is like and it’s not bad. They have been very kind to me and for that I am very grateful. I am confident that I will be able to find and take on a job that I am passionate about and will succeed. It was my pleasure to be able to be part of the team here at Deksia. Thanks for a great summer!

Downtown Grand Rapids has several new restaurant choices to look forward to this fall. First is Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. The steakhouse will be located in the Amway Grand Plaza. Ruth's Chris Steak House will bring the feel of eating in the "big city" to downtown. This restaurant has been a chain restaurant spanning across America for 45 years. This brings mixed emotions for some natives of Grand Rapids. Many people think it is great to be getting a new chain restaurant while others would like to keep it local, with a one-of-a-kind mom and pop restaurant going in instead. Regardless, everyone will have one more option to add to the list when planning their night out.

Another restaurant chain that is moving to a downtown location this year is Buffalo Wild Wings. They are working on purchasing a location on Ionia Avenue to develop for the restaurant and are hoping to open the doors to the public by October. The restaurant will be a double decker, the first of its type in an urban location. Buffalo Wild Wings anticipates hiring 80 employees to work the new location. Considering downtown Grand Rapids for the last 15 years, they have finally decided to make their move. The owners don't foresee this location competing with the other four locations across Grand Rapids. This location will be restaurant number 35 in Michigan (23 of which are owned by the group putting the new one in.)

Grand Rapids continues to make a turn around. With the help and determination of the public, this city will be back on its feet in no time!