“Sustainability is a community product,” says Jason Belous, owner of
"against the Grain" (atG), a studio and sustainable millworks that creates eco-friendly furniture, cabinets, flooring and woodwork.
Belous is one of a growing number of sustainability-driven business owners who are landing in
Old Town. The sense of community brought many of them, but they're also adding their own unique brand to the area's cultural fabric.
Craftsmen of CharacteratG opened its Old Town store front in May and is now working on personal projects for six area businesses. Sitting in his studio, on a chair milled from a huge tree felled by a storm, Belous describes his path to Old Town.
“We had places in Farmington and Birmingham. But we’re Lansing residents. And since we’re all about sustainability, we suddenly realized that we were taking our dollar resources out of the community. Now we’re here and we’re giving it back.”
atG’s new studio on Grand River Ave. had been used as a storage space for more than a decade. Today, it’s filled with fine woodwork and furniture—from sculptures and tables to cutting boards and chairs.
“Lots of people questioned my sanity about opening a new storefront right now. But I think now is a good time. A bad economy brings us back to the basics. Back to the old time ways of doing business.”
“It’s that farmer’s market mentality,” says Belous. “Getting to know your neighbor. Our stained glass craftsman has been repairing the glass in the old Temple Club for nearly 15 years now.”
No trees are cut to build their products. “Not that cutting trees is bad, mind you,” he says. “But when we use and buy only locally grown or recycled wood we’re moving the notion of sustainability up a notch. Our showroom let’s people see who we really are.”
“You won’t see a UPS truck stop here,” he says. “Everything we use is 100 percent Michigan.”
Ready RedevelopersFor Alan Hooper, president and principal geologist of
Triterra, an environmental consulting and brownfield development firm, it was Old Town’s sense of community that brought him to his business' current
Center Street address. Old Town "is like a small town within a city," he says. "There is a great sense of place here.”
Hooper describes his Triterra team as a group of creative scientists—a type that fits well in the eclectic neighborhood. “In Old Town, the creative types abound. It has a nice aesthetic. On any given day you can see guys in three-piece suits and guys with nose rings and tattoos sitting side by side at Pablo’s having lunch. It’s definitely a melting pot.”
But making the move to Old Town was also about putting his money where his mouth is.
“We basically took a contaminated property, cleaned it up and made it into a viable building,” he says of his company's 2007 renovation of the 1213 Center St. building where his office is located. Triterra’s building even boasts a rain garden, and they're now hard at work rehabbing the nearby
Temple Building.
“Our office is a living, breathing example of our work,” he says. "In fact, it’s more powerful than any brochure we could have created.”
Beyond BuildersVesta Building Industries (VBI), specializing in energy efficient homes, is another newcomer to the Old Town scene. For owners Tony Beyers and Scott Schmidt, it all started with a tour of Hooper’s redeveloped building.
“Moving to Old Town was definitely not a part of any plan. We were based in Williamston,” says Schmidt. “But rising fuel and transportation costs have driven people back to the city.” And in March of 2008 they joined the trek back.
Sitting in the second floor office that they share with Gene Townsend of Eugene Townsend Builders, you can understand why they made the move. Surrounded by exposed brick, wood floors and a light breeze ruffling the curtains at the large windows facing out onto Turner Street, it seems the ideal setting for this group of environmental champions with a love of existing buildings.
“It’s the combination of like-minded people and old buildings that are key to Old Town’s success,” says Townsend. “It’s the vibrancy, the River Trail, the mindset of the people here. Old Town represents the heartbeat of the city.”
“It’s just an incredibly supportive community,” adds Schmidt. “We felt a part of it almost instantly. We’ll definitely be staying here for a longtime to come.”
Energy EntrepreneursAccording to Tom Kovalak, senior program manager at
Franklin Energy, it was Michigan's
Public Act 295, passed in October 2008, that ultimately brought
his energy efficiency management company to Old Town.
Known as the Clean, Renewable & Efficient Energy Act, Michigan's PA 295 promotes the development of clean and renewable energy and energy optimization and requires the state's public utilities to generate 10 percent of their retail electricity sales from renewable energy resources by 2015.
When Franklin landed the contract to improve energy efficiency for residential, commercial and individual customers for the Lansing Board of Water & Light early in 2009, the move to Lansing soon followed.
Sustaining PlaceBesides breathing new life to once empty or underutilized buildings, this group of Old Town eco-preneurs is also making the city home.
“Not only did we buy the building for our business, but we moved to Lansing ourselves,” says Schmidt of VBI. “We’re bringing our old friends around, getting people down who wouldn’t normally come to Old Town. But, we’re also finding a whole new circle of friends here. Our cluster of buildings has become kind of a social center with people wandering between buildings during events. It’s like a family.”
For the folks at Triterra, giving back also means getting involved. Don McNabb, the firm's vice president and associate scientist, was recently elected to the Old Town Association Board. “We really want to be active participants in this community,” says Hooper.
Bringing the community options is important, says atG’s Belous, who plans to use his showroom for social mixers and creating a trade school focused on fine craftsmanship. “We have a unique blend of craftsmen including woodworkers, a blacksmith and a stain glass worker,” he says. Although the school’s doors aren’t open yet, the building (across the street from the showroom) is rented and plans are moving forward.
“The Old Town community comes to us with new ideas,” says Brittany Hoszkiw, executive director of the Old Town Commercial Association. “What you see is what the community itself initiated. They’re the ones who keep it going.”
And that is sustainability at it’s finest.
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Viki Lorraine is a Public Health Consultant by day and a writer by night.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
Tony Beyers (rt) & Scott Schmidt in the under construction Vesta Builders offices
atG's new studio in Old Town
Alan Hooper
Franklin Energy's Tom Kovalak and the Franklin Energy office facade
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie