Pure Southwest Michigan offers a new view of the region

You've seen the Pure Michigan spots. You've seen the Pure Michigan spoofs.

Now you can see the Pure Southwest Michigan take on the popular advertisements for the state.

With the warm music and a familiar voice designed to bring to mind the state's official campaign, six videos highlighting the best of the region were unveiled at the 2011 Salute to Business by Cornerstone Alliance and Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce.

Cornerstone Alliance staff members came up with idea of the short videos instead of a longer one usually presented at the annual event. They turned to a local company, RadioWavz, which specializes in radio commercials and sound for that portion of the videos. The narrator, or as Cornerstone likes to call him, their Tim Allen,  is John Glavin, the lead voice and creator of Radio Wavz.

Throughout the videos the landscape, communities and people of the St. Jospeph and Benton Harbor areas are the stars -- just as Michigan's outdoors and cities are shown to best advantage in the Pure Michigan advertisements.

Cornerstone staff gets a prominent role, as do businesses and entrepreneurs they work with.

The videos were sprinkled throughout the evening's program, each with its own theme: Quality of Place, Harbor Shores, Existing Business, New Business, Partnership and Fundraising.

Businesses or residents who might be considering locating in the southwest corner of the state are given a host of reasons to make such a move throughout each of the videos.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Jamie Nilson-Balkin, Cornerstone Alliance