Discover the Magic of River Rocks at River St. Joe Brewery
Order Emails
River Rocks is a unique outdoor game to play in a beautiful setting in Southwest Michigan to help get you through those long winter months
Read MoreAll Things Michigan
Michigan travels, events, photos, and more
Filtering by Category: Cool Michigan Businesses
J.W. Westcott II - The Only Floating ZIP Code in the United States
Andrew Norton
Have you ever wondered how the ships on the Great Lakes receive mail? Well, wonder no more. The J.W. Westcott II has its own ZIP Code (48222) and has been responsible for (among other things) mail delivery to ships on the Detroit River since 1895.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcGQugU7xiw&t=11s
Here's a short video of a few different deliveries being made. You can see how much skill and coordination is needed to make these transfers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrJh2hU5NMA
The J.W. Westcott II doesn't just deliver the mail. Here they are making a captain delivery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIXyF5BiMlY
Want to learn more about the J.W. Westcott company? Read this New York Times article.
There is also a great little children's book about the J.W. Westcott II, Mail by the Pail (Great Lakes Books Series)
Michigan Craft Beer and Breweries
Andrew Norton
Michigan Craft Beer and Breweries have been making a lot of headlines lately. Just this week, Grand Rapids was the winner in the Beer City USA 2013 poll. This marks the second year in a row that Grand Rapids has been the top vote getter. It didn't take long for the Pure Michigan tourism campaign to capitalize on the draw of the more than 100 Michigan craft breweries. Below is the new radio spot from Pure Michigan - makes me thirsty just listening to it.
Here are some links if you want more information about Michigan's craft beer industry:
Michigan Kickstarter alert - The Rust Belt Market
Andrew Norton
Owners Chris and Tiffany Best are looking to expand The Rust Belt Market beyond the weekends with this Kickstarter project. They aim to raise at lease $20,000 by March 22nd in order to build walls and diversify their space for hosting bands and other events that will help pay the rent on the 15,000 square feet.
Project Update: They have currently raised $12,641 and have a video update with more information
The Classic Big Wheel will be manufactured in Michigan and Iowa
Andrew Norton
Kids Only!®, a division of JAKKS Pacific, Inc. just announced this week that they will be manufacturing, marketing, and distributing the original Big Wheel Ride-On toys. Manufacturing will take place in Iowa and Michigan which will allow the toys to be stamped with "Made In America". It's great to see things that used to be made here in America come back again. Funny how the production of a child's toy can give me some hope that we will see a trend of more brands coming back to America to manufacture their products.
Flat screen televisions to be made in Detroit
Andrew Norton
People who buy an Element Electronics flat screen television in the near future will be able to watch Chrysler's "Imported From Detroit" commercials on a television that was actually made in Detroit. When production starts up this March, Element Electronics will be the only television manufacturer assembling their televisions in the United States. Sure would be nice if we start to see a trend of a return to companies manufacturing here in the U.S. instead of overseas.