Smart Vision Lights began as a MAREC incubator client in 2008 and completed their stay in 2011, having outgrown the spaced it leased at MAREC and meeting its start-up goals (click here for news release). They are a leader in the machine vision lighting industry, developing energy-saving, software-driven LEDs that reduce costs and improve results of industrial processes such as quality control on assembly lines. Machine vision has been vital for automation, but even machines need light to "see," and traditional lighting has drawbacks.

LEDs designed by Smart Vision Lights are proving advantageous in providing lighting for automated photography, which is used as part of the quality control process for precision manufacturing in a variety of business sectors. SVL engineer Matt Pinter says that MAREC has been "just the environment we needed; we are achieving and exceeding the goals we set for ourselves." For more information about MAREC's Business Incubation program, contact Doug Huesdash, MAREC Incubator Manager, at 616-331-6914 or at marecincubator@gvsu.edu. Please visit www.smartvisionlights.com for more information about this company.

As one of GVSU MAREC's founding organizations and a regular benefactor, the Community Foundation for Muskegon County has been instrumental in the development and growth of MAREC's facility and programs. The foundation's president, Chris McGuigan, also serves on MAREC's advisory board.

The Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization created by local residents to improve their communities. The organization accomplishes this mission by working with donors, grantees, advisers and our communities to identify and support the issues that shape Muskegon, as well as serving as a linking point for community businesses and resources to find each other. In 2010, it provided $4,183,264 in grant support to organizations serving the betterment of the greater Muskegon Community.

The new Solar Center at MAREC will expand education and demonstration space for classes, training and other activities. The building, adjacent to MAREC, is designed to demonstrate and house the solar equipment used for research and training.

A solar panel test bed will be placed nearby as part of the MEO grant (click here for related article). In the future, both solar thermal hot air and solar thermal hot water systems will be installed on the Solar Center.

For more information, contact MAREC Program Director Kim Walton, waltonk@gvsu.edu or 616.331-6907. 

One start-up company recently joined MAREC’s incubator program to take advantage of its business development services for promising early-stage companies.  

Based in Muskegon with an office in Grand Rapids, Corlnet, LLC is a nearly two-year-old company that offers proprietary software products, managed services, and custom software development to clients across the U.S. in locations such as West Michigan, California, Texas and Florida.



The company has public and private sector clients in industries such as education, health care, insurance, aerospace, transportation, and manufacturing, including furniture makers. Founder Hank Betten, a 28-year-old Muskegon native, moved into MAREC on November 1. His goal is to establish a team of six full-time employees at MAREC.

Learn more about MAREC's Business Incubation Program

As its SmartZone university partner and one of MAREC's founding organizations, Grand Valley State University has played a central role in the creation and development of MAREC. The university's Vice President for Finance and Administration, Jim Bachmeier, also serves on MAREC's advisory board. SmartZones are a program of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, another MAREC partner and funding organization.

MAREC is pleased to collaborate and draw upon the knowledge assets of GVSU as a major public university, including such resources as:

• 
  Padnos College of Engineering and Computing


• 
  Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation


• 
  Van Andel Global Trade Center


• 
  Seidman College of Business


• 
  Sustainable Community Development Initiative


• 
  Other educational linkages

Established in 1960, the university attracts more than 25,000 students with high-quality undergraduate and graduate programs in Allendale, Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon, and Traverse City. Grand Valley was named one of the country's top "Green Colleges" by The Princeton Review for the second year. It is committed to initiatives such as LEED for sustainable buildings; LEED projects at Grand Valley account for approximately 10 percent of the LEED certified projects in West Michigan. MAREC is one of several Grand Valley centers of excellence.

MAREC is proud to share our photo collection with visitors to our website and to make available new photographs of our events as they happen. The photo galleries also contain pictures of our facility along with information on the various aspects of our energy technology and unique properties of the building.

To view our photo galleries, please use the navigation bar on the left, click on the "Reports, Presentations & Multimedia" button and select "Photo Galleries", or click here.

Dirt Works, LLC has developed an intuitive and inexpensive visual reference product named Johnny Ball™ for the earth moving  industry.

The product is expected to compete with more costly laser and GPS instruments that help machine operators determine the level and grade of the terrain they are working.



BAF funds assisted with development of prototypes and production molds so the company can begin to fulfill customer orders. Dirt Works, LLC was founded by John Miller (at left), a professional excavator and West Michigan entrepreneur.

Learn more about MAREC assistance for Business Accelerator Fund (BAF) grants

Two MAREC incubator tenants recently received valuable consulting support from senior students in GVSU’s School of Computing and Information Systems. In turn, the students gained unique practical hands-on experience serving start-up businesses as clients and solving genuine business needs.

Incubator tenant LongerDays.com expressed interest in finding assistance with some of its information technology (IT) needs as a “virtual assistance” company. LongerDays.com provides a range of outsourcing services including web design, copy writing as well as a variety of administrative supports to clients in the U.S. and internationally.

Joe Graczyk, incubator manager at MAREC, connected LongerDays.com with Prof. David K. Lange, instructor and advisor to the senior capstone courses in GVSU’s School of Computing and Information Systems.

Lange and the Information Systems capstone class seek out projects from non-profits, such as the MAREC Incubator, in which Information Systems majors work in small teams (4-5 students) to gain experience working with clients and delivering final products.

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A new grant from the Michigan Energy Office (MEO) will enable MAREC to collect and study data to assess solar thermal system costs and efficiency improvements for using solar thermal in Michigan’s climate.

Thanks to an earlier federal SERC grant to the Muskegon-Oceana Community Action Partnership (MOCAP), some 200 new solar thermal system installations for residences are now in operation across Muskegon, Oceana, Oakland, Livingston, and Pontiac Counties. With the MEO funds, Kim Walton, program director at MAREC, will collect the data from the homes that received renewable energy systems under the SERC grant. Data will also be collected from a photovoltaic (PV) panel test bed being constructed at MAREC in February, 2013. The $44,000 grant includes $22,000 from the State of Michigan, with equal matching funds from GVSU.

Data from the residential systems and the solar test bed will be collected for a one-year period for analysis. The residential data will include site information, technology used, mounting factors, and any other site considerations, in addition to costs for materials, labor, fees and permits.

The test bed at MAREC will consist of PV panels with micro inverters configured to provide specific output data for solar panel angles and the interaction of snow cover on the panels’ output. Two identical test beds will be installed, with panels set at specific angles. One set of solar panels will be kept free of snow cover daily and another set will be allowed to accumulate or shed snow naturally. Results from each set will be recorded. The PV test bed will be installed next to MAREC’s new Solar Center.

For more information, contact MAREC Program Director Kim Walton, waltonk@gvsu.edu or 616.331-6907.