Richard App was born in Iceland and attended graduate school in Arizona but has lived and worked in West Michigan for most of his life. A long-time small business owner, Richard’s role at the Chamber is dedicated to encouraging local and national retailers to set up shop in Grand Rapids, and to ensure that when they do, they are set up for success.
Most of Richard’s career has been in creative fields, which serves him well in his current role because being a successful entrepreneur post-Covid requires nontraditional thinking. As the rules change, the business community needs to do the same.
Richard is an active member of our community. He believes community service is a role we all need to participate in, and he sits on several boards including the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, the Heritage Hill Association and the steering committee for Confluence.
When not working, he loves traveling, spending time with family, creating, working with his hands, working out and hiking. Richard is a husband and stepfather of three children and has two dogs.
Fun Facts:
- Richard’s role has allowed him to assist businesses in opening new locations and, in some cases, helping them get grants in the process. A highlight of his was calling the Monsoon team to tell them their license from the MLCC was approved.
- Richard loves to go for hikes, and with 75 parks in the city and some of the best trail systems in the country, he loves that he can do that locally.
- Favorite Chamber event: Grand Rapids Policy Conference, because the program covers a broad range of timely and relevant topics that are top of mind for our community.
