The Grand Rapids Industrial Corporation (GRIC) was organized by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce as a not-for-profit corporation in 1935 with an authorized capital of $125,000 with $50,000 subscribed and paid in. Shares sold for $50 and half shares sold for $25. The purpose of the corporation was to make loans secured by real estate mortgages, chattel mortgages, or accounts receivable, life insurance or other collateral or combinations of these, for the purpose of increasing or maintaining industrial employment. Its by-laws provided that not more ten percent of the authorized capital could be loaned to any one borrower. The amount of the authorized capital, the amount paid in, and the limit on loans were determined after a survey of the experiences of similar organizations throughout the country. The GRIC acted as a model for other similar endeavors.

The corporation concentrated on taking loans which could not be handled by the banks because of the term of the loan or because collateral available would not justify a loan. The directors of GRIC were willing to look to the character and reputation of the borrower if the loan was to be dedicated to increasing or maintaining industrial employment. A large number of loans were made between 1935 and 1950, loans affecting the jobs of reportedly more than 4,000 workmen. Loans were made for as little as $500 and, in two instances, such borrowers were by the 1980s capitalized for over a million dollars. While the employment was, in each case, less than ten persons at the time of the loan from GRIC, each employed more than 400 persons by 1980. In only one case was there a loss from a loan and in that case a strike and Reconstruction Finance Corporation action were contributing factors.

After World War II there was a considerable reduction in the loan activity of the GRIC because of the greater availability of credit from the government and from banks themselves. Many of the requests to the GRIC during the 1950s and 1960s were from industries that would have been so seriously under-capitalized that even a GRIC loan would not have justified the continuation of the business. In the decades of the 1950s and 1960s Michigan, in particular, experienced economic peaks and valleys that created many dislocations in the employment market. Demands on the unemployment compensation funds and rising taxes gave special emphasis to the exodus of manufacturing plants from the northeast and Great Lakes region to the Sunbelt to take advantage of lower operating costs.

The GRIC responded by looking for low cost land in the Grand Rapids area that could be developed as an industrial park. The land would be offered to industry at a total cost, including utilities, services and site preparation, that would encourage existing industry to expand and attract new industry to the area. To achieve this in 1965 the GRIC acted to obtain a 160 acre tract of land in Walker (the Wagemaker and Kennedy properties) and the City of Walker rezoned the land from agricultural to industrial. The project foundered when 22 families residing in the vicinity of the proposed park brought suit to contest the legality of the rezoning. In the court case and subsequent appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the zoning changes could not be effected on the basis that it was proposed prior to the adoption of a master plan by the City of Walker.

With the greater part of its funds committed to the Walker properties, and being unable to sell the properties, the GRIC was unable to meet its original purpose of making loans to small manufacturers. With the decline in the value of agricultural land in the 1970s, the GRIC found itself absorbing losses monthly. Unable to fill the intended purpose of the GRIC, and indeed with little demand for the original services, the Board of Directors determined, when a buyer was located, to sell the land and dissolve the organization. The Greater Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce offered to buy the outstanding stock at $1.00 per share, allowing stockholders to take a loss of $49.

On June 30, 1980, at the annual meeting of shareholders, on the recommendation of the Board of Directors, action was taken to dissolve the company. After the last of the land contracts had been paid to the GRIC on the Walker properties, and payment made on the amounts owed for borrowed funds and interest thereon, there remained $2,079.40. These funds were paid over to the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce as compensation for services rendered in connection with the dissolution of the GRIC, and with the understanding that the Chamber, which was owner of 70% of the stock, would pay any fees and disbursements connected with the dissolution of the GRIC.