GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A ten-year plan to turn Grand Rapids into a technological hub published its annual report this month with a number of metrics showing continued growth.
In the Greater Grand Rapids area, 1,312 jobs were added in the past year and a total of 5,610 jobs have been added in the area since The Right Place, Inc., an economic development agency, launched its tech strategy four years ago.
In addition, the city has gained national recognition as of late, named the top City on the Rise by LinkedIn and, by Deal.co, the Most Entrepreneurial Tech Ecosystem in the Midwest for Growth.
A total of 40,979 people in the Greater Grand Rapids area work in tech, per the report, including the 50-plus — full and part-time employees and students — who work at Array of Engineers.
The Grand Rapids company, less than a decade into its existence, services the aerospace and defense industries.
"Grand Rapids has a lot to offer the younger generation," CEO Stacy Paul said. "They think of Grand Rapids as a place where they can live and make a really good living in this tech space."
A recent hire for Array of Engineers, Musa Sillah, could have gone anywhere with his education — a master's degree from Grand Valley State University — but chose to stay in Grand Rapids and take a full-time gig with the company that gave him an internship.
"Grand Rapids is just perfect," the electrical engineer said. "So serene, so peaceful and calm. I like it for my focus and it helps me grow."
Sillah says the second-largest city in Michigan feels as if it's on the cusp of a tech boom.
"There are a lot of companies emerging from Grand Rapids and from West Michigan," he said, referencing companies that are growing "day by day" through and in collaboration.
In the shadow of billion-dollar behemoths like Boeing and SpaceX, Array of Engineers, swift on its feet, opts for a boots on the college campus approach, recruiting talent by offering internships to students and sponsoring their senior design projects.
"Really, it's all about exposure," Paul said. "You have to expose [students] to the work that you're doing here, so they are familiar with it."
Like the saying goes, if you build it, they will come. But you've got to tell them about it, too.
"If you're looking for meaningful relationships and friendships, you're going to find it here," Sillah said. "If you're looking for a professional network — a lot of companies are evolving here — you're going to find it here."
To read the full report from The Right Place, Inc., click here.
