GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — It was about 11 years ago when representatives from the tech sector in this city about a half hour from the shores of Lake Michigan came together for the betterment of their industry.
They went to officials with The Right Place, the local economic development agency.
What blossomed out of that idea was a tech council now with 75 company representatives that has helped spawn an accelerated job growth that's being noticed around the country. It’s led to Grand Rapids earlier this year being named a Top Emerging Tech Market by global real estate company CBRE and has helped the region become one of the fastest-growing areas of the state.
Now home to nearly 40,000 tech jobs, Grand Rapids added 449 jobs since 2023. Job listings indicate companies are seeking another 6,000 positions that offer an average salary that tops $80,000.
“Grand Rapids is like Mayberry on steroids,” said TaRita Johnson, senior VP of talent and diversity with The Right Place. “Everybody wants to help everybody. This is an opportunity for them to get together. I really love going to the council meetings because of the energy that happens in the room.”
Johnson, who was also speaking during Tech Week in Grand Rapids, shared the city’s success with the Acadiana delegation as part of the Leadership Exchange program hosted by One Acadiana. In Lafayette, which years ago joined in on Silicon Bayou-themed effort to develop the tech sector in south Louisiana, the tech industry has had wins in recent years.
In the past two years, four companies added more than 1,100 tech jobs in Lafayette, according to the Lafayette Economic Development Agency. But forming a council could address a number of gaps in the industry, said Will LaBar, vice president of consulting services with CGI. Thosegaps include developing talent in K-12 public schools and raising awareness of careers in the industry.
But a council could also take the lead in recruiting companies to move to the area.
“The fact that we are not convening across our community on that issue to support the tech sector is one of the first thing we need to fix,” LaBar said. “We hear that Grand Rapids goes to Silicon Valley and is convincing technology companies that this is a place where you can do work with service providers here. The same concept can be applied to Acadiana. You can totally find that world-class talent in Lafayette.”
It’s a concept that members of the One Acadiana delegation could take back to Acadiana and apply — or R&D, as in rip-off and duplicate, a term repeated during the trip. Much like that tech council, there was a spirit of collaboration among agencies and the public and private sectors in Grand Rapids that led to positive results.
Past trips by Lafayette civic and business leaders have led to ideas applied in Lafayette, including the wayfinding system installed downtown and the small business challenge. But some attendees noted the presence of the philanthropic community in Grand Rapids, including Amway founders Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos and their donations to major projects in the city, including the Van Andel Arena.
It was a similar takeaway from the previous Leadership Exchange trip to Pensacola, Florida, and how philanthropist Quint Studer’s donations sparked a downtown renewal.
“I think it is about the people who's who are in this room but it's also about the people who are not in this room,” said Geoff Stewart, director of the Louisiana Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Council at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. “We've got a lot of other people in our community that have a lot of talent and skill that need to be brought to the table.”
The philanthropic efforts in Grand Rapids have had different targets than efforts in Lafayette, said Carlee Alm-Labar, executive director of the Schumacher Family Foundation. She and Missy Andrade, director of the Community Foundation of Acadiana, visited with officials with the Grand Rapids Community Foundation and noticed the difference.
“We’ve thought of philanthropy in our community as we’re going to help education or we’re going to help health and wellness,” Alm-Labar said. “Grand Rapids and the future of Grand Rapids became their cause.”