Courtesy/ MLive
Grand Valley State University recently purchased a building in Grand Rapids and has major remodels planned in a venture to support the University’s Blue Dot initiative, which aims to create a more prominent GVSU presence in downtown Grand Rapids. The campus-wide initiative also involves expanding technology and research resources through the creation of a tech lab.
The University had previously co-owned a downtown building, the Bicycle Factory, and had been utilizing the space for GVSU’s downtown operations office, Charter School Office and Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy since 2009. When GVSU’s offices in the building opened, the University only owned two floors. In August 2024, GVSU purchased the remainder of the building for over $5 million from the Bicycle Factory’s secondary owner as a part of the Blue Dot initiative.
The west side of the factory, the University’s most recent purchase, is made up of condos. According to Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Ed Aboufadel, GVSU is considering turning the condos into student or staff housing.
“If you go back six months ago, we were having a bit of a housing crisis on campus,” Aboufadel said. “By owning the whole building, it gives us options.”
GVSU President Philomena Mantella created the Blue Dot initiative, which has received $30 million in federal funding through the support of Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The initiative, according to the GVSU website, is aimed to help facilitate “the intersection of technology, digital literacy and connections within the business community.”
The Blue Dot initiative encompassing the Bicycle Factory remodel also spreads to the Eberhard Center, which will soon hold the “Blue Dot Lab.” The official title of the lab is still in progress, but the bottom two levels of the Eberhard Center will be repurposed into tech labs, where GVSU students will learn digital literacy and other technology-based skills. According to Padnos College of Engineering (PCE) News, the facility will focus on subjects such as computer science, data science, business, computing and humanities. Over the next three years, the University will reconstruct parts of the building to add 175,000 square feet, and according to Aboufadel, the total cost for the lab will be around $80 million.
The Blue Dot Lab will consist of differing areas, including audio and video studios, fabrication labs, collision spaces, research labs and presentation spaces. It will also include places for students, professors and industry partners to collaborate. GVSU is partnering with the company Seamless, which will help the University connect with other businesses for future projects. In the past, Seamless has assisted GVSU students in finding internships.
According to the PCE News, the Blue Dot Lab has three primary goals. The first goal is to enhance GVSU students’ digital skills so that they can be successful in their future careers. The second goal is to increase the number of graduates with majors in technical, computing, data and AI-related fields. The last goal is to foster collaboration between GVSU, startups, entrepreneurs and corporate partners.
“There are places for people to see what others are doing and to be seen by others,” reported GVSU’s capital outlay proposal. “This will build a community of innovation that gives GVSU students an advantage in their future pursuits.”
Resources from the Blue Dot Lab will be integrated into professors’ coursework to ensure every student graduates with a basic understanding of digital literacy. Because there is a growing demand for tech-savvy employees, the Blue Dot Lab will aim to educate students on essential tech skills regardless of their major. According to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan ranked tenth nationally for total STEM degree completions in 2017. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google have and are investing in Michigan for its high concentrations of engineering talent.
“If there’s going to be a lot more technology companies here in West Michigan, they need talent, they need people who’ve learned something about technology,” said Aboufadel.
The Right Place is an organization dedicated to growing the economy in West Michigan. One of their strategies is to make West Michigan a prominent tech hub in the Midwest, creating 20,000 new tech jobs over the next 10 years. GVSU would like to be a part of the Right Place plan and aid their efforts by bringing high tech enterprises to the area, according to Aboufadel.
Mostafa El-Said, a professor of computing at GVSU, said computer skills are critical for students’ future successes.
“Most employers now expect some level of computer proficiency, ranging from basic office software to specialized technical skills, new tools for solving complex problems and innovative solutions,” said El-Said.
According to El-Said, computer skills empower students to contribute to content creation instead of simply being technology consumers.
“By fostering these skills through initiatives like the Blue Dot Lab at the Pew Campus, we are actively equipping our students with the tools and techniques they need to succeed in the digital age,” said El-Said. “These initiatives ensure our students are better prepared for future demands.”