GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- LinkedIn News has named Grand Rapids the nation's top midsized City on the Rise. And City Manager Mark Washington listed some reasons on West Michigan's Morning News why LinkedIn News has done so.
"Vibrancy in the neighborhoods, but also a booming downtown. We have transformational projects. And a lot of this is due to what I think is our fantastic public-private partnership relationship," Washington told WOOD Radio host Steve Kelly.
The city manager cited construction of the Amway Soccer Stadium and the Acrisure Amphitheater as two major examples of a collaboration leading to major projects being built downtown. That partnership included the City of Grand Rapids, Kent County, Grand Action 2.0 and the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority.
The Today Show on NBC also recognized Grand Rapids for its growing tech and insurance industries and major employers such as Corewell Health, Grand Valley State University and Meijer.
"There is a growth in the tech industry there, there’s a booming insurance industry, and … a lot of young professionals moving there," LinkedIn Editor-in-Chief Dan Roth said on The Today Show.
Washington talked about some of the things that differentiates Grand Rapids from large cities.
"A city that's in the midst of the longest river in the state. And just a growing population, primarily of young people. And I think that's one of the reasons why they acknowledged a City on the Rise. We have over 10,000 graduates in our area every year. And about 80 percent of them stay here," he said.
The LinkedIn report notes that, since 2019, Grand Rapids has experienced a 19-percent growth rate in people ages 25 to 34 who have earned at least a bachelor's degree, outpacing the statewide average growth of 9 percent. And the city retains about 80 percent of its college graduates annually.
Washington also mentioned the Medical Mile on Michigan Street that began with Corewell Health's Butterworth Hospital complex expansion, followed by the founding of the Van Andel Institute in 1996, and then the Grand Rapids Community College Calkins Science Center, GVSU's Health Campus (Cook-DeVos Center) and Michigan State University's Secchia Center Medical School. The Fred & Lena Meijer Heart Center, Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion, the Ferris State University College of Pharmacy. The Mid Towne Village mixed-use facility at Michigan Street and College Avenue includes the Women's Health Center, among other facilities.
###