GVSU reports regional impact of $780 million

The annual economic impact that Grand Valley State University has on the region is estimated at $780 million.

Grand Valley issued its yearly tri-county economic impact report during its April 29 Board of Trustees meeting held at the L. William Seidman Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

The economic impact report covers Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon counties and used 2014-2015 data. Grand Valley employs more than 3,400 people and enrolls more than 25,000 students who spend money and pay taxes in the region.

Some additional highlights of this year's report include:

• New construction and renovations pumped more than $75 million into the local economy in 2015, creating more than 1,500 trade and construction jobs.

• On the Allendale Campus, construction of the new $37 million Holton-Hooker Learning and Living Center, and a $7.8 million Recreation Center addition will be finished in August.

• Grand Valley alumni now number more than 102,000 and nearly half are living or working in West Michigan's tri-county area.

The entire Economic Impact brochure can be found at www.gvsu.edu/economicimpact. For more information on Grand Valley's impact visit www.gvsu.edu/accountability.

During the meeting, the board approved funding for an addition and renovations to the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on the Allendale Campus. The center was built in 1971 and houses the Louis Armstrong Theatre. 

The $20-million project will be a two-story, 44,000-square-foot addition to the existing center. The addition will include a black box theater, two theater classrooms, theater support spaces, three ensemble rooms, a new student study space and an enlarged study space in the primary lobby area. 

Stantec Architecture will serve as architect and engineer, and Pioneer Construction will serve as the project construction manager. Civil engineering services will be provided by Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Huber, Inc. The project will be complete in August 2017.

In other board action/discussion:

• Trustees approved a new bachelor's degree program: Global Studies and Social Impact. Housed in the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, students majoring in the program will study global issues like immigration or climate change. Anne Hiskes, dean of Brooks College, said students will gain an understanding of a world that is rapidly changing because of increasing interconnections across the globe.

• The board recognized the 50th anniversary of the Grand Valley University Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization chartered in 1965. The foundation has raised $322 million in private gifts for the university and generated support for more than 400 scholarships, academic programs and centers of excellence.

James and Donna Brooks, general chairs of the foundation, were honored for their years of service to Grand Valley and the foundation.

The foundation is the umbrella organization and recognition society for all who give to the university through annual giving, capital campaigns, special giving or planned giving.