GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — If you had stepped out of the elevator onto the fourth floor of the Doug Meijer Medical Innovation Building on Wednesday evening, you would've immediately been greeted by the sounds of productive conversation.
The event for the evening was a ribbon cutting and grand opening for the startup incubator known as "The Bridge." But the productive conversations will be continuing long after the pomp and circumstance of the opening is over.
"This is a time for all of us to be able to get together, open a new collaborative space to kind of start talking about what we want Grand Rapids to be like," said Kyle McGregor, who serves as the Director of Health Innovations at Spartan Innovations.
Spartan Innovations is a subsidiary of the Michigan State University Research Foundation. They made this space possible along with Rockford Construction and grant money from the Grand Rapids SmartZone Local Development Finance Authority.
"Startup incubators are place in space, both physically and conceptually, just for people to get together to think about what they might want to do or how to solve problems, or things they want to do for the community," McGregor said.
"This is a place for that. This is a place for people that dream big and want to make Grand Rapids the next tech hub in the U.S."
Future tenants will also have access to Michigan State University, the researchers at the university, and some of its funding opportunities as well.
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