Grand Rapids’ growing tech scene is reshaping how the city is viewed nationwide. Once described as a best-kept secret, the city is now gaining national recognition — LinkedIn recently ranked it the top “rising city to grow your career” — and that momentum will be on display this fall as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak headlines a rapidly expanding
Tech Week Grand Rapids.
What began just a few years ago with a modest slate of programming has ballooned into more than 115 official events this year, compared to about 70 last year. Organizers say the surge is not only a sign of interest in technology, but also proof that the city’s collaborative culture and deepening tech ecosystem are fueling career opportunities and drawing notice well beyond West Michigan.
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Keith Brophy
Keith Brophy, a longtime entrepreneur, health-tech CEO, and futurist who also serves as a Tech Week co-chair, says that securing Wozniak as the keynote speaker on Sept. 15 highlights how Grand Rapids’ innovation community is stepping onto a larger stage.
“Steve Wozniak is the perfect speaker for the perfect time,” Brophy says. “I heard him speak at a conference about a dozen years ago in San Jose, and his vision about how technology would reshape health care has stuck with me ever since. To now have him here, in West Michigan, where the pace of change is accelerating more than ever, will set the tone for the whole week.”
Brophy says Wozniak’s presence in Grand Rapids signals that national leaders see the city as ready to engage in the conversation about the future of technology.
“We’re not the East Coast or the West Coast,” says Brophy, CEO of
Mentavi Health. “We have our own West Michigan advantages, and also some obstacles. But to have a global innovator like Wozniak here shows this community is ready to talk about what’s next.”
AI era is here
Brophy sees Wozniak’s visit as timely not just because of who he is, but because of what is happening in technology right now. As a futurist, Brophy has spent decades predicting how trends like the internet, social media, and now artificial intelligence will disrupt industries.
“For years, I’ve talked about how AI would reinvent so much of business and human interaction,” Brophy says. “It finally started happening at an accelerated pace a couple of years ago. For a long time, many business leaders didn’t believe it would impact them. But now there’s recognition that the way of doing business is rapidly evolving.”
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Credit: Bud Kibby, Tiny Uproar Russ Climie of Tiberius ImagesEnjoying drinks at Tech on the Deck, part of Tech Week GR, hosted by Michigan Software Labs.
Brophy recalls giving talks in West Michigan, where skepticism was common. Some leaders in the late 1990s didn’t think the internet would matter for their companies. Others brushed off the rise of social media. But AI, he says, has faced the deepest resistance.
“The most disbelief I’ve seen on any trend has been the impact of AI,” Brophy says. “Even a year or two ago, many said, ‘Oh, this is just a bubble or industry buzz.’ But now, businesses are realizing this is not hype — it’s happening in real time.”
That shift, he argues, makes Tech Week especially important.
“This is the era we’ve been talking about for 25 years,” Brophy says. “Fasten your seat belts, because a big change is coming through AI. And this year marks that the era is here.”
‘Taking notice’ of region
Andria Romkema, senior vice president of business development for
The Right Place, says Tech Week’s rapid growth stems from the region’s unique culture of collaboration. The Right Place organizes the framework, but the content comes from the community.
“The community builds everything out,” Romkema says. “They’re bringing content forward, partnering on events, and collaborating to bring thought leaders into town. That’s why it’s grown so fast — because our community is truly bought in.”
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Credit: Bud Kibby, Tiny UproarStudents explore hands-on exhibits and the latest tech from different companies at the Tech Showcase, an annual featured event of Tech Week GR hosted by The Right Place.
That buy-in, she says, is exactly what LinkedIn highlighted when it named Grand Rapids the "#1 city to grow your career" on LinkedIn’s inaugural
Cities on the Rise list
“They announced it on the
Today show, and we didn’t even know it was coming,” Romkema says. “They highlighted our tech sector, our strategy, and Tech Week as part of what makes Grand Rapids stand out. It’s outside validation, and it shows people are taking notice.”
Higher ed jumps in
Another factor in Tech Week’s rise has been the participation of colleges and universities. Bill Pink, president of
Ferris State University and a Tech Week co-chair, says he was determined to make sure higher education was fully represented.
“We wanted to make sure that from a higher ed perspective, we are indeed showing up and being an integral part of Tech Week,” Pink says. “The involvement of our faculty and students is vitally important. It not only helps our universities in terms of partnerships and learning, but it helps our students so much to be able to engage in an event like this.”
Pink says he worked with Romkema to send invitations to every higher education institution in West Michigan — community colleges, private schools, and public universities alike. Ferris State alone is staging more than a dozen programs, from AI workshops to design-focused events, at Kendall College of Art and Design.
“Any one of our events that involves Ferris State, I’m excited about,” Pink says. “We boast having one of the top artificial intelligence and information intelligence faculties in the country. It makes good sense that our folks would have our hands dug into this effort.”
Pink says the scale of this year’s programming shows how far Tech Week has come.
“We’re at 115 events now, up from about 70 last year,” Pink says. “Last year, we had around 14,000 or 15,000 attendees. This year, we want to blow that out of the water. We already have about 2,000 middle school students registered, compared to just over 600 last year. People are catching wind of it and deciding we need to be part of this.”
That growth, he says, matters for more than just attendance records. It’s about preparing the workforce of tomorrow.
“Everything from robotics to AI is on the horizon,” Pink says. “Something like this makes really good sense for a community like ours.”
Being seen
Romkema says the same factors fueling Tech Week are what make Grand Rapids a career destination.
“Being a best-kept secret doesn’t help when you’re trying to attract talent or companies,” Romkema says. “We want people to know about us. We want leading companies doing cutting-edge work to think about locating here. We want talented professionals to see this as an area of opportunity.”
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Bill Pink
She notes that Grand Rapids’ unique combination of a vibrant downtown, proximity to Lake Michigan, and affordability makes it appealing to professionals considering relocation. When paired with a thriving tech sector, those attributes make the city stand out in LinkedIn’s national data.
Brophy says that recognition should motivate businesses to take practical steps to adapt to change. He frequently urges organizations to create AI ethics and governance committees, regardless of industry.
“Usually less than 10% of audiences raise their hand when I ask if their company has an AI ethics committee,” he says. “Even simple steps like that can help us steer AI for the best of our businesses and our community.”
Community value
He adds that part of Tech Week’s value is giving people a chance to experience the shift in person, not just online.
“It’s different, stepping into Tech Week, hearing the speakers, hearing the flow of questions, meeting people in the process,” Brophy says. “People will be able to really appreciate that this shift and this change is real, and not just buzz.”
While national rankings and big-name speakers help draw attention, Romkema says Tech Week’s ultimate measure of success is whether it delivers value locally.
“It’s not always about growing bigger and bigger,” Romkema says. “We want to add more value. We want it to be valuable to our community first, and that’s the goal.”
Pink agrees, framing Tech Week as an opportunity to help individuals as well as institutions grow.
“I would encourage everybody who is thinking about attending — yes, do attend. Bring people with you. Tell others about it,” Pink says. “It’s not just about the numbers. It’s about what people can gain from such a great tool for our community.”