Van Andel Institute: The Anchor
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community
Chapter Six
Van Andel Institute: The Anchor
By Rod Kackley
Dave Van Andel remembered making the call to Birgit (Klohs) to tell her what was going to happen. “I don’t think anybody realized at the time, including myself perhaps, how big a deal this really was,” Dave said in his very comfortable way.
“You have to understand that back then, if you were having a discussion about life sciences in Michigan, people would look at you funny and go, “What?”
Looking back on it, I can remember being one those people asking that single word and maybe simple-minded question. What? Writing some of the first stories about Medical Mile for a regional business publication I was left wondering if I should use the phrase “life science” or “life sciences.” We were all wondering if there was more to a “wet lab” than a sink and running water. Dave Van Andel was truly opening the door to a new world for Grand Rapids.
To tell you the truth, I thought they were nuts. That was a mistake. It was also a lesson for the developers of the next cluster: there will be non-believers. Anything worth doing is worth doubting. In fact, that should be encouraged. There is nothing wrong with critical thinking.
However, the early adopters had to be patient.
“This wasn’t automotive technology, this wasn’t anything to do with furniture, this was life sciences and this was something that was certainly not on the radar screen and certainly was not in the vocabulary of 99 percent of the populace,” Dave said.
“When I made the call to tell her (Birgit) what was going to occur now, what the decision was, what this meant, I think that was an inflection point, if you will, that quite frankly changed the conversation forever about what Grand Rapids was going to become.”
No kidding.
“I also remember a call from then-Mayor (John) Logie who asked ‘what does this mean?’” recalled Birgit. “I remember John asking, ‘what’s a spin off?’ ‘It is really when someone has an innovation that becomes a full-fledged business over time,’ I explained.”
She explained to him and everyone else whose world had been shaken and whose minds were soon to be opened to unthinkable possibilities that first of all it meant that Grand Rapids was going to have to attract “incredible intellectual capacity.”
Intellect does attract intellect, and talent attracts talent. After the Detroit Tigers had the worst season in baseball history, owner Mike Illitch recruited and signed a real all-star, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez to the team, and then used Pudge to recruit and attract other top talent.
The same thing is happening on Medical Mile, just as Birgit predicted more than a decade ago.
She knew that the walls of a research institute of this magnitude would have to be papered with lots of framed Ph.D. diplomas. There would be many other support positions, as well. But the core of that institute would be Ph.D. scientists.
“And from that I told people, you will hopefully get spin-offs, you will get clinical trials, and we are going to have to talk venture capital,” explained Birgit. I could see in her eyes 15 years after that phone call that her mind must have been spinning when all this happened. Even now she gets more and more excited recalling the early days of Medical Mile conversations. It is hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm.
“Eventually somebody is going to invent something, or find something or a cure for something that will turn into a business,” said Birgit. That has always been the dream, the vision, the hope, that someone, some day would create the next “sticky notes” of life sciences and move Grand Rapids off the average plate.
It is happening now on Medical Mile. We will look at progress made in later chapters. However during the creation days Grand Rapids had to, and is still, learning a new vocabulary.
Van Andel Institute, this anchor of the Medical Mile, was not only a game changer; it was an attitude- and vision-changer for metro Grand Rapids.
Birgit can forgive us for being confused in the days that followed the phone call from Dave. She was too.
“What we said to the Right Place board was, ‘We are getting this incredible gift. We don’t particularly know what it means. But let’s figure out what we need to put around it to make it worthwhile.’”
The rest of this story is told in the pages of Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community by Rod Kackley.
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids changed the way the world sees their community and the way their community sees the world and is available wherever books are sold, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community is also available at Barnes & Noble-Woodland Mall, Schuler Books & Music-28th Street and West Coast Coffee-Monroe Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan
To purchase a personally autographed copy of Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community, click on the Buy Now button at www.rodkackley.com.
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community
Chapter Six
Van Andel Institute: The Anchor
By Rod Kackley
Dave Van Andel remembered making the call to Birgit (Klohs) to tell her what was going to happen. “I don’t think anybody realized at the time, including myself perhaps, how big a deal this really was,” Dave said in his very comfortable way.
“You have to understand that back then, if you were having a discussion about life sciences in Michigan, people would look at you funny and go, “What?”
Looking back on it, I can remember being one those people asking that single word and maybe simple-minded question. What? Writing some of the first stories about Medical Mile for a regional business publication I was left wondering if I should use the phrase “life science” or “life sciences.” We were all wondering if there was more to a “wet lab” than a sink and running water. Dave Van Andel was truly opening the door to a new world for Grand Rapids.
To tell you the truth, I thought they were nuts. That was a mistake. It was also a lesson for the developers of the next cluster: there will be non-believers. Anything worth doing is worth doubting. In fact, that should be encouraged. There is nothing wrong with critical thinking.
However, the early adopters had to be patient.
“This wasn’t automotive technology, this wasn’t anything to do with furniture, this was life sciences and this was something that was certainly not on the radar screen and certainly was not in the vocabulary of 99 percent of the populace,” Dave said.
“When I made the call to tell her (Birgit) what was going to occur now, what the decision was, what this meant, I think that was an inflection point, if you will, that quite frankly changed the conversation forever about what Grand Rapids was going to become.”
No kidding.
“I also remember a call from then-Mayor (John) Logie who asked ‘what does this mean?’” recalled Birgit. “I remember John asking, ‘what’s a spin off?’ ‘It is really when someone has an innovation that becomes a full-fledged business over time,’ I explained.”
She explained to him and everyone else whose world had been shaken and whose minds were soon to be opened to unthinkable possibilities that first of all it meant that Grand Rapids was going to have to attract “incredible intellectual capacity.”
Intellect does attract intellect, and talent attracts talent. After the Detroit Tigers had the worst season in baseball history, owner Mike Illitch recruited and signed a real all-star, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez to the team, and then used Pudge to recruit and attract other top talent.
The same thing is happening on Medical Mile, just as Birgit predicted more than a decade ago.
She knew that the walls of a research institute of this magnitude would have to be papered with lots of framed Ph.D. diplomas. There would be many other support positions, as well. But the core of that institute would be Ph.D. scientists.
“And from that I told people, you will hopefully get spin-offs, you will get clinical trials, and we are going to have to talk venture capital,” explained Birgit. I could see in her eyes 15 years after that phone call that her mind must have been spinning when all this happened. Even now she gets more and more excited recalling the early days of Medical Mile conversations. It is hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm.
“Eventually somebody is going to invent something, or find something or a cure for something that will turn into a business,” said Birgit. That has always been the dream, the vision, the hope, that someone, some day would create the next “sticky notes” of life sciences and move Grand Rapids off the average plate.
It is happening now on Medical Mile. We will look at progress made in later chapters. However during the creation days Grand Rapids had to, and is still, learning a new vocabulary.
Van Andel Institute, this anchor of the Medical Mile, was not only a game changer; it was an attitude- and vision-changer for metro Grand Rapids.
Birgit can forgive us for being confused in the days that followed the phone call from Dave. She was too.
“What we said to the Right Place board was, ‘We are getting this incredible gift. We don’t particularly know what it means. But let’s figure out what we need to put around it to make it worthwhile.’”
The rest of this story is told in the pages of Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community by Rod Kackley.
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids changed the way the world sees their community and the way their community sees the world and is available wherever books are sold, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community is also available at Barnes & Noble-Woodland Mall, Schuler Books & Music-28th Street and West Coast Coffee-Monroe Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan
To purchase a personally autographed copy of Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community, click on the Buy Now button at www.rodkackley.com.
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community
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