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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

GRIMM Opens Cybersecurity Research Lab in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Region

05/24/2018
GRIMM, a leading cybersecurity research and engineering firm, opened its new cybersecurity research lab in Sparta, a suburb village of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

GRIMM’s new facility will enable the company to work more closely on cybersecurity initiatives within the advanced manufacturing, aerospace, automobility and defense industries based in the region.

Its research lab will serve as a regional hub for its automobility and embedded systems research practices given its proximity to Detroit and the greater Michigan business community, home to a large number of automotive industry Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, and other industry stakeholders as well as hundreds of aerospace-related companies. According to company officials, GRIMM initially looked at opening its first Michigan-based facility for access to the state’s talented pool of technology workers as well as the region’s historic leadership in advanced manufacturing.

“Practically every new vehicle has connected or autonomous components and smart city technologies are being deployed into urban infrastructure on a regular basis. The realities of the Internet of Everything means that distributed systems, from industrial control systems to aerospace manufacturing operations and everything in between, must have security measures embedded or run the risk of exposing countless enterprises, systems and users to vulnerabilities,” said Brian DeMuth, GRIMM CEO.

“GRIMM’s Michigan lab will enable our team of researchers and security experts to become more deeply embedded into the critical industries, automobility, aerospace, defense and manufacturing, that support these advanced technologies,” he added.

GRIMM worked with The Right Place, Inc., a regional nonprofit economic development organization focused on helping companies identify possible sites and connect them with workforce development resources in West Michigan, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to secure funding and space for the facility, which will be located in the village of Sparta, Michigan.

The opening of the facility is being supported by a $216,000 performance-based grant from the Michigan Business Development Program. GRIMM also plans to invest $621,000 over the next three years to grow its presence in the region while it creates 27 new high-tech jobs in the same period.

“West Michigan has emerged as a major tech destination. Our location provides proximity to a number of critical industries that call Michigan home - advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defense and mobility,” said Jennifer Wangler, Business Development Manager, The Right Place, Inc. “We are thrilled that GRIMM, a company dedicated to solving these immense cybersecurity challenges, has chosen to put its roots down in the greater Grand Rapids region, we have infrastructure, talent, a robust industrial base and a business-friendly climate that will help enable GRIMM’s success.”

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