GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Community leaders hope to turn the Grand Rapids area into a tech hub.

Since 2021, regional economic development agency The Right Place has been working to bring 20,000 new tech jobs in the area over 10 years. The region has added 449 tech jobs since August of last year, it said in an update to the 10-year plan. So far, the total number of tech jobs created in the area has been 3,754 since November of 2021, the Right Place says.

“We believe that tech is going to be the future of our economy,” Andria Romkema, the senior vice president of marketing and communications for the Right Place, told News 8. “Whether you’re in manufacturing or you’re in health sciences or food processing even, tech has a role in our economy.”

The Right Place created its regional tech strategy because tech careers are the jobs of the future, Romkema said.

“We also want our talented people to stay here and take tech jobs here,” she said.

She said the area is starting to become known as a tech community, as illustrated by Tech Week Grand Rapids, which is kicked off Monday and runs through Saturday. Around 15,000 people are expected to come to Tech Week, one of the largest tech conferences in the Midwest, The Right Place said.

“We’re known as a manufacturing community. We’re known as a furniture community and that’s great,” Romkema said. “But we’re increasingly being known as a tech community and Tech Week Grand Rapids showcases that.”

Right now, there are almost 40,000 tech jobs in the greater Grand Rapids area, the Right Place said. There are 6,770 tech job opens, with a median salary of $83,300.