On Friday, Oct. 17, the Ferris State University´s Board of Trustees gave their approval to officially name a new facility housing both the Construction Technology and Management, and Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration programs the Granger Center for Construction and HVACR.

A $1 million gift from Alton Granger and his wife, Janice, of Dimondale, in addition to funding from the state of Michigan, the construction and HVACR industries and the University, made the completion of the $18 million renovation and expansion of the existing Construction Technology Center possible.

The facility is a virtual learning laboratory, allowing students enrolled in CTM and HVACR to openly view building components such as structural and wall construction along with mechanical/electrical systems including plumbing, electrical, telecommunications, heating and cooling.

Ferris offers 2- and 4-year programs in HVACR, both with 100 percent job placement. The 4-year program is the only one of its kind in Michigan and the largest and most widely recognized of only two similar programs in the U.S.

In related action, the trustees also approved naming the materials laboratory in the Granger Center for Construction and HVACR the Klett Family Materials Laboratory.

The materials laboratory is being funded by a $100,000 donation from James A. Klett of Dowagiac, a leader in the asphalt industry and a long-time member and current chairman of the College of Technology´s Construction Technology and Management Advisory Committee.

BIG RAPIDS—At the northeast corner of the Ferris State University campus, construction continues on a new facility to house the Construction Technology and Management and Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration programs.

Until recently, the $18 million project has progressed steadily but anonymously forward, enjoying financial support from the state of Michigan, the construction and HVACR industries and the university. Now it has support from a man who is no stranger to a job site. Now, it shares a name with that man.

The Granger Center for Construction and HVACR will open its doors in 2004, thanks in large part to a gift of $1 million from Alton Granger and his wife Janice. Granger is chairman of the Granger Construction Company and has had a long relationship with Ferris.

“I have a granddaughter who graduated from the construction management program at Ferris and a number of employees from Ferris, as well,” Granger says. “We have an outstanding relationship with the university—we’ve worked with Ferris on a number of projects and have never had a better relationship with a client.”

“Ferris provides great employees to the construction industry, and we need to support those efforts,” he says. Granger graduated from Michigan State University in 1954 and founded Granger Construction in 1959 with his father and two brothers. His company has done a wide range of construction work across the state, but is perhaps best known for its work on educational facilities. “We’ve done a lot of work in education—in K-12 school systems and at Michigan State and Ferris,” he says. “But we just enjoy building buildings. We’ve done corporate headquarters, industrial work … it’s not just the education sector, and the best part is that we never do the same thing twice.” He pauses a moment, reflecting on decades spent doing what he loves. “God’s been awful good to me,” he says, smiling. “Maybe He wants me to give a little back.”