By combining GMB’s strong foundation in education design services with Richard L. Johnson Associates’ deep understanding of the local market, we are building a team that is both nationally connected and locally grounded. This partnership allows us to bring the depth and breadth of national education best practices while remaining closely attuned to the unique needs of individual districts and communities.

“We are excited to welcome Richard L. Johnson Associates’ team and clients to GMB,” said David Bolt, President and CEO of GMB. “This acquisition brings together the strengths of both organizations, enhancing our collective capabilities and allowing us to create an even greater positive impact. By working as one team, we’ll be able to deliver more innovative solutions, support districts in reaching their goals, and ultimately improve the educational experience for students across the Midwest.”

Richard L. Johnson Associates, based in Rockford, Illinois, will continue serving more than 30 school districts in Northwest Illinois.

Scott Johnson, one of Richard L. Johnson Associates’ firm principals, has expressed excitement that clients will benefit from GMB’s additional in-house capabilities and educational design knowledge.

“I am very proud to be a part of this strategic acquisition,” said Johnson. “By combining our expertise in K-12 education, higher education, and broad experience in educational design, we’re building a full-service team that can collaborate across geographies and provide long-term value for our clients.”

The Richard L. Johnson Associates team will become part of GMB’s Team of Teams structure, which encourages autonomy and responsibility over the traditional hierarchical business model. GMB is also a 100% employee-owned company.

“As we grow and expand our educational ecosystem, we are inspired by the transformative work happening in classrooms across the country. We look forward to learning from these new partners and supporting how their clients are addressing today’s educational challenges,” added Bolt.

Let’s Talk About Roles, Not Titles

At GMB, we believe in the power of roles over titles. We define roles as the positions needed on a team to fulfill the purpose and goals of the team. Instead of confining people to rigid job titles, we encourage everyone to explore various roles based on their skills and teams. Think of it this way: in a game of cards, each player gradually puts down and picks up cards in order to optimize their hand. The same is true for team players at GMB — no individual has a single title or job description but puts down and picks up roles so their “hand” is optimized for their own personal sense of growth and fulfillment, and they can best contribute their talents to the overall vision for GMB.

Our organization operates on a people-first philosophy, prioritizing the contributions and potential of each individual rather than a hierarchical position. This approach fosters a culture of knowledge sharing and mutual respect. By valuing roles over titles, we create an environment where everyone feels empowered to contribute their best work.

“Coming from a small organization and joining a large one, my biggest fear was that it would I would lose the passion behind what I’m doing because everybody has a hand in everything. And I was just kind of scared to join a larger firm because I didn’t want that to get lost,” said one architectural designer during his first week with GMB. “But you guys have built such a great environment, there’s so many resources and I can just tell that this place is growing everybody’s career and I’m just super proud to be a part of it.”

GMB operates as a self-managed, 100% employee-owned company. This means that everyone has a stake in our collective success. This unique structure empowers each team member to take ownership of their work and drive their own path forward. In our self-managed environment, individuals are trusted to make decisions that align with our goals and our client’s best interests. We also embrace a flexible workplace that empowers each person to decide where and how they work best. This trust and autonomy lead to engaged teammates and a deeper connection to the work we do. By allowing teammates to manage their own success, we create an inspired workforce committed to building a better future.

“Team of Teams was already in place when I joined GMB, and that concept was very new to me. What has been so cool to see in the past five years is it just keeps getting better,” added a workforce growth team member at our latest in-person company gathering. “I get questions in the recruiting process all the time like, ‘Do you actually work like that?’ And it sounds kind of wild, but it’s working. I just love how at GMB we keep changing, keep pushing for the next thing and it’s so unique.”

What do we mean by our “ecosystem of teams?”

We recognize that to truly support educational institutions, we must offer holistic solutions that address all aspects of their growth and success. Our ecosystem approach does just that by placing our clients and their students at the center of everything we do. This means that rather than offering a disjointed array of services, we provide integrated solutions that address the many needs of our clients. Other professional services firms will typically structure themselves in one of two ways:

1. They accumulate “add-on” services that can be tacked on to a primary offering for a cost, but the business functions mainly to support the main service; or
2. They run distinct business units which provide robust offerings but generally operate independently from one another.

The shortcoming of both these approaches is that the client receives only one type of service at a time. But we understand how your unique challenges intersect and overlap. That’s why we see issues like enrollment, budgets, building function, planning, training, and maintenance as opportunities that can be addressed in a more holistic way.

Example One: Redefining the Educational Experience for Local Elementary Students

Imagine a K-12 school district that is planning for major renovations and expansion across multiple elementary schools. The district needs bond planning services to secure funding, innovative furniture design to support modern learning environments, and commissioning services to ensure that the new systems and structures operate efficiently. In a traditional model, the school district might work with a consulting firm for bond planning, a furniture vendor for the design and procurement of furnishings, and a separate firm for commissioning services. Some firms might even have these services all under one roof, but at GMB we don’t see these as separate issues to solve—they are all part of a single, complex solution.

We have a different approach. Instead of addressing individual challenges, our teams consider the entire experience your district offers and uncover how to make it a reality. By partnering with us, the district doesn’t just get these services delivered under one roof—they gain a holistic approach where everything is interconnected. Beyond the initial services, they also receive attention in critical areas like security consulting, energy management, and district branding. Our security consultants collaborate with the district from the beginning to design safe and secure learning environments that protect students and staff, and the planning team communicates these needs with the community. Simultaneously, our marketing team and educational planners work to create a cohesive district identity that resonates with both the community and prospective students, while our interior designers collaborate with the district’s educators to design a furniture plan that supports student-centered learning environments. Beyond simply ensuring that systems—HVAC, lighting, and more—function as intended, our energy management teams align these efforts with the district’s broader goals.

Our ecosystem of teams ensures that every aspect of the project, from securing initial funding to the final commissioning, is aligned with the district’s unique educational vision and operational needs. By partnering with us, the district benefits from a truly integrated approach, where all elements are connected and work together to create a more cohesive and effective learning environment—far beyond what could be achieved by hiring individual consultants for each service.

Example Two: Attracting and Retaining Students Through Enhanced Facilities

A university is planning to build a new student center, a central hub designed to enhance campus life and serve as a key attraction for prospective students. This project requires not only architectural design and engineering, but also effective branding to ensure that the new center resonates with the university’s identity and draws in future students. In a traditional model, the university might engage an architecture firm for the design, an engineering firm for the structural work, and a marketing agency for the branding. Each firm works independently, leading to longer timelines and potential misalignments.

We step outside the traditional realm of problem-solving. We view the entire project through a holistic lens, considering how every element—from safety and energy management to sustainability and enrollment—works together to create a cohesive experience that reflects the university’s values and vision. By partnering with us, the university doesn’t just get architectural design, engineering, and branding services under one roof; they gain a deeply integrated approach where everything is interconnected. Our teams begin by collaborating closely with university stakeholders to understand their architectural vision for the student center. Our engineering team works in tandem with the architects to ensure the facility is safe, efficient, and functional. Meanwhile, we engage with the university’s Marketing Office to develop a branding strategy that incorporates the university’s identity into every aspect of the student center, from signage and wayfinding to updated print materials and messaging. Additionally, we integrate carbon neutrality goals and campus planning into the project, helping the university meet sustainability targets campus-wide, an increasingly important element to both current and prospective students.

But a new building doesn’t just bring in new students—we help connect the dots between the built environment, the university’s brand, and the right-fit students the institution wants to attract. The final product is a student center that embodies the university’s values, meets the needs of students, and serves as a compelling attraction for future generations of students.

Creating an Abundance Mindset

An abundance mindset, a philosophy championed by author Dr. Peter Diamandis, is the belief that there are enough resources and opportunities for everyone to thrive. This contrasts with a scarcity mindset, which operates on the notion that resources are limited, leading to competition and fear of lack.

Today, we have access to more information and more resources than any generation before us. So how can we leverage those resources and work together to create a world of abundance? As part of your team, we address the needs of your buildings and brands so you can focus on what matters most: your students.

Educators face the challenge of helping learners to level up. From administration to teachers, they strive to create an environment where students’ needs are met, allowing them to achieve their unique potential. This often means ensuring even their basic physical and psychological needs, like safety and food security, are addressed. We want to align with educators who are helping students achieve more by fulfilling these needs and moving them towards their purpose — that’s how we’re making a meaningful difference in the world.

The Power of Vulnerability and Trust

So how does this all work? Within GMB, we aim to cultivate a culture of vulnerability and trust. This approach leads to better collaboration and innovation as team members feel safe sharing ideas and taking risks. And these values extend to the relationships we have with clients. We build cooperative and trusting partnerships through transparency and open communication, which are essential for successful project outcomes. By working closely with our clients, we ensure that their needs and visions are fully realized.

We strive to see the potential everywhere and in everyone. This approach to our work creates a snowball effect across the learning landscape, illustrating how sharing resources and knowledge can lead to greater creativity, invention, and abundance. As more people access resources and knowledge, they can contribute back to the community, creating a cycle of continuous improvement and innovation.

Our Vision for the Future

We like to think big. Think creatively. Think sustainably. Our vision is to contribute to an equitable and abundant future in education. We believe that by harnessing the power of integrated resources, we can help build educational environments that are inclusive and forward-thinking.

Our commitment to harnessing potential involves continuously seeking new ways to integrate our services and innovate. We aim to stay at the forefront of educational trends and technologies, ensuring that our clients benefit from the best solutions available. This philosophy will continue to drive our growth and innovation, guiding us as we expand our teams and impact throughout the educational ecosystem.

With an understanding of our company goals in mind, our empowered teammates are trusted to make decisions that best serve our clients and our company. And while each individual is part of a particular set of teams based on roles, skills, and passions, we all realize that we are part of a larger network that exists to serve educators and students in their pursuit of lifelong learning. 
 
This feeling of empowerment and inclusivity leads to what we call Catchbox Moments. At our quarterly GMB University (GMBU) company-wide gatherings, we allow space for teammates to share their thoughts, give feedback, and offer their “even better if” ideas with our tossable catchbox microphone.  

“I think the culture here has really changed how I approach my work and how I really operate,” shared one structural engineer at our January GMBU session. “The culture here is just something different. It’s like I want to immerse myself into it and I’m taking on roles and responsibilities now that if you would have asked me a couple of years ago, I was like, ‘absolutely not.’” 

Our teams consist of supportive members who value feedback, fun, trust, and honesty. We prioritize trust-building by openly sharing, acknowledging our strengths and mistakes, and celebrating each other’s contributions. We believe that creating a workplace that fosters connection and trust between team members can transform how we work and how we feel about the work that we do. 
 
“I will say that I have never felt so connected before, even to people that I have never met before,” said one architectural designer. “And to me that’s wonderful because you don’t have that at every firm, so thank you for making those connections possible, especially with a remote first environment.” 

GMB embraces a flexible workplace that empowers each person to decide where and how they work best. To ensure teammates can build trust and connections across locations, we create intentional touchpoints between multidisciplinary teams. This may look like daily morning touch points to get to know each other, coming together at our annual GMBU in-person gathering, or choosing to work at one of our technology-rich Learning Hub locations.  

GMB has a singular focus on serving the education market, even recently expanding the ways that we can impact students and the success of schools and universities. This dedication to supporting learners and educators unites our team with a common goal. When everyone has the same central compass guiding them, both within our organization and on a client’s project, we can make a real difference with our work.
 
“Part of me wishes to work on the biggest, most complicated electrical engineering projects, but I am very proud to talk about the work we do in the education sector,” added one electrical engineer who is working with GMB for the second time in their career. “Talking to other electrical engineers reinforced in me the joy I get from being at a ribbon cutting, hearing the success stories of the world-changing educators that inhabit our buildings, and hearing my community members talk about the cool new school down the road.” 

GMB has been a prominent fixture in downtown Holland since 1968, when the firm was originally founded. GMB has occupied the space on 8^th street for more than 20 years and has undergone several renovations as the firm’s progressed and grown. GMB embraces a flexible workplace as part of this evolution, and this latest transformation offers a unique space for GMB’s employees to connect their work in education design and planning to the new ways of navigating work and learning.

“As GMB continues to expand our services and our team, it was essential that our spaces reflect the exciting changes happening within our organization,” said David Bolt, CEO and President of GMB. “Our newly renovated Learning Hub blends more than 50 years of history with a contemporary environment that embraces the future of work. We look forward to welcoming our teams and clients into a dynamic environment that fosters creativity, flexibility, and collaboration.”

The Learning Hub includes diverse workspaces ranging from a workshop supporting experimentation through making, group learning and meeting spaces, and focused work areas to support a broad set of needs. Robust technology throughout the hub blends in-person and virtual connections, extending team collaboration beyond geographic locations. Individuals can use an app to sign into the Learning Hub on days they will be physically present and can reserve a space for the kind of work best fits their day-to-day schedule, whether that’s a desk with monitors, a small meeting room, or a less structured workshop space. GMB’s Learning Hub spaces are also available to reserve for clients, students, and community education opportunities.

GMB has worked on many education projects in the Holland area with partners at Hope College, Holland Christian Schools, Grand Rapids Community College’s Lakeshore Campus, West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland Public Schools and more. Other notable projects in Holland that GMB has designed include Lakeshore Advantage’s new Next Center, renovations to the Holland Civic Center, Window on the Waterfront Parks new skating rink, and the Sally Smoly Nature Playscape.

About Up&Up

Up&Up is a purpose-driven marketing agency that specializes in branding, enrollment marketing, web experiences, and digital marketing for those in the higher education space. Through close collaboration and strategy, we help our clients push their brands further to connect, engage, and resonate with their audiences in a meaningful way that drives enrollment and results. We uplift our clients, helping them stand apart and above. Learn more at www.upandup.agency.

REGIONAL LEARNING HUBS
GMB’s regional Learning Hubs are designed for people within the educational ecosystem and to serve a variety of purposes for the ecosystem as a permanent installation. These physical locations, which also support virtual participation, provide a place to connect with a community and create learning experiences that support the needs of that community. The ways that people learn and collaborate today have changed and it’s the same in the workplace as it is in education. No longer are people learning in rows of desks facing one direction with one lecturer; we’re collaborating in teams and building a culture of feedback. Learning Hubs create an opportunity for us to connect our work in education design and planning to this new way of navigating work and learning. The first reimagined regional Learning Hub opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan in Fall 2022 and the second in Royal Oak, Michigan in Spring 2023. The third location, a redesign of GMB’s Holland, Michigan location, is slated to be completed by the end of 2023.

GMB believes that feedback is a crucial part of growth, so our Learning Hubs Team regularly solicits feedback from our clients and teammates on how our hubs are working for them. What we learn from this feedback will inform how we approach future changes in these spaces to keep them functioning as spaces that become a conduit for dialogue, exchanging ideas, and fostering the sharing of knowledge in an experiential way.

Where we are going

POP-UP LEARNING HUBS
Our goal is for Learning Hubs to connect to places where students and educators are already gathering. We are exploring how a Pop-Up Learning Hub could create a branded space that feels unique to GMB with dedicated space and resources for our clients. A Pop-Up Hub could be utilized at multi-day conferences, in professional development or training settings, on project sites, and beyond. Elements in a Pop-Up Hub may include a learning spine to anchor the space with technology and hospitality, a meeting and learning area, and an interactive digital display that highlights client projects and learning in action.

GMB has incorporated the Learning Hubs model into company-wide gatherings that provide a chance for us to fully co-locate, do team-building activities, have fun, and get aligned on company priorities for the year ahead. These quarterly opportunities give our teams the chance to align activities happening at our individual hubs and bring new ideas to the table. The Pop-Up Hub setting has allowed us to connect to our teammates and our work in a new way that promotes collaborating and doing project-based learning in small groups and teams.

INSTANT LEARNING HUBS
The smallest installation, an Instant Learning Hub, has the ability to move between locations quickly and easily and takes the least amount of time to effectively set up. One day tradeshows, project tours, career fairs, and other limited time events present the opportunity to bring the Learning Hub idea to life on a small scale. With student and client interaction in mind, an Instant Hub creates a flexible, intimate space to exchange knowledge, to learn together and from each other.

What could be next

MOBILE LEARNING HUBS
What if we could take the Learning Hubs model and apply that to any location and bring people together to have meaningful connections? A Mobile Learning Hub presents the chance to bring learning opportunities to underserved areas, to support special events, or create new experiential teaching and learning methods. Examples include the Mobile Makers program, whose trucks bring design and skill-building workshops to youths in Boston and Chicago communities with the goal of bringing more diversity and equity into the architecture and design field. Creating an accessible and collaborative mobile hub could be a pivotal piece in the learning ecosystem network, providing yet another connection point of the ecosystem we’re creating in our local communities.