Ideas Welcomed For Freshwater Innovation Center

The best ideas might earn a spot at the ambitious, new Freshwater Research & Innovation Center. Partners will break ground on the new Center in November and, while the hub won’t open until spring 2027, Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) is already searching for future tenants. The college has opened registration for the Great Lakes Blue Tech Challenge, a contest seeking “technology-based innovation” to help solve issues facing the Great Lakes. The competition will culminate this fall at a global conference in Chicago – and will give top participants an on-ramp to be part of the new innovation center.

“The contest is definitely a pipeline for the new facility,” says Ed Bailey, NMC’s director of program and portfolio development. “As new businesses mature, it’s important that they have a place where they can continue to expand. That’s what this facility is designed for. So, the way I look at it is, the Blue Tech Challenge is the front end of the business development pipeline, and the facility is the back end of the pipeline.”

Once built, the multi-million-dollar Freshwater Research & Innovation Center will include spaces for a broad range of freshwater-related activities, including classroom and lab space for NMC’s Great Lakes Water Studies Institute, a public exhibit area, research labs, docks for research vessels, and more. One major section of the facility will focus on the innovation, incubation, and commercialization of new businesses operating within the blue technology sector. The Blue Tech Challenge is a first step toward finding businesses to populate that portion of the center.

With the enrollment window for the challenge now open, NMC is inviting participation from entrepreneurs or businesses with ideas that could help solve existential crises in the Great Lakes, including issues around water quality and nutrient cycling, microplastics, forever chemicals, stormwater management, and wastewater treatment.

“If someone has a good idea and it relates to improving the quality of the Great Lakes, we want them to be part of this program,” Bailey tells The Ticker.

The Blue Tech Challenge is a descendant of a similar program NMC ran the past two years, the AquaHacking Challenge. Co-hosted with Aqua Action, the AquaHacking Challenge drew startups to compete for $35,000 in seed money. 2024 winners included Baleena, a Philadelphia-based company that fights microplastic pollution with “microfiber-trapping filters for household washing machines”; and Traverse City’s own Wave Lumina, which developed a portable device for rapid PFAS testing.

According to Bailey, the Blue Tech Challenge is actually a scaled-down take on the AquaHacking Challenge – but with a few extra perks for participants.

“The AquaHacking Challenge has a very robust curriculum, which teaches innovators everything from how to market their product to technology support to intellectual property to financing options,” Bailey says. “Because of those curriculum pieces, AquaHacking is a very expensive challenge to run. We didn’t have all those funds raised this year, so the Blue Tech Challenge is going to be a little lighter on the education front. We won't have the same in-depth training, but each participant will have a series of mentors to help them through the process.”

2025 is also an unusual year for NMC’s efforts around the Great Lakes, which Bailey says made it the right year to shake things up. The innovation center – a partnership between the college, Discovery Center & Pier, 20Fathoms, Michigan Technological University, and Traverse Connect – is finally breaking ground after three years of planning. And NMC’s flagship freshwater conference, Lakebed 2030, won’t take place as normal this fall. Instead, NMC’s event will be pre-empted by OCEANS 2025, a high-profile gathering of global maritime professionals taking place in Chicago from September 29 to October 2.

Instead, NMC plans to have a big presence at OCEANS 2025. That presence will extend to the Blue Tech Challenge.

“We’ll pick the top 10 teams from this initial application and team development period, those teams will pitch to us on August 1, and then we’ll select 3-5 to take to the OCEANS conference, where they’ll have a chance to pitch in front of industry experts and to have some exhibit space on the floor to showcase their business opportunity,” Bailey says.

At the end of the challenge, the top three teams will each receive a cash prize: $35,000 for first place, $15,000 for second, $10,000 for third. The champion will also get free digs for a year at the innovation center, valued at $20,000.

“At its core, this challenge is really part of an economic development effort,” Bailey concludes. “The thinking is that, if a company comes to Traverse City and stays in that innovation center space for a year, they're going to like it here, they’re going to understand the ecosystem, they’re going to love the quality of life, and then they’re going to start up a business here – and bring jobs with them.”

Pictured: The board of the Freshwater Research & Innovation Center, which convened for its first official meeting this week. Board members include Jason Slade (NMC), Eric Roberts (20Fathoms), Matt McDonough (Discovery Pier), Nick Nissley (NMC), Jay Meldrum (Michigan Tech) and Warren Call (Traverse Connect).