Virginia Tech breaks ground on first building of Global Business and Analytics Complex

Good afternoon. I'm Robert Sumichrast, Dean of Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business. Thank you for joining us to celebrate this historic groundbreaking of the first building of our Global Business and Analytics Complex. This complex will ultimately have four buildings, two academic structures, and two living learning communities. Today we celebrate breaking ground on the first of the academic structures, the Data and Decision Sciences Building, targeted to open in 2022. Along with classrooms and faculty offices, it will include specialized labs, dozens of team rooms for students from multiple disciplines to work together, data visualization classrooms, and a commons where students, faculty, industry leaders, and alumni can come together in large and small groups. Ultimately, the commons will be a connector, joining this building to the second academic building in the complex, where most of Pamplin's faculty will be located. The Data and Decision Sciences Building will feature the most up-to-date technology for remote collaboration. It will be located near the entrance to Virginia Tech at Prices Fork Road and West Campus Drive. This building will be a hub for learning and discovery. Not only for those of us located here in Blacksburg, but for our colleagues in Roanoke, in Greater Washington, DC, and Virginia Tech's many other locations. With such potential, it's no wonder that this building and this complex has drawn s