Global Business and Analytics Complex

The Global Business and Analytics Complex (GBAC) is a $250 million Boundless Impact priority project to erect two new academic buildings near the prominent northwestern entrance to the Virginia Tech Blacksburg campus and two living-learning communities anticipated to be built in the proposed Student Life Village. The complex’s academic buildings are expected to provide approximately 213,000 square feet of space for teaching, research, and collaboration by faculty and students from multiple colleges, with a focus on data analytics and decision-making in a transdisciplinary approach.

The entire Pamplin College of Business community will be located throughout GBAC. The Data & Decision Sciences Building within the complex will serve a mix of select students and faculty from the College of Engineering, College of Science, and Pamplin.

Complex Overview

Vision

The $250-million Global Business and Analytics Complex (GBAC) on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus is a catalyst to secure the university’s position as a world leader in data analytics and decision science and is why it is a named presidential priority in the Boundless Impact Campaign. The ability to collect, assess, and use data to predict results has altered business and society.

At Virginia Tech, ranked among the Most Innovative Schools (#26) in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings, transformational initiatives are underway. As part of the university’s 6-year master plan, GBAC will be known for delivering an innovative educational model that keeps pace with the digital revolution through talent production — undergraduate and graduate — and transdisciplinary research, fueling the pipeline to key economic regions. The complex’s features — state-of-the-art teaching and research labs, classrooms, and collaborative spaces for students, faculty, and student startups - and Virginia Tech’s industry partnerships, will deliver top talent and spark research throughout the commonwealth and foster economic growth.

GBAC, Innovation Campus, and Amazon HQ2

Amazon’s decision to locate its second headquarters in Northern Virginia included the value proposition Virginia Tech offers, the core of which is the Innovation Campus in Northern Virginia and the undergraduate talent pipeline from Blacksburg campus. Virginia Tech’s commitment to increasing the number of undergraduates studying data analytics, computer science, engineering, and related disciplines at GBAC is an important factor in the Amazon HQ2 initiative.

High-Demand Graduates

Virginia Tech produces 24 percent of the commonwealth’s four-year public-institution STEM-H degrees, more than any other institution in Virginia. The university is among nation’s largest provider of engineering and STEM-related graduates. Business Information Technology, the university's largest major with more than 1,500 students — is STEM-H designated. Pamplin College of Business is at the forefront of the GBAC initiative and analytics are being integrated into all business education disciplines at Virginia Tech.

Data and Decision Sciences Building

The first GBAC academic building, the Data and Decision Sciences Building, opened for classes in August 2023. The facility houses faculty and classes from multiple colleges, including the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the Pamplin College of Business. Its function is to bring together under one roof computer science, engineering, and data-related disciplines to provide opportunities for students, faculty, alumni, and even industry leaders, to work side-by-side to address some of the world’s significant data challenges.

The New Business Building

The second academic building will complete Pamplin’s relocation to the Global Business and Analytics Complex. The facility will enable the college to meet the demand for a modernized learning environment and to accommodate the exponential growth of faculty and students over the last 30-plus years. It will be a collaborative magnet for talent, research, and education, and will include approximately 93,000 square feet and will include specialty experiential learning and showcase spaces, including the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs and Hokie Hospitality Lab; student and industry partner collaboration and career services zones; student learning accelerator spaces and team rooms; administrative, faculty, and graduate student spaces; a small cafe; and departmental and conference spaces to support the consolidation of the college’s departments from other buildings on the Blacksburg campus.

Current phase: Design - Architectural/Engineering (A/E): Moseley Architects.

April 2022: The building was approved to enter the design phase by the Board of Visitors.

Expected completion: 2027

Residence Halls

GBAC's two residence halls within the proposed Student Life Village will include IMPACT, Pamplin and College of Science's data analytics living-learning community, and Innovate, Pamplin's entrepreneurship living-learning community. The residence halls will house approximately 700 students, with faculty and corporate partners engaged in the programming on a day-to-day basis.

Philanthropy

This $250-million, four-building GBAC project has university, state, and private resources already committed. To date, Pamplin has raised more than $40.4 million, including commitments from nearly 100 percent of the Pamplin Advisory Council, as well as key alumni partners at Deloitte, EY, and KPMG, and corporate and family foundations such as Alice S. and J. Willard Marriott Foundation, Deloitte Foundation, EY Foundation, and KPMG Foundation.

With its undergraduate pipeline in high demand by industry and government, this is a critical juncture for Pamplin. GBAC remains a philanthropic priority in the Boundless Impact Campaign.