For the first time since 2001, I didn’t send a child off to elementary or high school this year. After 23 years, of packing lunches, attending school musicals, concerts and sporting events and helping with PTSA events, my wife and I have a clean slate when it comes to school this year.

We sent our youngest daughter off to Michigan State University, where her brother, sister (and me) went before her. It’s tough dropping your last child off at college and returning home to an empty nest. But the experience got me thinking about the educational furniture market.

Michigan State University is a massive Big Ten school with more than 570 permanent buildings on its campus. These buildings are spread across 2,100 acres and provide more than 25.3 million square feet of space to the 50,000+ students who take classes there.

The university spends more than $1 billion a year on supplies, services and operations, which includes furniture it purchases for its campus in East Lansing, Mich., about an hour’s drive from both Grand Rapids and Detroit.

As far as I can tell, much of the ancillary furniture on campus, as well as a lot of seating, is from Herman Miller, which isn’t a surprise since former Herman Miller CEO Brian Walker is an alum who had deep connections to the school.

In fact, many colleges and universities in Michigan have connections to office furniture executives and companies. For example, former Steelcase CEO Jim Hackett played football at the University of Michigan and served as its athletic director after he retired from the office furniture industry. And Haworth has strong links to Hope College in its hometown of Holland.

Back to Michigan State. Simply put, with 570 buildings, it has a lot of furniture. So does the University of Michigan. And even little Hope College has its fair share of furniture on campus.

My point is, a lot of furniture is sold to schools. Though the numbers are spongy, it is estimated that the school furniture market is about $2 billion. And even though the educational furniture market is a bit different, it is worth exploring as a dealer.

If you are at all interested in the educational furniture market as a dealer, I would highly suggest you book a trip to EDspaces, the preeminent educational furniture show scheduled for Nov. 12-14 in Houston. It is an excellent event with educational programs, tours, speakers and a great expo with all the major school furniture makers in attendance.

Educational furniture is a different sale than office furniture and it is designed, specified and delivered in a condensed period. Educational furniture is a market that does not go through the cyclical ups and downs of the business cycle, but it is affected by things like school millages.

Still, it is a market worth exploring, because as long as there are kids, there will be schools to teach them. Here’s to a great school year!