This year, the Grand Rapids office of Ann Arbor-based Atwell-Hicks, a development consulting firm, expanded their employee base to 15, moved their offices downtown, and doubled their square footage. They also doubled their sales, generating $4 million dollars this year.
“Our move from the East Beltline to downtown was driven by our need for more space,” said Frank Marshall, operations leader West Michigan. “We got out the map and started to think strategically about where we should be to be geographically close to our customers. It became pretty obvious that downtown was where we could best serve our customers and grow.”
Atwell-Hicks made the move in June to 140 Monroe Center and 9,000 square feet of space. Half of their employees transferred to the Grand Rapids office from other offices; the other half are local hires.
“We’re here to access local employees and talent,” Marshall said, “and downtown is central to everywhere in the Grand Rapids market. We hire a lot of young professionals, and the office itself is an incredible recruiting tool—they just like being downtown.”
Marshall said about 70 percent of the people they serve—their clients, and their clients’ lawyers and title companies—are within walking distance of the new offices. Marshall believes that’s not only good for Atwell-Hicks, but it’s good for the Grand Rapids economy.
“We bring a property development focus to West Michigan,” he said. “We have a number of clients outside of West Michigan, and we’re soliciting and facilitating their development here.”
Source: Frank Marshall, Atwell-Hicks
www.atwell-hicks.com
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.