From Airport Touchdown to Detroit Tenant in Six Days

Allen Credit Counseling Agency may have set a new record for the fastest business attraction success at DEGC when its executives flew into Detroit Metro Airport from South Dakota on a Sunday and opened for business the following Friday.

When Allen Credit Counseling CEO Glenn Jungeman called the DEGC's business attraction department he quickly cut to the chase. He wanted to be in Detroit, and he wanted to be open within a week. The service-oriented 501-c(3) delivers a personal touch to the counseling process that is mandated before bankruptcy cases appear in court. The firm offers online counseling, but wanted to have a site here where customers could complete their preparation face-to-face.

Company representatives flew in on Sunday and met with DEGC on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon they had investigated several downtown locations presented by DEGC staff and signed a lease with the Penobscot Building. The 2,000 square-foot retail office included all furnishings. By Thursday, Allen Credit Counseling had purchased computers from downtown retailer Computing Express. Friday, the office was open for business.

 "I've been blessed to have crossed paths with many good people in my life, and the attraction staff at the DEGC was no exception," claimed Jungemann. "Dusty (Eric Duistermars) paid close attention to our requirements, and therefore narrowed our search to three buildings near Detroit's bankruptcy court. It saved us a tremendous amount of time, and allowed us to meet our goal of a Friday opening."

Duistermars, whose Detroit contacts and experience as a tenant representative were instrumental to the success of the project, summed up the whirlwind experience this way, "Normally I'd say this is all in a day's work at DEGC. This time I mean it almost literally."



Reach Eric "Dusty" Duistermars here.



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