CBI, also known as Creative Breakthroughs, is making the move to downtown Detroit, taking up a large chunk of office space in the city’s central business district.
The IT firm is taking up three floors of 1260 Library St., which is every bit of the 4-story building except for the ground floor retail. CBI is moving 50 people into the 10,000 square feet of office space this summer.
"We looked in downtown and Midtown," says Steve Barone, CEO of
CBI and a Detroit native. "We couldn't find anything in Midtown."
CBI specializes in IT risk management. It helps protect its customers from hacking and other dangers in the IT world. It's a space in which the 26-year-old firm has grown rapidly.
"We have been doing it a for a long time," Barone says. "It's finally out there that this is something companies need to spend money on. We are in the right place at the right time."
CBI has been averaging 30 percent revenue growth in recent years. It's on track to grow another 40 percent this year. That means more hires. The firm has hired 40 people over the last year, expanding its staff to 120. Despite those hires, CBI is currently looking to fill 20 new open positions.
"We are in rapid-growth mode," Barone says. "We think we will hire 40 more people this year."
About 50 of those people will make the move to downtown Detroit. Thirty more work remotely across the U.S. The rest are staying in CBI's current temporary offices in Ferndale. It moved there from Troy last year, but downtown Detroit is the company's final destination, according to Barone.
"I am glad we're moving back to the city," Barone says. "It's a lifelong dream to get back to the city I love."
Source: Steve Barone, CEO of CBI
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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