Paxahau's suburban odyssey has come to an end now that electronic music company has moved to downtown Detroit, bringing 12 employees and a handful of interns with it.
"We all came up in Capitol Park," says
Jason Huvaere, president & founder of
Paxahau. "That's where we all met. We have been working together for 18 years and every one of those years has been spent looking to come back downtown."
Paxahau has been in an office in Ferndale for a number of years before executing a move to Greektown this winter. The company has moved above
Floods Bar & Grille into the third floor office space of the
Cornice & Slate Building. The firm has also hired three of its former interns over the last year, bringing its staff to eight full-time employees and another four part-timers.
Interns are a constant for Paxahau's staff. It normally has a handful of interns at any one time, and that number swells during the warmer months when it is organizing concerts and events, such as the annual
Movement Electronic Music Festival in Hart Plaza. Those internship numbers could potentially reach triple digits if the Paxahau can broker a deal with Wayne State University.
"We may have as many as 100 interns this year," Huvaere says. "It depends on how the university and the public responds. It would essentially replace our loose volunteer department."
Those interns will use Paxahau's new downtown office as a hub of activity. Huvaere explains the move is more about accentuating the company's culture and direction, which are all Detroit-oriented. It's why the firm used Detroit-based companies to execute the move and design the office.
"Downtown is where our heads and hearts are," Huvaere says. "There isn't a part of our start-up that doesn't revolve around downtown."
Source: Jason Huvaere, president & founder of Paxahau
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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