Platinum Innovation Group bills itself as a "disruptive-design" firm, which sounds about right for a company that is growing rapidly down the road less traveled.
The 15-year-old company had its staff spread virtually across North America with its employees telecommuting to its offices in St. Clair Shores. That changed about a year ago when it consolidated its staff in the downtown Detroit's Globe Building near Greektown. Since then, it has hired 30 people and expanded its workforce to about 100 people, 50 of which work in downtown Detroit.
"We have been a boot-strapped company from the start," says Joe Joachim, CEO of
Platinum Innovation Group. "We have never had any venture capital or outside investors. We had to focus on our customer from day one."
Some its work includes servicing the e-commerce needs of companies. For instance, it has worked in online floral delivery. It is also helps make things like funerals more accessible and cost-effective. The company is currently working on a number of event-planning avenues to keep up its growth rate.
Platinum Innovation Group also has offices in India and Brazil. However, most of its growth is based in Detroit. Joachim says his company chose to relocate downtown because he liked the community's momentum at forging a new identity and building a new business environment. Plus, the rebounding downtown is also helping his company recruit talent that wants to be in a major metropolitan area. The firm currently has 40 job openings it plans to fill as soon as it can find the right candidates for its team.
"People that are ridiculously passionate about building products that connect emotionally with people," Joachim says. "That's what we're looking for."
Source: Joe Joachim, CEO of Platinum Innovation Group
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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