Quicken Loans isn't knows for doing things in a small way. So much so that subtle probably isn't a word that appears often in Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert's "
ISMs" book. The downtown Detroit-based mortgage/tech company is continuing that trend with its recruiting efforts this year.
Quicken Loans plans to bring 1,400 new people onto its team this spring and summer. Those new positions include 800 new jobs and 600 internships. Those jobs include 300 new tech positions in downtown Detroit.
"We have seen a lot of growth in our company," says Michelle Salvatore, director of recruiting for
Quicken Loans. Technology is really the driver of growth in our company."
Gilbert has bet heavily on turning the lower Woodward corridor between Campus Martius and Grand Circus Park into a hub for both tech companies and entrepreneurs, an effort he is branding as Webward. Those efforts have included buying and rehabbing a number of office buildings in downtown Detroit, turning them into head-turning entrepreneurial centers, like the
M@dison Building.
Helping make all of this possible is Quicken Loans and its family of companies' philosophy of attracting and harnessing young talent. The 600 new internships are a key part of that strategy, which Salvatore sees a possible solution to helping staunch Michigan's brain drain.
"We want to keep young professionals here," Salvatore says.
Source: Michelle Salvatore, director of recruiting for Quicken Loans
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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