When the rapid growth of Southfield-based
Health Plan of Michigan prompted a search for a new home, CEO and president Dr. David Cotton found that all signs pointed to Detroit. "
It's the only place where things are really happening," he says, citing the proximity to freeways, walkability, central location and access to restaurants as important factors in the decision.
HPM is one of the nation's top Medicaid HMO's, and has grown from less than ten employees in 1997 to 111 today. Their new office, the sixth and seventh floors of the One Kennedy Square Building, measures in at 44,000 square feet, which will allow room for future growth.
Neumann-Smith was the
architect for the space, with furniture design by Interior Dynamics.
Cotton says the downtown community has been welcoming to his company. Compuware hosted orientations for the staff, which he thinks helped ease any potential anxieties that some employees may have harbored about the move.
Cotton thinks a day will come that when the relocation of a company of HPM's size will not generate so much excitement. "It won't make much splash anymore with so many companies moving down here," he says.
"I'm glad we came at the time we're coming and that we are able to contribute to this very vibrant community developing down here."Source: Dr. David Cotton, HPM
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh