It’s Opening Day for Plante Moran in “the D”

As Plante Moran’s managing partner, I travel quite a bit. At some point, the conversation usually turns to Detroit, where many of my out-of-town colleagues express sympathy. “That’s too bad about Detroit,” they may say, or—when they learn that Plante Moran is opening an office downtown in the Compuware building—“But why? Detroit is doing terribly.”

The thing is, Detroit isn’t doing terribly. On one hand, you have the business climate, which is largely positive and looking better every day. On the other, you have the bankruptcy-challenged municipal government that’s wrestling with a multitude of issues. Yes, there are problems, but these problems have been around a very long time, and they’re not so different from the challenges facing numerous big cities. The general outlook—not just from Plante Moran but from most businesses located in Detroit—is that there’s a process in place to address the challenges, and we’re proud to be a part of the positive change.

Monday, November 18, is Plante Moran’s first day in Detroit, and we couldn’t be more excited. Approximately 50 staff will occupy space on the third floor of the Compuware building, which is also home to Compuware and Quicken Loans. We think it will be a significant presence for the firm and expect to serve a lot of great new clients and recruit talented new staff. In fact, when we surveyed our staff about their desire to work in our Detroit office, the response was overwhelming. We had more interest than we could even accommodate, and we only expect that demand to increase. The sky truly is the limit.