By: Deborah Johnson Wood
For 24 years, New York-based Protravel has catered to the needs of their corporate and leisure travel clients, built its business to 650 employees in more than 20 offices around the world, and they racked up over $500 million in sales in 2007.
Last month they opened their first Michigan office in Ada.
"We were very impressed with the quality of the people we met there," says COO Tony Shepherd. " Ultimately our investment is in people because they are the ones who service our clients. There was something different about that community that was real and very charming."
In December, the agency moved into 3,000-square-feet at 519 Ada Drive, a new mixed-used development. Along with the office came six new West Michigan jobs—an office management position and five travel agent positions.
"We're hopeful we'll be creating even more jobs," Shepherd says. "Typically our offices grow quite rapidly. We've never closed an office; once they've opened, all of our offices have grown. We've never had a year with a reduction in employees or sales."
Some 75 percent of the company's business comes from corporate clients. Leisure travel groups, conferences, and individual travelers generate the rest of the agency's revenue.
"We feel good about the decision to open an office in Michigan," Shepherd says. "West Michigan is a bottomless well of opportunity for us."
Source: Tony Shepherd, Protravel International Incorporated; Christie Roels-Koenes, Protravel International Incorporated
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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