U-Haul Moving and Storage of New Center hosted a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony and community celebration last week on September 26, 2013.
The event started with a VIP thank you ceremony which included the City of Detroit Department of Planning and Development, Detroit Economic Growth Council, Midtown Inc., The Greening of Detroit, The Conservation Fund and the key construction vendors that worked tirelessly on the renovation.
David Ruff, president, U-Haul Company of Detroit, made it clear that, “U-Haul does not go to this extent with every new location we open. Detroit is a special place to us as we truly believe that without Detroit we wouldn’t be the company we are today. Detroit brought mobility to the world, which allowed U-Haul to Move America.”
Ruff, along with Tony Balcerzak, project coordinator for U-Haul, who managed the renovation of the building, awarded the key construction vendors and some of the guests with special plaques that displayed a U-Haul hubcap that came off of some of the first trailers made by U-Haul. As you can imagine, these hubcaps are very special and are considered to be like gold to U-Haul.
After the thank you ceremony the guests proceeded outside to attend the official community celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony.
Ruff started the ceremony by talking about how special this project was to himself and his team, as well as impacting the hearts of many U-Haul team members at the corporate office and throughout the United States.
“I can’t begin to describe just how intense this construction project was and how much it meant to us to be able to take this beautiful building and bring it back to life,” stated Ruff.
The process of renovating old buildings and revitalizing them is not new to U-Haul. It is the Company’s blueprint philosophy that has been used for more than 40 years.
Ruff described the partnership that U-Haul entered into with Wayne State University to research ways in which corporate economic development can contribute to community sustainability and how this study is meant to show the benefits to the environment, economy and resilience of a community.
Another partnership that was announced was the recent alliance with The Greening of Detroit, in conjunction with a partnership U-Haul has with The Conservation Fund which consists of planting 1,600 trees in Rouge Park. U-Haul also started relationships with Man in the City, Forgotten Harvest and D:Hive.
Anthony Jones, the General Manager of the new location was introduced to the community. Anthony is a Detroit resident and attending Wayne State University and studying Public Relations.
Ruff ended the ceremony by acknowledging how hard the U-Haul team worked on this project but that none of it would have been possible without some key community members and organizations: the City of Detroit Department of Planning and Development, Detroit Economic Growth Council and Sue Mosey, from Midtown, Inc.
Ruff then invited Sue Mosey to join him to cut the ribbon.
“We are proud of the New Center Detroit location and the impact it will have on our community,” Ruff ended the ceremony and invited the guests to enjoy catering by the Mac Shack and El Guapo food trucks. The event ended with guests enjoying tours of the building.
Hope you didn’t you miss out on this celebration!
– JoeyGirl
