– ‘What If?’ Float Celebrates Culture and Creativity at Quicken Loans –
DETROIT – November 19, 2012 – Quicken Loans unveiled its new ‘What If?’ float today at noon outside of its downtown Detroit headquarters in the Compuware Building. The float, celebrating Quicken Loans’ culture and creativity, will appear in America’s Thanksgiving Parade® on November 22, 2012. The float was designed in partnership with Quicken Loans and built by The Parade Company.
Jay Farner, President and Chief Marketing Officer of Quicken Loans, was joined by hundreds of Quicken Loans team members and Tony Michaels, President & CEO of The Parade Company, for the unveiling. Paul W. Smith of News/Talk 760 WJR was on hand as emcee along with a parade of the famous Detroit papier-mâché “Big Heads” and the All City Marching Band.
America’s Thanksgiving ParadeÒ, an 86-year tradition produced by The Parade Company, steps-off at Woodward Avenue and Mack on Thanksgiving at 9:05 a.m. Recently recognized as one of the best Thanksgiving parades in the country by U.S, News & World Report Travel, America’s Thanksgiving ParadeÒ marches by some of Detroit’s most notable landmarks including the Fox Theatre, Comerica Park and the M@dison Building.
“‘What if?’ represents the 6,500 Quicken Loans & Rock Ventures team members thinking, creating, building and playing in downtown Detroit – committed to developing a dynamic urban core and helping reinvent a great American city,” said Dan Gilbert, Founder and Chairman of Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans.
The 17-foot tall and 60-foot long float features a larger than life tree house where kids imagine the next great idea. Other design elements include “amazing” ideas like a bicycle that flies, a tree that rakes its own leaves, a garden that grows its own light bulbs and a lemonade production line from tree to glass.
“Quicken Loans is an amazing partner and sponsor of The Parade Company, and its new float will be a signature piece in this year’s America’s Thanksgiving ParadeÒ,” said Michaels. “Quicken Loans is a remarkable asset to our city and region and we are very fortunate for all they do for Detroit.”
The two-hour parade starts at 9:05 a.m. and will be featured on WDIV-TV Local 4, including a one-hour national broadcast reaching more than 140 major cities across the country. News/Talk 760 WJR will also broadcast live from the event.
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About Quicken Loans
Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. is the nation’s largest online home lender and fourth largest retail lender. The company closed a record $30 billion in retail home loan volume across all 50 states in 2011 and is on track to close approximately $70 billion in 2012. Quicken Loans generates loan production from five web centers located in Detroit, Ohio and Arizona. The company also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit, as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. Quicken Loans ranked #1 in customer satisfaction among all home mortgage lenders in the United States by J.D. Power and Associates in 2010, 2011 and 2012. “QuickenLoans.com” has been named “Best of the Web” by Forbes and Money magazines. The company ranked in the top 10 of FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2012 and has placed among the top 30 companies on FORTUNE’s list for the past nine years. It ranked in the top 15 of Computerworld magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work In Technology” for eight years in a row, ranking in the top 5 in 2012. The company has moved its headquarters and more than 6,500 of its 8,000 plus team members to downtown Detroit. For more information about Quicken Loans, please visit us on the web at www.quickenloans.com, on Twitter at @QLnews, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/QuickenLoans.
About The Parade Company
Founded in 1984, The Parade Company is a not-for-profit organization governed by the Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation whose board of directors is comprised of key civic and corporate leaders in the greater Detroit region. The Parade Company is celebrating 86 years of Parade tradition in Detroit, which is broadcasted to over 140 markets and cities nationwide. The mission is to fund, create and execute the best family events in metro Detroit. The Parade Company staff, the board of directors and thousands of parade volunteers work year-round to bring a wide variety of magnificent events to the City of Detroit, each year, including the Target Fireworks, Fifth Third Turkey Trot and America’s Thanksgiving Parade®. Visit www.theparade.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
