There was a time when Grand Rapids was simply one of many cities and towns scattered throughout the west side of Michigan. Despite a great location along the Grand River, a steady stream of college graduates bringing new knowledge and fresh perspectives to the job market and plenty of room to grow, something essential was missing: a vision for what Grand Rapids would become and the fearless motivation required to get there.

Think back two decades to the 1990s when families still assembled in living rooms every Thursday night for airings of ER, Friends and Seinfeld. The same decade in which one million men marched on Washington and Sparky Anderson was still a Tiger. Grand Rapids was a different city then, and West Michigan was a blank canvas. When did the change come, and where did it come from? Who lit the spark? While many people recognized the potential of West Michigan and knew the opportunity for change existed, three men stepped forward to lead the way.

Every company experiences growing pains before a stride is found and the rhythm for success is established. Starting your own company is no small task and, in many ways, parallels raising new life — it takes the investment of heart and soul. Embarking on such a journey is not for the faint of heart, as Paramount Properties founders Tom DeBoer, Bill Bowling and Jack Buchanan Sr. discovered when they opened the commercial real estate firm in 1995.

As with most great companies, the beginnings were humble; however, Paramount’s great differentiator was its ability to recognize the untapped potential of West Michigan and use it as the vision to reinvent the region. By offering specialized services and eventually affiliating with Grubb & Ellis to form Grubb & Ellis | Paramount, the company gained momentum and pieces of the puzzle began to form something new.

Culture as a Key for Success

Soon after, key players Duke Suwyn and Kris DePree joined the team — Suwyn coming on as an industrial expert and ultimately the firm’s president and CEO and DePree spearheading the market in Holland. In 2006, Grubb & Ellis | Paramount merged with Commerce Realty, founded by Ray Kisor, to form Grubb & Ellis | Paramount Commerce. Positive momentum and growth carried the company for 10 years and established the foundation upon which the West Michigan we live, work and play in today was built.

And then 2008 came around and with it the economic downturn. Every company in the nation was struggling during this time; Grubb & Ellis | Paramount Commerce (GEPC) was no exception. As the raising and caring for a business and a life run parallel, this hardship served as the company’s first learning experience — bittersweet and humbling. Unlike other firms at the time, GEPC had spent 10 years developing a culture built to withstand and navigate the inevitable changes such pitfalls can (and do) bring — a culture that could take a beating and come back with an unrivaled resilience.

Such a culture carried GEPC through the next stage in life when the company joined with Colliers International in 2010, bringing the first Colliers office to the region. Despite re-branding, the resiliency established so many years ago as Paramount Properties continues to serve as the foundation for a flourishing Colliers International | West Michigan today. Our culture is, without a doubt, our key to success. It defines the way we interact with our clients and colleagues and is upheld by integrity, ethics and empathy — three principles Grand Rapids has been blessed with abundantly.

With our 20th anniversary approaching this October, we are now living in the vision three men shared. With the knowledge and guidance of the experienced, we don’t anticipate slowing down anytime soon. From our perch on the twelfth floor of Bridgewater Place, the view alone is evidence enough — we have so much to be proud of and even more to be thankful for. We’re glad we’ve been able to share it with you, Grand Rapids.

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