Blvd Suites' Shelly Bishop Named to DRRC Board of Directors

Oak Park, Mich. (Nov. 11, 2009) –- Shelly Bishop. Director of Sales for Blvd Suites Corporate Housing, a provider of fully furnished temporary housing, has been elected to the Board of Directors for the Detroit Regional Relocation Council (DRRC).

As a member of the board, Bishop will assert her vast experience in the hospitality industry toward the DRRC’s mission of providing corporate human resources and service managers the tools to effectively address the complex issue of domestic and international relocations. In addition, the council strives to facilitate a forum for council members to share best practices.

"I am honored and excited at the opportunity to serve on the DRRC board for this upcoming term,” says Bishop. “The organization has provided me some wonderful friendships and opportunities and I look forward to making a contribution to Detroit's mobile workforce."

David Foess, VP Sales of Relocation America has known Bishop for many years. “Shelly is a tireless worker and has served on many of the DRRC committees. Her industry knowledge, along with her problem solving skills will help us tremendously,” says Foess.

Bishop will serve a one-year term on the board.

About Blvd Suites, Inc.
Blvd Suites, Inc. is a national provider of fully furnished temporary housing. Established in 2003, the company is based in Metro Detroit, with satellite offices in Grand Rapids, Mich., northern Indiana and central Ohio.

The company was named Company Member of the Year (less than 300 units) by the Corporate Housing Providers Association in 2009, and was a finalist for the award in both 2007 and 2008.

About the Detroit Regional Relocation Council
Recognized as a regional group by Worldwide ERC (Employee Relocation Council), Detroit Regional Relocation Council (DRRC) is a professional organization providing a forum for sharing the latest information and resources available in the corporate mobility arena. Focusing on the needs of its members, DRRC's goal is to give corporate human resource managers and service providers the tools to effectively address the complex issue of domestic and international relocations.

Blvd Suites Nationwide Corporate Housing Introduces Sales Executive Shannon McMahon

-- Industry veteran to help grow Metro Detroit market --

Oak Park, Mich. (August 26, 2009) – Blvd Suites Nationwide Corporate Housing, one of the largest providers of fully furnished, temporary apartments in Michigan, is pleased to announce the addition of Shannon McMahon as the newest sales executive on the team.

McMahon brings experience both deep and broad to Blvd Suites, having spent more than a decade working in relocation and furniture rental, two business lines that heavily intersect with and support the corporate housing industry.

“We know Shannon will be an effective member of our team because of her extensive background in the various facets of temporary and corporate housing,” says Jeff Hurley, CEO of Blvd Suites, Inc. “McMahon has a thorough understanding of how the business works and has already begun making contributions.”

“I’m excited to be a part of a growing company and look forward to contributing to that growth,” says McMahon.

McMahon will be responsible for increasing corporate relocation and short-term housing accounts in the Metro Detroit market while maintaining rapport with current clients and partners.

She remains active in the Detroit Regional Relocation Council, having previously sat on the Board of Directors for the Detroit Regional Relocation Council, including serving as a vice president.

About Blvd Suites
Blvd Suites, Inc. is a national provider of fully furnished temporary housing. Established in 2003, the company is based in Metro Detroit, with satellite offices in Grand Rapids and Petoskey, Mich., as well as northwest Indiana.

The company was named Company Member of the Year (less than 300 units) by the Corporate Housing Providers Association in 2009, and was a finalist for the award in both 2007 and 2008.

Blvd Suites can be found online at www.BlvdSuites.com.

Blvd Suites Nationwide Corporate Housing named 2009 Company Member of the Year

-- Tower of Excellence Award recognizes leadership, hard work and professionalism that has strengthened the association and the corporate housing industry –-

March 2, 2009 (Oak Park, Mich.) – Blvd Suites Nationwide Corporate Housing, a Metro Detroit-based company, has been named the Company Member of the Year, the most prestigious award given by the Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA). The award was presented on Feb. 26 at the association’s Tower of Excellence Awards Dinner, held during its annual conference.

The Tower of Excellence award for Company Member of the Year recognizes corporate housing providers that demonstrate commitment to excellence in the industry through their hard work, leadership and professionalism. Blvd Suites received the annual award for companies that average less than 300 rented apartments per month.

“All of us at Blvd Suites are amazed, humbled and honored by this incredible recognition,” said Jeff Hurley, who founded the company in 2003 and serves as chief executive officer. “But this award is really all about our people. Our team works extremely hard every day to place an unwavering focus on customer service and quality. I am so proud of them. Our people earned this award and I cannot thank them enough.”

CHPA also awards annual Tower of Excellence awards for Company Member
of the Year (more than 300 units division), as well as Individual Member of the Year, Most Creative Marketing, Best Community/Philanthropic Program and CHPA Volunteer of the Year.

“Every company in our industry offers roughly the same furnished apartments with similar furnishings. Ultimately it comes down to providing unsurpassed quality and service, which are key components of our culture. We have rigorous systems in place that measure more than 200 points of quality control from the moment we initially make
contact with a client until after they move out of one of our furnished apartments,” said Hurley.

“It’s not just about systems and checklists though. Our people take tremendous pride in the caliber of service and quality our clients associate with our brand. We believe that’s what sets us apart,” he added.

Companies nominated for a Tower of Excellence award are evaluated by a panel of judges consisting of executives not connected professionally with CHPA. Judges look at criteria such as contributions to the corporate housing industry (locally, nationally or internationally), participation in CHPA, philanthropic efforts, examples of collaborative relationships with other member companies, and a history of strengths and successes (i.e. financial and/or volume growth).

Blvd Suites participates in local CHPA events and has lead roundtable discussions at the organization’s annual conference. In 2008, Hurley was asked to join the CHPA Board of Directors, and has since participated in various panel discussions.

Economic difficulties have required many companies to make budget cutbacks. In response, Blvd Suites made nominal contributions to some of its vendor partners in order to enhance their annual holiday parties. The company has also expanded its philanthropic efforts by contributing previously rented furniture to the Salvation Army.

Blvd Suites has not been immune to a slowing economy, however. Being based in Michigan, which has been in a recession for nearly a decade, the company utilized prudent forecasting and cost disciplines in 2008 with the goal of maintaining revenue levels reached in 2007. As a result, the company grew year-over-year revenues by one percent, continuing its trend of annual growth since it was established in 2003.

“It sounds insignificant, but considering everything going on in the economy, we celebrated that one percent with great enthusiasm when we announced it at our annual holiday party,” Hurley said. “That success has to be attributed to the commitment to excellence our people continually demonstrate.”

Training is another element of the Blvd Suites culture. The entire sales and leadership team meet every other week with a nationally respected coach in the industry to discuss challenges, share ideas and work toward always improving the value and delivery of the services the company provides.

“We’re a team of professionals who share a commitment to our culture of service, quality and communication,” says Hurley. “Every day, in every thing we do, we are asking ourselves what else we could be doing to not only grow our business, but raise the level of respect our clients and our partners in the industry have for us, and strengthen
our relationships with them.”

“This recognition validates everything we have done and will continue to do to meet those goals,” Hurley added.

About Blvd Suites, Inc.
Blvd Suites, Inc. is a national provider of fully furnished temporary housing. Established in 2003, the company is based in Metro Detroit, with satellite offices in Grand Rapids and northern Indiana.

The company was named Company Member of the Year (less than 300 units) by the Corporate Housing Providers Association in 2009, and was a finalist for the award in both 2007 and 2008.

CORPORATE HOUSING PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION PRESENTS 2009 INDUSTRY AWARDS

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – March 9, 2009 – The Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA), an international organization representing corporate housing companies around the globe, presented their eighth annual industry awards to nine outstanding individuals and companies on February 26, 2009. The awards event capped a two and a half day conference featuring education sessions, networking opportunities and an exhibition hall.

The Tower of Excellence Company of the Year Award honors companies that excel in the corporate housing business, demonstrate outstanding financial results, exceed guest service standards, and make significant contributions to the corporate housing industry in the national, regional and local areas. BLVD Suites, Inc. was announced the winner for the company with less than 300 units. Located in an area with a decade-old recession, the company experienced growth in 2008, despite all economic challenges. BLVD Suites, Inc. is located in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. SuiteAmerica won the Company of the Year Award for a company with more than 300 units. SuiteAmerica saw improvements in 2008 such as energy efficient equipment and processes in two major warehouses, consolidated reservations and customer service centers, and a new inventory management position. SuiteAmerica serves nationwide and is headquartered in El Dorado Hills, California.

The Associate Partner Member of the Year award recognizes an outstanding associate member company who has shown commitment and excellence in the corporate housing business as a partner to providers and to CHPA. This year’s honoree, AFR Furniture Rental has won for the second consecutive year and is known for their commitment to customer service. They provide rental furnishings to the corporate housing industry and service the east coast from New England to North Carolina.

CHPA’s Individual Member of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding employee, executive or owner demonstrating commitment and excellence within their company and to the entire corporate housing industry. Melissa Baker, CCHP of Priority Corporate Housing was named Individual of the Year for a company with less than 300 units. Baker is known for treating customers fairly and working as a partner with associate members. Marelyn Krueger of BridgeStreet Worldwide received the award for Individual of the Year for a company with more than 300 units. Krueger ensures that BridgeStreet Worldwide’s largest clients receive the highest level of service across the globe. An important part of the company’s expansion, she was involved in the opening of their Global Solution Center in Singapore.

The Tower of Excellence Award for Most Creative Marketing recognizes an outstanding marketing concept that greatly impacted corporate housing in the past year. The award recognizing a company with less than 300 units was awarded to ExecNet Properties. Redesigning their website resulted in increasing their traffic by 23% in just one month. CitiSuites was honored with the award for more than 300 units because the company is launching its own guest magazine for the industry in their market, called Suite Life 101.

To honor the companies that dedicate their time to serving their communities, CHPA awards a company with the Best Community Philanthropic Award. The 2009 winner was CWS Corporate Housing. Their company goal is for every employee to dedicate at least 12 hours of community service annually, for which the associate earns $10 per hour toward the charity of their choice. They have achieved a 98% company-wide participation rate. A wide variety of communities have benefited from the company’s generosity -- from improving a school and treatment facility for troubled children in Denton, TX to providing food for more than 14,000 people per month in their Canadian market.

CHPA also honors an individual who has given generously of their time and efforts to CHPA. The Volunteer of the Year Award honors their professionalism, commitment and hours of volunteer time to make a difference in the Association. Marilyn Kempter, CCHP, of ABODA was award the Volunteer of the Year Award because she has been instrumental as part of the team that created CHPA’s Certified Corporate Housing Professional (CCHP) Certification and has served as the Education Committee Chair for the past two years. She has also helped develop the Association’s webinar educational series and advised on curriculum.









The Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA) is the only trade association dedicated to the corporate housing industry. As the industry continually evolves, members gain insight and resources on how to stay competitive through their involvement with CHPA. CHPA, as the voice of the corporate housing industry, offers networking, educational and informational opportunities to corporate housing providers around the world. At its annual meeting, CHPA recognized nine corporate housing companies and individuals for their outstanding contributions to the industry.

USA Today: Employers increasingly using corporate housing to relocate employees

USA Today

Employers pay more to relocate workers

January 21, 2008

By Stephanie Armour

In what some analysts are calling the worst housing slump since the Great Depression, employers are paying more to get reluctant employees and new hires to sell their homes and relocate for work.

Employees are more reluctant to move because they worry about their ability to sell their homes without taking a loss.

Fourteen percent of employers say they're more willing to pay to relocate new employees from another area to their company's location this year compared with last year, according to a joint survey by CareerBuilder.com and Apartments.com, and conducted by Harris Interactive.

The survey included 2,417 hiring managers and 5,727 employees, and had a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

"What's going on in the housing market is causing an increasing reluctance for candidates to consider relocating," says Sally Stetson, co-founder of Salveson Stetson Group, a Philadelphia executive search firm. "Employers are much more willing to extend corporate housing on a month-to-month basis."

When asked how much they'd be willing to spend to relocate an employee, 40% say more than $1,000. One-third is willing to spend more than $2,500, and one in 10 is willing to spend more than $10,000.

What employers are doing:

•Extending temporary housing. Employers are extending temporary housing allowances from two to three months to up to eight months, an indicator of how hard it is today for relocating employees to sell their homes.

•Purchasing employees' homes. Larger companies in some cases will buy the new employee's home as a buyer of last resort. Home Depot (HD), for example, will buy a relocating employee's residence once it's been on the market for 90 days.

In a different approach, some companies offer to subsidize part of a relocating employee's cost of renting a home in a new location.

"Companies know it's a tough time, and they're willing to make it attractive" to relocating employees, says Karen McRae, a vice president at Jenny Pruitt & Associates, an Atlanta real estate firm.

•Letting employees long-distance commute. Some companies will let a new hire or employee who can't relocate work remotely, or let them commute long distances, going to the main office less frequently.

IBM (IBM) has a large virtual workforce, which helps employees in today's market because they can often have the flexibility to work where and when they want. Forty percent of IBM's global population of 355,000 works from a remote location — about 50,000 in the USA, up from 10,000 in 1995.

Employees with families "can hit the ground running if they don't have to relocate," says Dan Pelino, IBM's general manager of global health care and life sciences. "You can find the best talent, independent of where they live."