KENTWOOD, MI — The Duravent Group hosted a ribbon cutting Friday for a new office in Kentwood, dubbed the Grand Rapids Innovation Center, that will house the heating, ventilation and air conditioning company’s research and development workers and other operations.
Simon Davis, the company’s president and CEO, said the work that will be done in the new space, located in an office park west of Gerald R. Ford International Airport, will help shape the future of his company.
“Duravent is committed to a strong presence in Michigan as demonstrated by our new innovation center in Grand Rapids, and an expanding headquarters in downtown Detroit,” he said. “Our ability to innovate, lead and grow in the HVAC and emerging climate technology categories is largely the result of leveraging the deep engineering talent Michigan has to offer.”
The Duravent Group’s presence in Grand Rapids dates to October 2021, when it announced it had purchased Hart & Cooley. The century-old company, based in Grand Rapids, manufactures heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment for the residential and commercial market.
Davis said the new location shows his company’s commitment to investing in Grand Rapids following the purchase of Hart & Cooley.
“By doing this, we showed we were going to invest in this business, we showed the importance of the business,” Davis said. “It’s really helped put the culture together as a winning team, and people have really rallied behind the new company, rallied behind what we’re doing.”
Duravent invested about $1 million in its new office, 4460 44th St. SE. That investment covered the building’s lease as well as upgrades to the building, Davis said. About 39 people will work there full-time, in jobs including engineering, research and development, as well as finance, customer service and more.
It has a total of 150 full- and part-time workers in Grand Rapids. Roughly 30 of those workers will come into the new office part-time, while the other employees, who work primarily in customer service, work remotely, Davis said.
Companywide, Duravent employs about 2,700 people. While it’s headquartered in Detroit, the majority of its workers are spread among 15 facilities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. It sells its products under 13 brands, and its revenue exceeds $500 million annually, according to a press release.
Friday’s ribbon cutting was attended by company employees as well as Kentwood Mayor Stephen Kepley and U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township.
Meijer, speaking after the ribbon cutting, said he was pleased to see Duravent’s investment in West Michigan.
“It’s great to see not only the opportunities this center of excellence will create but the vote of confidence it represents in the talent and engineering capacity here in West Michigan,” he said.
Prior to opening the new office, Duravent’s Grand Rapids workers were in another nearby facility, Davis said. He said that office was larger than what it needed, and “didn’t meet the needs of the modern world.”
“We have a third hybrid, a third full time, and a third don’t come to the office at all,” he said. “So we totally revamped the model. We did surveys with the team — ‘Who wants to do what?’ And then came up with this concept here.”
Inside the facility, research and development workers will focus on creating the products that customers want to see in their heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment.
That not only means HVAC systems that are easier to install, but that perform other tasks as well, said Scott Schindlbeck, Duravent’s executive vice president of sales and marketing.
“We have this air that’s in our product, air moving through our system, why is that all we do,” he said.
“Why can’t we measure that air for certain things? Why can’t we start controlling that air? Why can’t we start filtering that air? Why can’t we become a company, which we’re doing right now, that makes air safer versus just making air more comfortable.”
He said the need for clean, uncontaminated air was made more important by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s a strong demand not only in our homes, but where we work, where our children learn, where we go out on a weekend and enjoy ourselves,” he said. “Wherever you are, you’re much more concerned about the air you’re breathing.”
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