Join us for the Saginaw Future 24th Annual Awards Luncheon, Celebrating 32 Economic Development Projects in 2015. Featured speaker is Matthew P. Cullen, President and CEO of Rock Ventures LLC
Cost: $45 per person
RSVP to Lisa Dobbins at 989-757-2115 or ldobbins@saginawfuture.com
About Matthew Cullen
Matthew P. Cullen is president and chief executive officer of Rock Ventures LLC, the umbrella entity formed to provide operational coordination, guidance, and integration to Dan Gilbert’s portfolio of more than 110 companies and investments. Cullen is also responsible for Rock Ventures’ efforts to spark development and revitalization in the City of Detroit, which includes Quicken Loans’ national headquarters move to the city in 2010. Since then, Cullen has managed the investment in and redevelopment of more than $1.8 billion in real estate in Detroit’s Central Business District, which has been a catalyst for attracting new businesses, workers and residents to the city.
In addition, Cullen is chief executive officer of Rock Gaming LLC, a Detroit-based urban gaming company focused on the development of gaming facilities that are designed to maximize connectivity and economic impact in the local areas where they reside. The portfolio of gaming and entertainment offerings includes Horseshoe Cleveland, The Ritz-Carlton Cleveland, Horseshoe Cincinnati, Horseshoe Baltimore and Greektown Casino-Hotel in Detroit. Other properties include thoroughbred racetracks ThistleDown Racino in North Randall, Ohio and Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky.
Rock Gaming is also a partner in Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc., the largest online, mobile and social gaming company focused on casino entertainment.
Cullen is a 29-year veteran of General Motors (GM), where he was general manager of economic development and enterprise services. In addition to coordinating economic development initiatives in the communities in which GM operates, he created a shared services organization and had responsibility for the corporation’s vast 450 million sq. ft. global real estate portfolio.
Cullen was chief architect of GM’s $500 million acquisition and development of the Renaissance Center as the automaker’s global headquarters. Since 2003 he has helped oversee the billion dollar redevelopment of the city’s international riverfront as the founding chairman of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, whose vision is to create more than five miles of contiguous public access and linked parks along the river.
He also serves as volunteer president and CEO of the M-1 RAIL Streetcar initiative. The 6.6 mile streetcar route will connect the city’s largest cultural destinations, educational and entertainment facilities and employment centers along Woodward Avenue. Through a public-private partnership, M-1 RAIL will also serve as a catalyst for investment, economic development and urban renewal to positively impact Detroit while helping to create a modern, regional transit system.
In addition, Cullen is the chairman of Invest Detroit; vice chairman of the Downtown Detroit Partnership; and serves on the Detroit Zoological Society executive committee. He is also a board member of Bizdom, Detroit Regional Chamber, Hudson-Webber Foundation, St. Johns Health Foundation, and Tech Town, and a trustee of the College of Creative Studies and Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan. He has previously chaired the Metropolitan Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Parade Company and the Metropolitan Detroit YMCA, and retains current executive committee membership with all three organizations. For more than 10 years, Cullen served as the governor-appointed chairman of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) executive committee.
Cullen earned a degree in economics from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Detroit Mercy. He also completed the Senior Executive Program at Harvard University. A native Detroiter, he resides with his wife Karen and their three sons in the Detroit area.