Bob Kernen landed as the new COO of jacAPPS last summer, and has worked to grow the mobile app company since then. But getting him to join the Bingham Farms-based firm didn't happen as quickly.
"I had been talking to Paul and Fred for a year and a half," Kernen says. "What they're doing is really exciting. Their reputations are platinum and they’re great to work with."
So it wasn't that tough of a decision when they approached Kernen, a Metro Detroit native, about coming back to the region to run
jacAPPS. Kernen had lived on both coasts and saw the growing tech economy that was changing Metro Detroit and wanted to be part of it.
The 4-year-old company specializes in making mobile apps for a variety of big players in different industries. It makes apps for radio stations, Ford and
McLaren Hospitals. That work has allowed jacAPPS to hire three people over the last year, including a software developer, a client services manager and Kernen.
"We're growing like crazy," Kernen says. "It's very exciting."
The company now has a staff of eight employees and one intern. It is looking to add another intern or two soon. The staff recently moved from Southfield to a a 5,000-square-foot office in Bingham Farms.
Source: Bob Kernen, COO of jacAPPS
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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