Michigan’s Own Spire Integrated Celebrates 20th Anniversary
PRESS RELEASE | AUG 31 | 2021
Customer Experience and Technology Experts, Spire Integrated, is celebrating 20 years in business, along with being named on Crain’s “Coolest Places to Work” for the 4th time.
The journey to a 20th Anniversary, like many businesses who have navigated the past two decades in the U.S., included everything from multiple economic downturns and big changes in market demands. But for a smart home technology specialist like Spire, the last 20 years have, at times, felt like a solo climb. This is an industry that revolves around a massive range of endlessly changing products, after all: giant screens, hidden screens, wireless speakers, invisible speakers, lighting control, security cameras, automated shading – the list goes on and on. A team like Spire must curate the selection, ensure everything works seamlessly together on day one, and then be available to support and maintain their systems for, well… forever really. In and around some of the country’s most beautiful properties. This is the same industry that, back in 2003, involved carrying TVs up narrow stairwells and helping clients understand early smart phones. The same industry that is now expected to triple in growth over the next 5 years… to more than $600 billion according to Fortune Business Insights™.
The team at Spire loves feeling that push and pull of their place on this timeline: celebrating how much they have accomplished while continuing to strategize their future. Founder Navot Shoresh has always been someone who knows how to keep your map on the table and figuring it all out as you go. A self-proclaimed “horrible student,” Shoresh became interested in the “efficiency” of technology while training with the Israeli Defense Forces. He’s been mesmerized by the ability to create and control technology ever since, immigrating to Michigan during the beautiful fall of 1994 and when faced with that first brutal winter, proudly deciding to stay.
Spire was founded in 2001 after Shoresh’s wife Betty Chu encouraged him to keep going in this emerging industry. She remained a driving force in pushing the company forward, alongside a growing client base of professionals and Detroit Red Wing players! Shoresh knew from the earliest years that half of the work was doing good work, and to make sure anything Spire touched was tidy and reliable. This also meant that as demand grew, Shoresh would need a strong and skilled team.
A small, 800 sq. ft. shared space with an architect became their first show room in 2004, and this allowed for the first big growth. For the first time, people could really see what it is Spire had become capable of, and the company doubled in size over the next three years. When the 2008 Financial Crisis hit, Shoresh didn’t panic. He and his team stayed right in Detroit, but taking jobs both in- and out-of-state, traveling quite far if need be. They also launched a program to take on anyone’s old system, selling the parts and putting those earnings toward a new system. This pivot and hustle, along with the willingness to take on jobs from Ohio to California, helped Spire ride out the recession.
Once again, the lessons learned from that time period informed all that came next for Spire. It’s summed up by one of Shoresh and partner Jason Bellanti’s favorite quotes, by author and speaker Vivian Greene: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” To them, this meant they needed to get out of survival mode and understand what makes companies thrive and withstand turbulent times. They renewed their focus on quality, reliable work and raised their own expectations for what a completed job should look like. Shoresh and Bellanti even started sending their team back to older projects, touching base with clients, fixing any tiny imperfection, creating detailed documentation as they went and officially setting a new Spire standard for all projects moving forward.
They also took a hard, tough look inward and rebuilt everything. Shoresh recalled his time in the military and remembered that “Special Ops” was never about the mission or the equipment, but about being around special people. He knew what he had to do and took his team from 25 down to 18 employees. They implemented a new hiring process that involved multiple interviews and going to dinner instead of just meeting in the office. They needed skill and experience, but also the right fit. They learned you hire for the culture, not just for the role.
Hence the multiple years of a very special kind of recognition: Crain’s “Coolest Places to Work” list. Spire now has three offices and two showrooms – an 8000 Sq. Ft. Experience Center at their main corporate office in Troy, Michigan, as well as “Spire North” in Traverse City and a brand new showroom opening in Bay Harbor later this year. But more important to Shoresh than this spatial and geographical growth is creating real, generational change. Four of Spire’s last five hires are women, and they are actively committed to increasing the diversity of their team. They are creating an environment where employees feel engaged and supported, safe and prosperous, and learn skills that transcend Spire itself.
“I hear a lot about work cultures built around ‘servant leadership.’ I’m personally not a big fan of that term. As a leader and owner of a company, your role is to add value to your employee’s life.”
