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Quicken Loans Is America's No. 1 IT Workplace -- Again

DETROIT -- The title of 'Best Place to Work in IT' has returned to Detroit as Quicken Loans today announced it has earned the No. 1 ranking on Computerworld magazine's 2013 'Best Places to Work in IT' list.

This marks the fourth time Detroit-based Quicken Loans, the nation's largest online lender and third largest retail mortgage lender, has been named No. 1 in the benchmark employee survey, and the ninth straight year the company has appeared on the Top 100 list.

Also, Southfield-based hosting and IT services provider Secure-24 was named to the Top 100 list for the first time.

Computerworld's '100 Best Places to Work in IT' list is determined through a comprehensive team member survey focusing on the company's core culture, including benefits, diversity, career development, training and retention. In addition, Computerworld conducts an employer questionnaire to determine the company's goals and opinions on its culture. Other technology innovators appearing in the top-10 of this year's list include CareerBuilder, Qualcomm, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"We have built a company centered on technology and innovation, so earning the honor as the top place to work in IT is a real testament to our nearly 1,000 technology team members across the country," said Quicken Loans CEO Bill Emerson.  "We are a technology company that is amazingly good at writing mortgages.  Our success boils down to great culture and talented team members, it's that simple."

The Quicken Loans technology team helped the company close a record $70 billion in home loan volume in 2012, a 133 percent increase over the previous record of $30 billion set in 2011. This was done by expanding the company's platform capacity by 200 percent in just 45 days to handle a number of new business channels.

"Quicken Loans invests heavily in training for all of our team members to ensure they have the skills they need to grow personally and professionally," said Quicken Loans CIO Linglong He. "But we also empower our team to both innovate and create the processes and programs that will continue to drive the company's growth."

An example of the culture of innovation that is encouraged at Quicken Loans is 'Bullet Time,' a weekly four-hour period in which Quicken Loans technology team members can work on any personal project they want, even those outside the core business. 'Bullet Time' continues to churn out innovations that significantly help team members and the business itself, including a mobile app called QRide that allows team members to track shuttle routes and arrival times between their office and parking location.

Quicken Loans and its family of companies currently have more than 200 open technology positions. To learn more or apply, please visit www.quickenloanscareers.com.

Also named to the top 100 -- for the first time -- was Secure-24, a Southfield-based provider of IT operations, application outsourcing and cloud computing. Secure-24 ranked No. 57 on the list. For the past 12 years, Secure-24 has grown significantly, driven by the increased demand for managed IT operations, application hosting and cloud computing. Secure-24 key products and services include enterprise hosting, SAP hosting and cloud services, Oracle hosting and cloud services, Web application hosting, business application development and hosting, and compliance services. Secure-24 supports customers in growing industry segments, including manufacturing, technology, consumer goods, chemicals, financial services, government, construction, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and transportation.

With continued growth this year, Secure-24 is expanding its Metro Detroit-based headquarters and investing in more hosting space within a new data center outside of Las Vegas. The company also continues to recruit top talent in IT and business administration.

Secure-24 also has a training program that allows new team members to gain firsthand experiences by working directly with cutting edge technologies. Within a lab environment, employees have unrestricted access and real-world challenges to consistently improve their skills. This program is designed to bring out the best in their talents and to provide opportunities for advancement.

In addition to competitive compensation, benefits and training, Secure-24 employees enjoy holiday parties, picnics, tickets to sporting events, company sports teams (softball, flag football and hockey), happy hours, catered lunches, free Starbucks service, treadmill workstations, game rooms and free gym access. There also annual awards given to team members for outstanding performance.

In keeping with Secure-24 culture that values each team member's ideas and input,  everyone has direct access to senior management, which remains an important cornerstone of the organization.

More at www.secure24.com.

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