Matthew P. Cullen is president and chief operating officer of Rock Ventures LLC, an umbrella entity formed to provide operational coordination, guidance, and integration for Dan Gilbert’s portfolio of companies and investments. Cullen also has responsibility for Gilbert’s “Detroit 2.0” initiative, which is an effort to spark development in downtown Detroit and includes moving Quicken Loans national headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010.
Cullen was appointed to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Committee in 2000 and currently serves as chair.
Cullen was 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.
A native Detroiter, Cullen was chief architect of GM’s $500 million acquisition and development of the Renaissance Center as GM’s global headquarters, and the billion dollar redevelopment of the Detroit Riverfront. He also is founding chairman of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy.
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.
Cullen serves as volunteer CEO of the M1-RAIL light rail line initiative that will be the foundation of a Southeast Michigan regional transit system. The 3.4 mile light rail line along Woodward Avenue will connect Detroit’s largest cultural, entertainment and employment centers and drive economic development for a stronger city. It will be the catalyst for a broader regional transit system that will make the Detroit area more globally competitive by fostering new investment and helping retain and attract top talent.
Cullen also serves as chairman of Invest Detroit and the Metropolitan Detroit YMCA; vice chairman of Downtown Detroit Partnership; former chairman of the Metropolitan Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau and The Parade Company; and is on numerous charitable and educational boards.
He resides with his wife Karen and their three sons in metro Detroit.