During the COVID-19 crisis, the Michigan Fitness Club Association has several objectives.
Join us and see what can be accomplished when you get an impassioned team to focus on change.
Having accurate information about our industry published and shared is extremely important.
We have partnered with state and local officials to establish safe and effective reopening standards and guidelines.
Seek federal and state aid and relief for the fitness industry, which has been severely impacted by the COVID19 outbreak.
Make it easy for all members of our community to join their local club, studio, or gym by advocating for membership dues as an approved pre-tax health benefit.
Bryan Rief is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of PF Michigan Group, which currently owns and operates 50 Planet Fitness franchise locations in metro Detroit, Grand Rapids, Bay City/Saginaw, MI, and Toledo, OH. Since its inception in 2007, Bryan has headed the company’s real estate, construction, business development, and marketing. His responsibilities include site selection, lease negotiation, construction and development as it relates to the company’s Area Development Agreement (ADA). In addition, Bryan currently serves as manager of the Planet Fitness Detroit DMA Marketing Co-op, which is a collective of Michigan-based Planet Fitness franchisees.
Bryan has over 28 years of experience in commercial real estate, having worked in both shopping center development and tenant representation for several high-end retailers. Prior to PF Michigan Group, he worked with Strategic Retail Advisors, managing store expansion plans for several national specialty retailers. He is a licensed real estate broker, long-standing member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Certified Leasing Specialist (CLS), and Certified Retail Property Executive (CRRP), a designation that reflects the highest standards in the commercial retail industry.
Alyssa Tushman is the co-founder of Burn Fitness LLC founded in 2010, there are three locations in the Metro Detroit area, averaging 15-20,000 square feet. Alyssa entered the industry after surviving advanced breast cancer at age 27 as a means of giving back and emphasizing the importance of health. Alyssa spent 10 years in the Recruiting business prior to founding Burn Fitness. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree from The University of Michigan. She also credits U of M for saving her life and actively fundraises for her oncologists today. Burn Fitness hosts its own breast cancer walk in October, engaging the community, its member base and turns all of its clubs PINK for that month to raise money for Rogel Cancer Center.
Edward A. Eickhoff is Chief Operating Officer for PFMG Development, LLC., a privately held real estate company. He is responsible for managing all facets of the company, including development, acquisition, leasing, construction, and overall operations of the business. Prior to joining PFMG Development, Mr. Eickhoff spent over 30 years at Ramco Gershenson Properties Trust, a premier national publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). During his tenure at Ramco Gershenson, Mr. Eickhoff held several executive level positions including Vice President of Leasing, Vice President Asset Management and finishing as Executive Vice President Development.
Throughout his career, Mr. Eickhoff has made volunteerism, especially government relations, a priority. At the national level, he has been on the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Economic Policy Subcommittee since January 2009 and has served as the chair since September of 2015. Additionally, in May 2017 he was appointed the ICSC Central Division Government Relations Chair and in May 2018 he was appointed to the ICSC PAC Board. At the state level, Mr. Eickhoff has been a member of the ICSC state committee since 1990 serving as State Director (1996-1997 and 2004-2006) and as Government Relations Chair (2013- 2016). Mr. Eickhoff was awarded the ICSC William M. Sulzbacher Government Relations Award in November 2013 and the ICSC Distinguished Service Award in May 2018. Mr. Eickhoff is also Chairman of the Oakland University Economics Department Board of Advisors, Treasurer of the Michigan Commercial Real Estate PAC, Secretary/Treasurer of the Michigan Fitness Club Association, Treasurer of Cabaret 313, a member of the Urban Land Institute and a member of the Michigan Association of Planners.
Mr. Eickhoff is a graduate of Oakland University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He maintains the Certified Retail Property Executive (CRX) and Certified Retail Leasing Specialist (CLS) designations with the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Donald A. Jordan is the owner of three F45 Training territories in Michigan and decided to open F45 after becoming a loyal customer overseas. Mr. Jordan was also the founder and Managing Director of Ocean Advisory & Consulting W.L.L., an investment advisory firm based in Doha, Qatar. Donald Jordan is currently a managing director with New York based Castle Placement, LLC, a FINRA regulated broker dealer. He is also directly involved in a wide array of investment banking and financial advisory activities including private equity, structured finance, real estate finance and funds management.
Mr. Jordan has arranged investments and financed transactions in Qatar from small transactions to one over $1.4 billion for a UK investor group.
Mr. Jordan served as Vice President and Senior Counsel of Comerica Incorporated and its bank subsidiary Comerica Bank. Mr. Jordan was responsible for a wide array of international legal activities for the bank holding company and its affiliates—Mr. Jordan provided business and legal advice in the areas of corporate finance, banking, syndications, loans, warrant enhancements, workout/restructurings, tax planning, utilization of government guarantee programs, captive insurance, regulatory compliance, litigation management and other areas.
Today, Donald Jordan’s activities involve a wide array of cross-border of private equity and real estate investment transactions mainly between the United States and Middle East, with a focus on Qatar.
Donald Jordan is a passionate supporter of three charitable organizations:
Wells Bring Hope, financing the development of water wells and purification systems across Africa, Zaman International, a Michigan based charity helping to support women and children at risk as well as refugees; and Kiva, a peer to peer lending organization of which Mr. Jordan is in the top 1% of lenders and focuses on water, supporting women entrepreneurs and people in conflict zones.
Henry William Dabish is the CEO/Member of Powerhouse Gyms International, which was founded in 1974 by his father William and his uncle Norman in Highland Park, MI.
Henry began working at Powerhouse Gym at the age of 16 years old. He wanted to learn all facets of the gym business and elected to begin in the role of janitorial/clean up before moving to front desk, sales, bookkeeping, management and then ownership.
While working, Henry graduated with highest honors of Summa Cum Laude from Wayne State University with a Bachelor's degree in corporate finance.
In 2003 Henry began working with Powerhouse Gyms International. He has assisted individual entrepreneurs in opening gyms domestically and has helped expand the brand into China, Russia, Qatar, India, Australia, Egypt, and the UAE.
He works closely with his dad and brothers in continually growing the Powerhouse Gym brand worldwide and growing the corporate owned gym presence in Michigan and Florida.
His passion is providing a results orientated gym environment to his members, while helping them reach their goals.
Henry is married with three children. He enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, and traveling.
Company bio:
Powerhouse Gyms International is a growing fitness business involved in licensing the “Powerhouse” trademarks in use on fitness facilities, merchandise, equipment, and clothing. Powerhouse Gym is a licensing organization in the US and utilizes master territory developers internationally, which allows its licensees to utilize their own entrepreneurial spirit in their health clubs.
Thomas E. Purther is a principal and CEO of Cambridge Investors. Purther is also CEO of Cambridge Fitness, LLC, an area developer and franchisee of Planet Fitness Health clubs throughout Michigan and Ohio. Mr. Purther was also the co-founder, director and CEO of Paramount Bancorp, Inc., a two bank holding company that owned and managed Paramount Bank of Michigan and Paramount Bank of Nevada. Mr. Purther also served as chairman of the board of both banks. Mr. Purther grew the banks from zero assets to in excess of $500 million in assets and annual revenues in excess of $50 million. Paramount Bank also consistently generated loan volume in excess of $500 million per year.
Mr. Purther also serves as a director and secretary of Keyco Bond Fund, Inc, a Michigan-based mutual fund. Mr. Purther was also a co-founder of Key Homes, a builder of affordable single family homes throughout metro Detroit that had sales in excess of $25 million per year when it was sold in 2004. Mr. Purther is also a founder and former CEO of Global Commercial Credit, the premier specialty broker of domestic and export credit insurance.
Mr. Purther also founded and manages Key Partners LLC, an owner of retail centers, manufactured housing communities and industrial real estate throughout the Midwest and Western United States.
Michael William Dabish is the Owner/President of multiple Powerhouse Gym locations in Michigan and Florida. Powerhouse Gym was founded in 1974 by his father William and his uncle Norman in Highland Park, MI.
Michael attended Michigan State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance. His intention and passion were always in the fitness industry and wanted to continue in his father’s footsteps. After graduation in 2009 Michael began working at Powerhouse Gym and learned all facets of the gym business, but his enjoyment and passion was in club operations.
Michael’s specific role and strength was in club operations. He has helped streamline and enhance Powerhouse Gyms standard operating procedures to help increase profit margins, while opening more clubs in both Michigan and Florida. In 2016 Michael
joined the Rex Roundtable for Executives, which has helped him gain more knowledge in every aspect of the fitness industry. He meets 3 times a year with other club owners nationwide sharing best practices and resources from both inside and outside the fitness industry. Michael has implemented revenue growth strategies in his Powerhouse Gym locations that have been shared with Powerhouse Gyms throughout the country.
Michael works closely with his dad and brothers in continually growing the Powerhouse Gym brand worldwide and growing the corporate owned gym presence in Michigan and Florida.
Michael is married with two boys ages 4 and 2. They are also expecting their third child in December 2020. He enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, and traveling.
Mark DuFresne is the co-founder and creator of Burn Fitness LLC, which currently has three locations in the metro Detroit area.
He is responsible for developing and overseeing all in house systems, including employee development, company culture, sales & marketing and overall operations of the day to day business.
Mark started working in the fitness industry at 19 years old and in a few short years learned the ins and outs of the industry by doing everything from cleaning toilets, operating front desk, opening/closing clubs to sales, marketing and management.
These years allowed Mark to build character, absorb the full scope of the business model and gain the understanding of what it takes to succeed.
Often referred to as the guy you call when “the guy” can’t get the job done, Mark’s ring of resources and creative abilities have allowed him to help people of all ages make their dreams become a reality.
It was these gifts and the love of human behavior that motivated him to start an underground personal development firm called UtilizeU.
UtilizeU is a “by invite only” firm that helps elevate companies and humans into becoming the best version of themselves while assisting them in making their dreams come true. Whether it’s an event, a campaign, a website, a business, a logo, or even mentorship, UtilizeU has what you need to succeed.
Between 2010 and present, Mark and his UtilizeU team have inspired, developed, and helped a number of successful entrepreneurs get their business started all of which are still successfully in business today.
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