GROWTH REPORT

Acquisitions

- Aurora Oil and Gas Corp. in Traverse City sold its interest in a facility in DeSoto Parish, La., to BEUSA Energy Inc. for $4.75 million.

- Oak Park-based Valenite LLC sold its Valenite Gaging Systems division to John Malane. The financial terms were not released.

- Livonia-based Williams Panel Brick Inc. acquired two Michigan retail locations in Canton and Utica from Fireside Hearth and Home.

Contracts

- The charter Township of Oxford selected Rochester Hills-based Giffels-Webster Engineers Inc. to provide engineering consulting services to its community.

- Philadelphia-based Forman Mills Clothing Factory Warehouse selected Farmington Hills-based Marx Layne and Co. as its public relations agency of record.

- Bingham Farms property management company Mark Jacobson and Associates selected Bingham Farms-based Qualitech to install Windows 2003 systems and its property management software.

- Ernest and Young selected JM Olson in St. Clair Shores to handle general contracting services for the 52,000-square-foot interior tenant-fit out project on the ninth and tenth floors of its new office building in downtown Detroit.

Expansions

- Professional services firm Alvarez and Marsal opened an office in the Bingham Center, 30800 Telegraph Road, Bingham Farms.

- T and C Federal Credit Union opened a branch at 55 W. Avon Road, Rochester Hills.

- Charlotte, N.C.-based specialty retailer Cato opened a store in the Garden City Town Center, 5856 Middlebelt Road, Garden City.

Moves

- Web services firm Awecomm Technologies moved from Southfield to a new office at 165 Kirts Blvd., Suite 400, Troy.

Openings

- Christine Uhl opened Accent Home Staging, which specializes in assisting homeowners prepare their houses to sell, at 2130 Rolling Rock Drive, Brighton. The phone number is 810-229-4297.

- Jeff Dickson opened JD's Seafood Express, a seafood distribution business at 30693 Banbury Court, Beverly Hills. The phone number is 248-320-7996.

Real Estate

- CB Richard Ellis in Southfield represented College Industrial Park Associates LP in leasing a 22,183-square-foot industrial space in the College Industrial Park, 28336 Hayes Road, Roseville, to A-1 Steel Inc.

- NAI Farbman in Southfield helped Reading, Pa.-based Penske Logistics lease 26,545 square feet of industrial property in Dearborn from Austin, Texas-based GMAC.

- West Bloomfield-based the Velmeir Companies broke ground on a new 12,000-square-foot CVS Pharmacy at Arkona and Dexter in Milan. It is scheduled to open in November.

The Web

- Attorney Bill Mitchell of the Mitchell Alliance in Southfield launched a new Web site at www.mitchellalliance.com.

- Clinton Township-based MiRealSource launched a new member Web portal at www.mirealsource.com/isp.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.