Gateway Is Growing
ISRAEL DIGEST
Rochelle Lieberman started in the travel business to get some part-time work.
Now she runs one of the Detroit area's biggest agencies.
PHOTO BY G LENN TRIEST
FRANKLIN DOHANYOS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
1994 is $10 million,
and Ms. Lieberman is
optimistic the compa-
ny will reach that fig-
ure.
The main South-
field office recently un-
derwent a renovation
and expansion which
added an in-house
travel bookstore, a
video library with des-
tination and cruise
tapes, a confer-
ence/meeting room for
travel planning be-
tween clients and
agents and a collection
of photography by
Norman Weiss from
around the world.
An incentive refer-
ral program, travel
gift certificates and a
bridal registry are oth-
er recent additions to
Gateway Travel's list
of services.
Ms. Lieberman, a
Bloomfield Township
resident, began her
career in travel work-
ing part-time for her
friend and mentor,
Jules Doneson, who
owns a Southfield
agency. Because of
her growing clientele,
the part-time position
Rochelle Lieberman is owner and president of
soon became full-time.
Gateway Travel.
"I started working
more and more," Ms.
ith her four children in Lieberman said. "Finally, I de-
school full-time, cided that if I'm going to work
Rochelle Lieberman this hard, I want it to be for me.
didn't want to "waste I appreciate everything Jules did
away." So after reading an ad- for me. I still remember and use
vertisement in a local newspaper, many of the things Jules taught
the former second-grade teacher me."
and avid traveler enrolled in a
four-month course at a travel
school to learn a new vocation.
"I thought it would be nice to
work part-time as a travel agent,"
Ms. Lieberman said.
From that modest goal, for-
mulated in 1980, has sprung one
of the Detroit area's biggest trav-
el agencies.
Ms. Lieberman is the owner
and president of Gateway Trav-
el, a company which has offices
on Northwestern Highway in
In 1985, Ms. Lieberman saw
Southfield and Corporate Drive an advertisement in the Wall
in Troy, more than 25 employees Street Journal offering a travel
and a corporate and leisure trav- agency for sale. She answered the
el client base of more than 3,000. ad and purch a sed the agency. In
Gateway Travel's sales goal for its first three years of operation,
W
Ms. Lieberman
has toured
Europe, Asia,
and North
and South
America.
Gateway's staff increased from
five to 12 and its annual revenue
doubled to $4 million.
Gateway moved from its orig-
inal location in Southfield into its
current spot in the city in 1988,
when annual sales exceeded the
company's goal of $5 million. The
Troy branch, which will undergo
an expansion in the near future,
opened in 1990. It is more corpo-
rate-oriented than the Southfield
office.
Ms. Lieberman, a certified
travel specialist, has toured Eu-
rope, Asia and North and South
America and been on more than
35 cruise ships. She often travels
with her husband, Art.
Continuing education about
the travel business and the ser-
vice provided by Gateway's staff
are among the keys to her
agency's success, Ms. Lieberman
believes.
"Education is a key in this
business and any business," she
said. "Also, my staff is very im-
portant. They're very loyal;
they're like a family to me. I con-
sider them my biggest asset."
One of Gateway's staff mem-
bers is Julie Lieberman Mor-
ganroth, Ms. Lieberman's
daughter, who heads the cruise
department. Ms. Lieberman Mor-
ganroth's desk is just in front of
the glass wall in her mother's of-
fice and the two often fly to trav-
el destinations together to check
them out for clients.
"Julie came on board five years
ago with the intention of work-
ing part-time while she looked for
a retail marketing position," Ms.
Lieberman said about her daugh-
ter, a Birmingham resident who
graduated from Southfield-Lath-
nap High School and earned a
marketing degree at New York
University.
"Since Julie took over the
cruise business full-time about
six months after she was hired,
it has increased 10-fold — from
$50,000 to more than $500,000
annually," Ms. Lieberman said.
Gateway and Ms. Lieberman
are both involved in the commu-
nity. The agency has made char-
itable contributions to many
organizations including Israel
Bonds and Bar-Ilan University.
Among Ms. Lieberman's volun-
teer positions is chairwoman of
Metro Detroit's Israel Bonds
Women's Division. El
Specially conipiled by The Jerirsalem Post
— $1 EQUALS 3.0240 NIS (shekels) - Close Price 915194 —
Currency Reserves Should Grow
Foreign currency reserves fell
by $431 million to $5.205 bil-
lion in August, the Bank of Is-
rael reported.
The reserves are expected to
grow this month because the
Israeli government will raise
an additional $563 million in
U.S. loan guarantee money.
Next month, the reserves
will get an additional $1.2 bil-
lion infusion when Israel re-
ceives its annual economic
assistance grant from the Unit-
ed States.
Gaza Gets $30 Million Loan
In advance of an important
meeting of donor countries in
Paris, the World Bank signed
a $30-million loan agreement
in Gaza for infrastructure pro-
jects in Gaza and Jericho.
The agreement was signed
by PLO Chairman Yassir
Arafat and World Bank Vice
President Caio Koch Weser.
Palestinian Authority Fi-
nance Minister Mohammed
Nashashibi told reporters "the
agreement is for badly needed
projects including sewage,
schools, roads, water and en-
ergy."
Donor states pledged $2.4
billion in a Washington confer-
ence last October, but have
made it contingent on Pales-
tinians establishing clear ac-
counting procedures and a
taxation system.
More Tax Revenues for Israel
Israeli state revenues rose 8.2
percent (to MS 6 billion) last
month compared to the same
period last year as the econo-
my continued expanding, State
Revenues Director Yoram Gab-
bai reported.
During the first eight
months of the year, tax rev-
enues grew 13.1 percent to NIS
48 billion.
Income tax revenues jumped
by 18.3 percent in August to
NIS 3.5 billion. Since the be-
ginning of the year, income tax
receipts have shot up 21.2 per-
cent.
By contrast, Value Added
Tax (VAT) and customs re-
ceipts fell 3 percent (to MS 2.5
billion) last month compared to
the same period last year.
Although VAT revenues are
good indicators of economic ac-
tivity, Mr. Gabbai said the drop
did not reflect a slowdown in
the economy, but rather the
fact that August 1993 VAT re-
ceipts were uncharacteristical-
ly high.
Based on VAT and customs
receipts since the beginning of
the year, the economy is grow-
ing at a rate of 6-7 percent, said
Mr. Gabbai. VAT and customs
revenues rose 4.3 percent.
Deal Is An Intelligent Move
Intelligent Information Sys- based shares clearing house
tems of Israel has installed Depository Trust Company.
communications monitors, The deal is valued at $950,000.
printers and terminals at U.S.-
Sparks Launch Electronics Firm
United Mizrahi Bank's invest-
ment company has signed an
agreement to set up a firm to
import and export electronic
products in partnership with
H.H. Lipaz and an American
company, Mizrahi informed the
Tel Aviv.Stock Exchange.
Mizrahi will have a 25 per-
cent share in the company, Li-
paz a 50.01 percent stake and
the American company will hold
the remaining 24.99 percent.
The U.S. company is in-
volved in international trade.
The new company will be
founded with a shareholders'
equity of $2.5 percent.
Approximately 80 percent of
the investment will be financed
by an owners' loan from
Mizrahi's investment company.
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