Rick Snyder picks Ann Arbor SPARK's Michael Finney to lead economic development strategy for transition team
(Update: This story has been updated after Snyder officially announced this news. Details of an interview with Finney have also been added.)
Michael Finney, the Ann Arbor region’s economic development leader, will help map out economic development strategy as a key member of Governor-elect Rick Snyder’s transition team, Snyder announced today.
The appointment, first reported this morning by AnnArbor.com, marks the second time Snyder has personally recruited Finney to direct an economic development initiative. Snyder, an Ann Arbor venture capitalist who will become Michigan’s 48th governor on Jan. 1, co-founded Ann Arbor SPARK in 2005 and then convinced Finney to become the group’s first president and CEO.
Finney is widely considered a possible candidate to become the next CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., but that’s just speculation at this point, Snyder spokesman Bill Nowling said.
Snyder’s camp also announced announce that Bill Rustem, CEO of Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants and a member of former Gov. Bill Milliken’s administration, will become director of strategy for Snyder’s administration. Rustem will be charged with identifying the best ways to implement Snyder’s policy proposals.
During his gubernatorial campaign, Snyder repeatedly held up Ann Arbor SPARK as an example of successful economic development strategies that should be replicated in other regions of the state.
"Right now in the system there’s a lot of overlap in the MEDC, which is a redundant effort that’s not effective," Snyder told AnnArbor.com's editorial board in October. "We’ve got a lot of great regional people and organizations already, but we can connect them better, get them to work together better and make all that happen."
In an interview this afternoon, Finney said he was organizing six committees to develop proposals for various aspects of economic development. He declined to offer details but said the committees would examine short-term and long-term economic objectives.
Finney said his team was free to develop proposals that fit comfortably within the framework for Snyder's 10-point plan to deliver economic growth for Michigan.
"This is really intended to be what's best for the state of Michigan," he said.
Finney declined to say whether he was interested in the job as CEO of MEDC.
Snyder is expected to push to slash many of Michigan's business tax incentives in favor of a lower overall business tax. He has said tax incentives should be used strategically but not wildly.
Finney has said some kinds of tax incentives are necessary though not often a deciding factor for companies considering where to expand.
Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Michael Finney
File photo | AnnArbor.com
He suggested that the top lesson he's learned in his five years as CEO of SPARK is the importance of connecting companies with talented local workers.
"We have a wealth of talent in our state. We have underutilized that talent in many respects and it is a wonderful resource for us as we try to move the state going forward," Finney said.
Finney said he would also press the importance of "open-source economic development," a term he coined to describe the importance of sharing successful strategies with other communities and economic developers.
"We are one state and we can't operate in pockets," Finney said. "It's very, very difficult to maximize our success if one area of our state is struggling while another is prospering. We've got to figure a formula to allow all our regions of the state to prosper."
Finney and Snyder became acquainted when Finney was a vice president of MEDC while Snyder was chairman from 1999 to 2001. Finney had left MEDC in 2002 to lead a new economic development group in Rochester, N.Y., but returned to Michigan to lead SPARK.
SPARK provides business services and incubator space to local entrepreneurs, startup companies and existing businesses. The group, which has about 15 employees, reported an operating budget of $5.2 million in 2009. About a fifth of that comes from local tax dollars.
The group also delivers investments and cash to startup companies through a microloan fund and Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, which SPARK manages on behalf of the MEDC and the state’s 15 SmartZones.
Finney has said that Michigan would benefit from more collaboration among its economic development agencies. SPARK is leading a $1 million startup business plan competition as part of a new collaboration with groups such as Detroit-based TechTown and Oakland County-based Automation Alley.
Finney has also said he believes Michigan needs to better engage its network of 15 public universities in economic development.
"I consider the universities to be one of the best allies we have for economic development," Finney said.
He also said he believes the state needs to make a more concerted effort to tap what he estimated to be 1 million alumni of Michigan universities living around the world.
"That's a great resource for us to reach out to help move our state forward," he said.
(Editor's note: AnnArbor.com executive vice president Laurel Champion is treasurer of SPARK's Board of Directors.)
Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.
Comments
Trepang674
Sat, Nov 13, 2010 : 8:12 a.m.
Sounds like a bunch of grumpy Bernaro fans trying to look in to thier rusty, clouded crystal ball and we just finished one of the most tramatic 8 years of governorship in the state's history...It is doubtful the commentors haven't delt with Spark or Finney or even perhaps being unemployed. Go to a Tues AM meeting and interact with people, motivated and positive about the economic engine. Or sit home and have Mountain Dew and cookies.
AlphaAlpha
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 11:31 p.m.
Mr. Bomey - Will you please ask Mr. Snyder what his Act 312 plans are? Then let the community know? Thank you.
mrblond
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 5:10 p.m.
>Snyder is expected to push to slash many of Michigan's business tax incentives in favor of a lower overall business tax. He has said tax incentives should be used strategically but not wildly. This is Snyder's best policy idea, and one reason why I'm not sorry to see him as gov. now lets see if he can do it.
bugjuice
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 4:20 p.m.
Finney will take a huge cut in pay if he moves to the real government. The MEDC is kind of clubby and only a little bit incestuous between bureaucrats and business. SPARK and MEDC are just ways for business to get their hands on public money and keep it in their and their buddies hands. Beware the public/private partnerships where public money wends its way from municipalities fund buckets to business buckets. There's not a lot of accountability if what we've read in a2dotcom in the past has any credibility. What's Finney paid at SPARK? Upwards of 200k if I read it right. If he says he's not interested in MEDC, he's interested. As if I couldn't predict but what's City Council's Stephen Rapundollar's take on this? He's in the loop at SPARK. He probably think it's great.
James D'Amour
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 4:03 p.m.
RINO? As long as there is a two-party system in this state and nation (and likely to be for better or worse, for awhile), they must compete for the votes of all (and belong to) all of the American people, liberal or conservative (and the vast in-between and don't think of life in those terms). But I am off-topic. Regarding Snyder's economic team picks: I think if there is a "mandate" that can possibly be gleaned from this election, at least in Michigan, is that the deciding portion of the electorate was very concerned about the economic condition of this state and did not believe in "politics as usual". They were decidedly not interested in a traditional "conservative" or "values" (or Tea Party) candidate but were anxious for results (to be fair, at this point anyway, many self-identified members of the so-called "Tea Party" seems to be giving Mr. Snyder the benefit of the doubt for now). Mr. Bernero, probably along with many other state and national Democrats, were saddled with lack of progress on the national level, as well as perhaps fatigue with the incumbent Democratic adminstration. At any rate, dissatisfied with alternatives on the "right" in the primary, or the "left" in the general election, enough independent voters moved toward the Republican lever, and Snyder seemed to many of these voters a refreshing alternative. What will be the challenge for Snyder, as for any Michigan governor is to come up with results, and rightly and wrongly, the economic condition of the state is an overwhelming measure as to how he is judged. Will his economic team deliver? Time will tell...
Nathan Bomey
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 3:33 p.m.
I interviewed Finney a short while ago and added his comments to the story. Also adjusted the story to reflect the fact that Finney's appointment to the transition team is now official. To summarize, Finney: -Declined to say whether he's interested in the MEDC post. -Said he was organizing six committees to develop proposals for various aspects of economic development. -Suggested that the top lesson he's learned in his five years as CEO of SPARK is the importance of connecting companies with talented local workers. -Emphasized the importance of "open-source economic development," a term he coined to describe the importance of sharing successful strategies with other communities and economic developers.
Killroy
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 2:08 p.m.
Smart. Rick appoints his first 'yes' man!
Randy M
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 2:05 p.m.
If Snyder thinks there's too much overlap and redundancy among the MEDC and its regional partners (including SPARK) why hasn't he already done something about it? Why did he have to become Governor to fix a system he's not only been a part of but that he has taken credit for helping to create?
runbum03
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 1:19 p.m.
The Republican In Name Only (RINO)governor-elect is showing us the direction we will be heading..... the same road we supposedly got off. Unions - RINO Ricky is your..... water boy; demands met, satisfaction assured, taxes raised, no cuts... just more ifs, ands and buts.