Michigan's outgoing and incoming governors are expected to announce new leadership at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. at a joint news conference today.
Doug Rothwell, who was CEO of the MEDC under former Gov. John Engler, is expected to be named chairman of the MEDC board when Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Gov.-elect Rick Snyder hold a news conference in Lansing today.
The names of other new board members are also expected to be announced. Snyder, who takes office Jan. 1, is expected to name Ann Arbor SPARK President Michael Finney as the new CEO of the MEDC, though it wasn't clear this morning whether that announcement would be made official today. Ann Arbor SPARK plays a similar role to the MEDC in a more localized area as Washtenaw County's agency to attract and improve area business.
Going to withhold judgment until they actually do something to irritate me - Engler was a long time ago, Snyder so far appears to have a different kind of temperament, and things have changed too much since then to draw any conclusions as to what might come next. I wish them luck, and I hope that they continue on the path of attracting new industry to the state that will help diversify our economy. You can sense this reliance on the auto industry starting to creep back in, and it would be a shame if we were to rest on our laurels and not reach out for the high-growth businesses of the future - whatever those may be.