What do you know about Southwest Michigan First? Today, WMUK revisits the history of the 17-year-old regional economic development group in an interview with its CEO, Ron Kitchens, on the WestSouthwest public-affairs show, airing at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. (click on the icon to listen now). It's a longer version of a conversation with Local Morning Edition Host Earlene McMichael that aired in October.
10 Facts about Southwest Michigan First....It:
1. Offers leadership blogs and podcasts online, for free.
2. Hosts an annual leadership conference in Kalamazoo called Catalyst University, next planned for January 26, 2017.
3. Manages the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce. It became a division in 2013.
4. Was formed by 14 business leaders to retain and attract employers to the region in 1999, in response to corporate downsizing and plant closings.
5. Has had only two CEOs in its 17 years. Ron Kitchens joined Southwest Michigan First about 11 years ago.
6. Believes that the greatest force for change is a job, something that CEO Ron Kitchens says he knows firsthand from having grown up with limited means. Neither his father nor mother finished the eighth grade, he says.
7. Is 100 percent privately funded. Southwest Michigan First ranks among the first economic development groups in the country to do so, according to Ron Kitchens.
8. Receives half of its funding from philanthropic contributions from some 150 companies, foundations and individuals.
9. Generates the other half of its income from fees charged for leadership development programs and economic development-related consulting work.
10. Maintains its headquarters in downtown Kalamazoo, at 241 E. Michigan Ave.
WestSouthwest airs Mondays and Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on the FM dial at 102.1.
