Southwest Michigan First Announces New CEO Ronald Kitchens

Kalamazoo, MI – Southwest Michigan First, Southwest Michigan’s lead economic development agency, has announced the selection of Corpus Christi President and CEO Ronald Kitchens as the organization’s new CEO.

“Ron has tremendous passion for economic development and has a demonstrated track record for bringing jobs to Corpus Christi,” said, William D. Johnston, SMF’s board chair and the president of Greenleaf Companies. “Our entire board is very excited to have him join our organization.”

Among his many successes during a five-year tenure in Corpus Christi, Kitchens attracted 99 companies to the region, generated 34,000 new jobs and $4.7 drew billion in new commercial development to that community. In 2004, Site Selection Magazine ranked Corpus Christi fourth in the nation for highest level of new investment, behind New York City, Chicago and Detroit.

When asked about a move to a seemingly smaller community, Kitchen’s said Southwest Michigan is actually larger than Corpus Christi and has the potential to lead a national trend toward regionalism in economic development.

“Kalamazoo is within 60 miles of more than two million people, and it is poised to be a leader in economic develop at a national level. The potential for us as a community to grow and prosper is unprecedented. I’m honored to have been asked to lead this effort.” Kitchens said.

Kitchens took the Corpus Christi helm in 2000 as its first President and CEO. Prior to that, he served as president of the Moberly/Randolph Economic Development Corporation in Moberly, Missouri. He also helped facilitate the establishment of Moberly as the financial services leasing capital of the United States. He spearheaded the development of three business and industrial parks totaling 480 acres, and he raised $1.2 million in private sector funding. Under Kitchens leadership, the agency earned five major state economic development awards in 1998 and the 1999 Economic Development Marketing Program of the Year Award. Governor Mel Carnahan twice named the organization the Business Retention and Expansion Organization of the Year.

“Ron brings a very strong job attraction and retention focus to Southwest Michigan First,” said Craig DeNooyer, SMF board president and the president of Treystar Holdings, LLC. “That’s a great complement to our successes in new business creation.”

Southwest Michigan First, formed in 1998, has been a state leader in new business creation for the past two years and has helped to make Michigan’s life sciences cluster the fastest growing in the nation. Since 2003, SMF has launched more than two dozen biopharmaceutical companies, mostly from scientific talent spun out of Pfizer, Inc., during its acquisition of Pharmacia Corporation. In 2003, SMF was ranked among the top 20 economic development agencies in North America by Site Selection Magazine.

Prior to economic development, Kitchens served as field director for United States Senator John Danforth of Missouri. Kitchens began his public service at the age of 21, when he was elected and served six years as a City Councilman in his home town of Ozark, Missouri.

“In every leadership position he’s held, Ron has taken an organization to excellence,” Johnston said. “We’re looking forward to seeing the next level of success for Kalamazoo.”

Kitchens graduated from Southwest Missouri State University as well as the Economic Development Institute of the University of Oklahoma where he serves as an adjunct instructor. He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and has been trained in negotiation at Harvard University.

SMF began its national search for the top position in January 2005 when former SMF CEO Barry Broome announcement that he had been recruited to serve as President and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. Craig DeNooyer has provided leadership to the organization’s staff in the interim. Kitchen’s finalized contract discussions with the Board of Directors on Tuesday, and gave notice to his Corpus Christi board Thursday. He is expected to move to Kalamazoo with his wife, Lyn, and daughter, Kelsey by mid July.

Contact:
Southwest Michigan First
Gretchen Johnson
gjohnson@southwestmichiganfirst.com
http://www.southwestmichiganfirst.com
Tel: 269 553-9588

This press releas was issued through GroupWeb EmailWire.Com. For more information on press release distribution, go to http://www.emailwire.com