October 5, 1999
The Muskegon Chronicle
Dave Alexander
Chronicle Business Editor

Muskegon Area First began its operations Wednesday being hailed as potentially the best example of intergovernmental cooperation in the county’s history.

All seven Muskegon County cities, initially three townships and Muskegon County have joined forces with businesses from the new Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce, organized labor and the Community Foundation for Muskegon County. All public bodies asked to support the new organization have; other townships still will be asked to join.

Muskegon Area First replaces the defunct Muskegon Economic Growth Alliance as the community’s “one-stop shopping” economic development organization. The new Muskegon Area First board of directors assembled Wednesday to adopt bylaws, elect officers, appoint staff and discuss a preliminary budget. William Johanson of Consumers Energy Co. is the group’s first president, and the executive director is Norman Cunningham, the vice president for economic development under MEGA.

Muskegon Area First is focused solely on economic development ? meaning, retaining and attracting employers and jobs, according to its interim director, Roger Andersen. Over the years, MEGA also acted as a chamber of commerce, employment and training agency and convention and visitors bureau.

MEGA also did not have the political participation that Muskegon Area First has garnered. The city of Montague never joined MEGA, and only in the past few years had the city of Muskegon Heights participated. The battles between MEGA and the county were legendary.

“This is the most significant government collaboration that any of us have seen in the history of Muskegon County,” said Andersen, a retired businessman who took on the economic development organization issue through the new chamber. “This is a true partnership.”

The Muskegon Area First board of potentially 19 members will have at least 10 government delegates. That government influence might even be greater if the community foundation and labor unions do not participate on the board. The board is set up for the municipalities and the county to each have one equal vote. The chamber has four delegates, labor two and the foundation one. Labor would only have its seats if it participates financially, and the foundation has yet to determine whether it wants to have a board seat, Andersen said.

Other officers of the new board are Norton Shores Mayor Nancy Crandall as vice president, Muskegon Township Supervisor Don Aley as secretary, and Laketon Township Supervisor Roland Crummel as treasurer. Crandall said the new organization has the potential to be a significant force in the community.

“Now we have the townships, cities, the county and business working together for economic development,” Crandall said. “We have never had that opportunity before where we all share in the process as equal partners.”

Just as the largest representation comes from government, so to is it providing the greatest financial contribution. Of the estimated $277,498 annual budget, $150,498 ? or 54 percent ? comes for local governments. Another $25,000 is expected from state sources to run the local Small Business Development Center.

The Chamber of Commerce is contributing $50,000 a year, and the foundation is expected to grant $50,000, but only for a specific economic development project. Labor has been asked to contribute $2,000.

Besides Cunningham, the initial three-member staff comes from the MEGA organization, which goes out of business Sept. 30. Eddie Garner will continue to be the small business development director and Chaz Troyer an administrative assistant. Johanson said that staff will serve at the pleasure of the board.

Muskegon Area First will rent office space from the new chamber at 230 Terrace Plaza and will contract for accounting and payroll services from the chamber. However, the group remains “independent and at arm’s length” of the chamber, Andersen said. New chamber President Cindy Morat-Larsen is a nonvoting member of the Muskegon Area First board.

In exclusively focusing on economic development, the new organization’s bylaws call for the first emphasis to be assisting existing Muskegon County companies to expand; second is recruiting new companies outside of the community to relocate here.