A career as an advocate for Michigan’s innovation and entrepreneurial community has earned Michael A. Finney the 2014 MVCA Lifetime Achievement Award (click here to see the video tribute Mike’s colleagues and friends made in his honor).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ASwb402A0?feature=player_detailpage]
Finney is President and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), where his responsibilities also include serving as Governor Rick Snyder’s Economic Growth Group Executive and as President and Chairman of the Michigan Strategic Fund. Under Finney’s leadership, the MEDC launched the Pure Michigan Venture Development Fund, a program which funded four first/second generation venture capital funds in Michigan. Previously at MEDC, Finney was integral in the development of the 21st Century Investment Fund, the $109 million fund that invested in eight still-active venture funds in Michigan; over 140 companies can trace at least one of their venture investors to the Fund. Finney also helped form the $1 billion Life Science Corridor Program in 1999, which invested in Arboretum Ventures, now one of the largest venture funds headquartered in Michigan, among others
Prior to taking the helm at MEDC, Finney served as President and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK, a public-private partnership whose innovation-based economic development model propelled numerous companies in the Ann Arbor region.
Finney continues to provide leadership to the State’s innovation and entrepreneurial community, serving on the board of directors for the State Science and Technology Institute, the Michigan Strategic Fund, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority, Governor Snyder’s Talent Investment Board, and The University of Michigan’s Life Sciences Institute, Office of Technology Transfer and Center for Entrepreneurship, and National Advisory Councils.