Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at the Mackinac Policy Conference May 29, 2024 | Anna Liz Nichols
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is announcing during her Thursday keynote address at the Mackinac Policy Conference new statewide projects to boost innovation in Michigan through a statewide innovation competition, a new chief innovation ecosystem officer and an executive directive for state agencies to share equipment and facilities with those doing cutting-edge work.
Whitmer sat down with the Advance at the Michigan governor’s summer residence at the start of the conference to talk about the 2024 election, state budget talks, access to education, growing the state’s population and new projects the state will be implementing under her tenure.
“This is our sixth year. … I feel like we’ve gotten a lot of really good stuff done, showing that we’ll work with anyone in order to deliver for people in Michigan. Our focus has been lowering costs and ensuring that every person has a path to prosperity in our state and solidifying and protecting fundamental rights,” Whitmer told the Advance.
And in order to make Michigan the state to move to and move the economy forward, Whitmer said she will be announcing a “Shark Tank” style competition for the state. PitchMI will be a public competition to seek out pitches for an innovative startup idea.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer talks with Michigan Advance at the Michigan Governor’s Summer Residence on May 28, 2024 during the Mackinac Policy Conference. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)
The first PitchMI competition is focusing on solving mobility issues in the state and the winner will be awarded $100,000 to make their idea come to life.
Whitmer told the Advance the competition could then go into different directions for addressing issues in the state. For instance, there could be a competition to support water infrastructure or literacy, she said, adding that there’s a lot of opportunities to ask Michiganders to look for solutions and engage in the state’s progress.
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist joined the interview with the Advance on Tuesday and said the governor will announce during her keynote address Thursday that the state has selected its first ever chief innovation ecosystem officer.
“It’s really about doubling down on what makes Michigan special and letting innovators know about that, telling our Michigan story in a really compelling way. … Here we have the title of Chief Innovation Ecosystem Officer, who’s going to help make sure that we can rally the troops frankly around all the innovations happening,” Gichrist said.
Entrepreneurship and ingenuity are different ways to think about economic growth in Michigan when it comes to the state’s strategy for economic development, Gilchrist said.
Ben Marchionna | University of Michigan photo
Ben Marchionna, who has led efforts in innovation in aviation, robotics and more in different sectors, will serve as Michigan’s first-ever chief innovation ecosystem officer, Whitmer told the Advance. Marchionna is currently the director of technology and innovation at Electra.aero, which seeks to incorporate hybrid-electric in takeoff and landing systems.
Marchionna was appointed by Whitmer to the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Task Force for the State of Michigan and he has also served as vice president of global operations at SkySpecs, working on renewable energy technology.
To build a community of thinkers, Whitmer told the Advance she’s also signing an executive directive for state agencies to survey their resources including equipment and facilities and create a catalog for innovators to use state, local and university resources at low or no cost.
The state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will be entering into an agreement with the state to allow entrepreneurs to use infrastructure to test out new ideas.
“I think we got a lot of good things done, but particularly the last 18 months from fundamental rights to common sense gun safety to incredible investments that are happening in Michigan and in growing our economy,” Whitmer said. “We’re really setting Michigan up for a really solid forward trajectory.”
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The post Whitmer to announce Ben Marchionna as new chief innovation ecosystem officer appeared first on Michigan Advance.