(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/25/2024) Fay Beydoun, who made news this month for using $4,500 from a state grant she received on a coffee maker, was removed from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive (MEDC) Committee by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after her term expired.
Beydoun, the executive director of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce, received a $20 million grant to launch a business accelerator organization, but her accounting of the money has raised questions, based on The Detroit News' reporting.
Outside the $4,500 coffee maker, she spent $11,000 on a flight to Budapest for a conference and another $130,000 on legal and consulting fees over her business' first nine months of operations.
Beydoun was replaced by Bob Sutherland, of Maple City, who is president and owner of Cherry Republic, a retail line of more than 200 cherry-based products in northern Michigan. Sutherland is also the former board president of the Michigan Land Use Institute, a founding member of the Great Lakes Business Network, and a former Leelanau County commissioner.
Whitmer also reappointed Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley to the MEDC Executive Committee Thursday, along with other names.
Neeley would also join Fadwa Hammoud, of Dearborn, who was one of the special prosecutors appointed by the Attorney General's office to prosecute former Gov. Rick Snyder. Hammoud would be replacing Phillip Shaltz.
April Clobes, of Bath Township, was reappointed. She is the Michigan State University Credit Union CEO and president.
Krista Flynn, of Ada, is the Midwest regional executive for PNC Bank, where she previously served as West Michigan market leader. She was reappointed.
Bobby J. Hopewell, of Kalamazoo, is currently the president and CEO of Mobile Health Resources, an entity that supports emergency medical services nationwide, including patient billing services. He was the former mayor of Kalamazoo and reappointed to the committee.
Thomas Lutz, of White Lake, is the executive secretary treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, one of the largest skilled trades unions in Michigan, representing more than 14,000 carpenters, millwrights and floor layers throughout the state. He was reappointed.
Anthony Tomczak, of Commerce, is the vice president of electric sales and marketing for DTE Energy. He was reappointed.
Carla Walker-Miller, of Detroit, is the founder and chief executive officer of Walker-Miller Energy Services, the state's first company owned by a Black woman to obtain a B Corporation Certification. She succeeds Ryan Waddington.
All appointees would start April 25 and their terms would end April 5, 2028.
