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As former CIO and deputy administrator of Washtenaw County, he directed the operations of 14 departments with 1,300 employees. He championed an e-government initiative to provide citizens with around-the-clock access to government services, including Web-based services, e-commerce and e-democracy. Under Behen’s leadership, the county twice received CIO Magazine’s CIO 100 Award as one of the top 100 public/private IT programs and was named six times among the nation’s top 10 digital counties.

Most recently, he served as vice president and chief information officer of GDI Infotech, a software consultancy in Ann Arbor. He also was cofounder and chief business officer of InfoReady Corp., the company’s high-tech spinout that marries collaboration software with technologies for targeted Web searches, enabling users to scour the Web and act quickly on strategic information. He served on the executive team and was responsible for the design and implementation of business plans and growth strategies for both companies.

“Today’s technology provides us with tools to reinvent government,” Behen said. “The growth of Michigan’s online resources provide our citizens and businesses with the 24/7 service they have come to expect.”

In 2007 Behen was named to the Crain’s Detroit Business 40-under-40 list for outstanding professional achievement. “David brings a passion for driving technology improvements for a more efficient and transparent government,” said John E. Nixon, DTMB director and the state’s budget director. “I am confident that, through his leadership, information technology will continue to serve as a key enabler in the innovation of state government.”

Behen earned a bachelor of science degree and a master of science in public administration degree from Eastern Michigan University.

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Blouse conceived and promoted a shared vision among business and political leaders to establish Detroit as a world-class, international logistics hub. He is currently working to capitalize on strong geographic and transportation assets and tap into growing global logistics business.

Under his leadership, the Detroit Regional Chamber created a regional economic partnership that, for the first time ever, united the Detroit region’s 10-county governments with the private sector. In the last decade, that partnership attracted over $3.5 billion in new business investment to Detroit from all over the world.

Blouse recognized early on the potential of India as a major player in the global economy, and beginning in 2006, began leading annual business development missions from the U.S. to India. His efforts resulted in over 2,000 new jobs to the Detroit area.

In addition to business development, Blouse has successfully advocated for pro-business policy on both state and federal levels. Within days of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Blouse initiated and spearheaded the formation of 40-member Northern Border for Economic Security and Trade (NBEST), a coalition of private and public firms and government agencies from the United States and Canada, to make the northern border more efficient and secure. His Enhanced Driver’s License concept, which replaced the need for a passport in land border crossings, originated locally and quickly spread nationally.

Blouse’s business acumen led to incredible success at the Detroit Regional Chamber. He was able to transform a debt-laden organization into the largest, most respected chamber of commerce in the U.S. The organization now enjoys a solid financial structure with $8 million for daily cash management. This was achieved despite of one of Michigan’s worst recessions.

Under his leadership, the organization doubled in size as Blouse grew its customer base from 10,000 to 20,000 by forming business alliances with companies such as Verizon Wireless, Office Depot and Blue Cross Blue Shield to offer and sell innovative new products in health insurance, telecommunications and office supplies, among others.

His expertise includes strategic and operational planning, business and economic development, global logistics and negotiating international strategic partnerships.

In addition to his new role at Global Perspectives, Blouse has spearheaded an effort to create a business accelerator in the Detroit region that will support new and second-stage companies in the alternative energy sector, as well as other emerging industries.

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Cooley, now CEO of advisory firm, Principia, LLC, was most recently President and Chief Executive Officer of NextEnergy, an accelerator for alternative energy businesses and technologies. There at the request of Michigan’s Governor Granholm, he led the creation of a sorely needed and robust sustainability plan, helped the organization reconnect to vital funding from the foundation community and hosted Vice President Biden’s announcement of a $1.3 B award to Michigan business for vehicle electrification before leaving to form Principia.

Prior to joining NextEnergy, Cooley was the Director of the Department of Labor & Economic Growth (DLEG) and a cabinet member to the Governor. In this capacity, he directed the activities of more than 4,000 employees in 35 agencies and managed a $1.4 billion budget. His principal objective was to “up-skill” Michigan’s workforce to compete in a global community and provide opportunities for economic recovery.

Mr. Cooley’s background includes work as an experimental physicist, engineering program manager, strategic planner, and CEO of Focus: HOPE; where he championed the celebrated civil and human rights organization’s work in manufacturing technology and workforce development serving underrepresented urban youth.

His professional activities and affiliations include membership in the Engineering Society of Detroit and service with The University of Michigan Engineering Advisory Council; the Michigan Environmental Council; the Michigan Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization Board and the Public School Academies of Detroit. Previous Board Service includes the Bioscience Research & Commercialization Center. He has been recognized in Who’s Who in the World, named a Tau Beta Pi Eminent Engineer, and received the General Motors President’s Council Honors.

Cooley received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering physics and a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan in 1967 and 1972, respectively. As a graduate student, he founded the Minority Engineering Programs Office, College of Engineering. In addition, he was a gymnast; the first African-American to compete in that sport at the school and was a member of U-M’s 1966 Big Ten Championship team.

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Eiler has lectured and authored numerous articles on public relations and industrial and technology marketing. He edited “The Elements of Marketing” published by the Information Technology Association of America. He has authored several articles in professional journals, most recently the widely noted “We’re Cornered, Michigan” opinion piece that suggested the needs of a state in economic turmoil to shake its malaise.

He was an executive of Carl Byoir, one of the world’s largest PR counseling firms, and held marketing and communications management positions at Honeywell, Comshare and Machine Vision International.

Eiler is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America, and he served on its National Accreditation Board for two years as well as being a director and officer of the Minneapolis-St. Paul chapter. He is the former chairman of the Ann Arbor Council of PRSA. He also was chairman of the annual conference of the National Investor Relations Institute and was president of the Michigan PR Executives Association.

He is a member of the Automation Alley Entrepreneurial Initiative Advisory Board, the Eastern Michigan University Business School Advisory Board, and a Director and member of the Executive Committee for the Ann Arbor IT Zone, a noted education and training group associated with Michigan’s technology and innovative businesses at the University of Michigan.

He taught a high-tech marketing seminar at the University of Michigan Business School and also has taught marketing at Eastern Michigan’s College of Business. Eiler developed the noted “Marketing and Program Development” training program for scientists and engineers and taught it at various technology companies and institutes around the U.S. including BDM International, Nichols Research, Ford Aerospace, General Atomics, the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan and others. Eiler was named one of the state’s most influential high-tech professionals by Crain’s Detroit Business.

He wrote an acclaimed book, When the Woman You Love Has Breast Cancer, published in 1994, and a 2006 book on prostate cancer, Prostate Cancer’s Emotional Maze: Forging Your Way (www.prostateemotions.com). He is a director of the Haakon Ragde Foundation for Advanced Cancer Studies, a Seattle-based group whose mission is to study metastatic bone cancer.

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A former high school teacher and coach, university instructor, and college dean; he is also involved with several other business ventures and serves on numerous community boards, a former chair of the Small Business Association of Michigan also testifying on several outreach committees on the state of small business, and serves on the National Small Business Association Board in Washington, D.C.

A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Chris has been a Lansing-area resident for more than 35 years. He is married to Louise and has three children and two grandchildren.

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Prior to founding Michigan Corps, Jaitly worked as director of strategic partnerships and public policy at College Summit Inc., America’s leading non-profit organization increasing the college enrollment rate of lower-income high schools. He also was head of government affairs and public-private partnerships for Google in South Asia; he began his tenure with the company in Silicon Valley where he supported communications for Google’s CEO and led Google.org’s product partnerships with the United Nations. In Asia, he successfully convinced the government of Pakistan to end its nationwide block of Blogger and YouTube (2008, 2009) and the government of Bangladesh to end its nationwide block of YouTube (2009). In India, he led the development of a Google product that informed and engaged voters by showcasing critical governance data during the 2009 general election.

Jaitly, a former member of Princeton University‘s Board of Trustees and Commissioner of Higher Education in New Jersey, has a bachelor of arts degree in history from Princeton.

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Bhushan recently spun off a software company from GDI, InfoReady Corporation in March 2010. Bhushan is currently spearheading growth of InfoReady Corporation as its President and CEO. InfoReady Software platform helps users aggregate and find relevant information quickly from the information overload and do collaboration and tracking using secured Social Media technology. InfoReady has released its first vertical application product, InfoReady4Grants, which helps research institutions, private and public enterprises find relevant research and program grant opportunities; facilitate collaboration among different stakeholders in a secured social media workspace and track outcomes.

Bhushan was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Michigan Technology Services. He has received the American Dreamer Award, “40 under 40″ recognition and has been listed in Who’s Who in Technology Services by Crain’s Business Weekly Magazine among numerous other awards and recognitions. Bhushan is equally involved in community leadership. He strongly believes in giving back to the community and he has served / is serving on the Boards of several non-profit organizations in Michigan very actively. Some of these organizations include Ann Arbor SPARK, Board Secretary at Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, Past Chair at Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, Ann Arbor IT Zone, Ann Arbor Art Center, Information Technology Association of Michigan (ITEAM) and the Past President of American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI). He is also a Charter Member of TiE.

Bhushan was born in India and came to the United States in 1985 to pursue graduate studies at West Virginia University. After earning his M.S. in Engineering, he joined the Ford Motor Company as a Project Engineer before embarking on his journey of entrepreneurship. His ventures besides GDI and InfoReady include InTouch Communications (a Telecommunication Systems and Software company), and other two start-ups for Voice processing Software Development and CAD/CAM/CAE Services and Solutions companies.

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Jason joined the Macomb-Oakland University INCubator as a Corporate Partner and Advisory Board Member in early 2009 and is passionate about helping out a community that has given so much to him. In September of 2009 he was selected as Corp! Magazine’s Entrepreneurs of Distinction and also served as a panelist on challenges facing entrepreneurs during tough economic times. In 2008 he led Apex to earn Corp Magazine’s Best of Michigan Businesses award for Technology Companies. He is a former Board Member of Marketing and Sales Executives of Detroit from which he was a Finalist for their Platinum Award for Sales and Marketing Success in 2005. As a member of the Distinguished Clown Corp, Jason leads an independent effort each year to raise funds to send underprivileged children from the Detroit area to America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade each year.

He attended Macomb Community College where he earned an A.A.S. in Construction Technologies. He then attended Oakland University to pursue a B.A. in both Computer Science Engineering and Management Information Systems.

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As program director, Metzger is responsible for implementing the strategic vision of Michigan becoming the leading state in developing great places to do great work and building workplaces focusing on attracting, developing and retaining top talent, while creating bottom-line results through employee engagement.

Metzger was named program director for MNGC in January 2008. Prior to MNGC he held leadership positions in corporate learning and marketing communications at Accident Fund Insurance Company of America and Michigan State University’s Broad School of Business. Metzger has a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University and a master’s degree from Michigan State University. He is a graduate of the Michigan State Chamber’s Leadership Michigan program, the Disney Institute’s Service Leadership program, and other programs focusing on leadership and employee engagement. Metzger is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the American Society for Training and Development.

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Doug is passionate about entrepreneurship in Michigan and believes in the tremendous potential that exists in the University of Michigan entrepreneurial program. He feels the future of Michigan begins with our students.

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As executive director, Rogers reports to the Board of Directors. Members of the management team at Automation Alley report to the executive director.

Prior to his current position, Rogers was director of Oakland County’s Community and Economic Development, where he was responsible for the planning and development division, the equalization department and the community development division. In addition, Rogers was one of the founders of Oakland County’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), served as a member of the governor’s conference on small business and held a seat on the state’s Strategic Economic Investment Commercialization Board from 2006-2010. Rogers was also president of the Oakland County Chamber of Commerce and served as a director of the North Oakland Board of Realtors.

Rogers was appointed to the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Information and Communications Technologies, Services, and Electronic Commerce by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and the United States Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk in 2010. He is also the chairman of the board for Clarkston State Bank and is also on the board of directors for the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center. In 2009, Rogers participated in President Barack Obama’s Jobs and Economic Growth Forum at the White House.

Rogers has also been actively involved in the community, having served as a member of the board of directors for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and the United Way of Oakland County. In 1992, he received Oakland County’s “Volunteer of the Year” award. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation honored Rogers in 2007 with the Michigan Diversification Celebration’s Outstanding Diversification Achievement Award and in 2008 with the CEO Award of Excellence in Economic Development.

Rogers earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration degree and a Doctor of Public Service honorary degree from Central Michigan University.

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In his spare time, Jordan can be found making it rain behind the three-point line (some times) or turning a single into a triple on the softball diamond.

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