DEARBORN ? Mike Finney, rumored to be soon named as the next president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., warmed up several hundred people attending Wednesday’s Michigan Emerging event at the Ford Conference Center with his version of comedian David Letterman’s Top 10 list. But Finney’s list was focused on economic development objectives that could be applied to the entire state.

Finney is currently the president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK, the Washtenaw County economic development group. He was handpicked by Michigan Gov.-Elect Rick Snyder to head SPARK five years ago. Finney declined to discuss whether he?s even thrown his hat in the ring for the state?s top economic developer post.

But he did say all of his former rival economic development groups in Southeast Michigan ? Wayne State?s TechTown, Oakland County?s Automation Alley, have finally learned to play nice with each other and market the region, rather than each turf separately.

So in that spirit of coopetition, he offered his top 10 economic development list:

Create a common vision among economic development organizations.

Establish specific goals and timing for the community?s support to emerging business. Deadlines force urgency and creativity, Finney said.

Gain support from state and local government to enact laws and modify policies to be startup-friendly. Finney said Michigan has done a ?pretty good job? in this regard.

Communicate ? create an effective branding message to communicate the region?s value proposition, and communicate that with everything from the trade press to other tech hubs, in order to change the narrative ? which in Michigan?s case has not been good.

Boost the connections of larger corporations to startups. So-called ?intrapreneurship,? spinouts from larger companies, can result.

Boost the connections of universities to startups. Finney said the region?s major research institutions do more than $2 billion a year in research, much of which has spinout potential. And universities also have talent, facilities and equipment entrepreneurs need.

Focus on a finite set of emerging technologies or industry sectors. You can?t be everything to everybody.

Encourage a more entrepreneurial, risk taking culture in the region. ?We lost our entrepreneurial mojo years ago,? Finney said. In Michigan, Finney said, those who fail in business find it hard to attract support for new ventures, while in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs, ?entrepreneurs who have falied are celebrated just as much as entrepreneurs who have succeeded, because people know you have learned something from your failures.?

Link entrepreneurs with early and effective mentoring and coaching ? this reduces the failure rate. And successful entrepreneurs have to be willing to pay it forward by participating as coaches and mentors.

Provide adequate seed funding and subsequent growth capital.

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