LANSING – Former Governor John Engler will lead a private equity fund advisory board aimed at investing in Michigan-based companies.
Engler will chair the board of the Michigan Prosperity Fund, a fund set up through Grand Rapids-based Blackford Capital.
Joining the former governor on the board will be Mark Murray, who was treasurer under Engler, as well as Mary Petrovich and David Porteous.
How much the fund will begin with and what type of firms the fund will target was not specified. Also unclear at this point is if the advisory board members will put any of their own money into the fund.
Engler, who was governor from 1991 to 2003, is now the president of the Business Roundtable, a leading national business group of many of the chief executives of the largest corporations in the U.S. that lobbies for policies to help build the U.S.’s global economic stance. After leaving office, Engler was also the head of the Manufacturing Association of America.
“I spent the majority of my career working to improve Michigan’s business environment,” Engler said in a statement.
Murray is now the co-CEO of Meijer, Incorporated, and was previously the president of Grand Valley State University. Along with being state treasurer, he was also director of the then-Department of Management and Budget.
Petrovich is an executive in The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. And Porteous is a partner at the law firm of McCurdy Wotila & Porteous and the previous chair of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees.
Blackford acquires and manages so-called middle market manufacturing, distribution and service companies.
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