Bob Trezise has been President and CEO of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) since November 2011. LEAP is a private/public 501 (c) 6 representing Metro Lansing (Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties). It is one of ten appointed (by Michigan Governor Snyder) Collaborative Development Councils representing the leadership of the state in economic development. Since Bob’s tenure, LEAP projects have helped the private sector create 3,348 direct jobs, ranging from Fortune 500 corporate headquarters, manufacturing plants, mixed use community development urban buildings to new high tech firms. Project value is $836 million. Programmatically, under Bob’s tenure, LEAP instituted numerous new programs and initiatives including: Ag Development, Particle Accelerator work, Diversity Lansing, FundLansing, management contracts to staff and run the Lansing Regional SmartZone as well as the city of Lansing’s entire economic development efforts, a region wide brownfield program and funding (EPA) and a Regional Innovation Network of incubators.
In 2011, Bob was also named by the Michigan Economic Developers Association (MEDA) as the state’s Top Economic Development Professional and received two awards from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) recognizing the “Accident Fund” project in downtown Lansing as the world’s best economic development project in two different categories, the only one to do so in 2011.
Prior to LEAP, Bob served as President and CEO of the Lansing Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), as well as manager of both the Tax Increment Finance Authority (TIFA) and the Lansing Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (LBRA), appointed by Mayor Virg Bernero in January of 2006. Bob completely reorganized the LEDC into a dynamic organization, resulting in 50-year historic achievements for the city in economic development, helping, through this day, the private sector create over 7,000 jobs, rehab scores of abandoned buildings including the long vacant Power Station plant in downtown on the riverfront into the new national corporate headquarters for Accident Fund, all totaling over $2 billion in private investment in the city.
During this time, Bob also became the interim manager for the Principle Shopping District and reorganized this agency into a Main Street organization. Bob also oversaw the development of Mayor Bernero’s nationally recognized Linking Lansing and “U” program, linking Michigan State University and the knowledge class with the City of Lansing, as well as creating other innovative programming.
In 2001, Bob was hired as a corporate employee of the state’s Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). During his tenure with the MEDC, he created the state’s first downtown/community development department called the Community Assistance Team (CATeam). This team created strategic economic development plans for communities and also packaged urban tools and incentives, especially the Brownfield program, for specific city and urban projects. Bob and his team worked on projects from the biggest in downtowns Detroit or Grand Rapids, to small ones in the cities of Traverse City or Marquette. Bob also created and operated the Michigan Main Street program and the BluePrints for Michigan’s Downtowns. Michigan Main Street survives to this day as a prominent State of Michigan program and is considering one of the best in the country.
Before that, Bob spent two years as the Vice President for the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, running their privately funded economic development and marketing program called Capital Choice. This program represented the Ingham, Eaton and Clinton county region. During this tenure, Bob played a leadership role with the Retain GM Quick Response Team (two new GM assembly plants were built as part of this team effort) and created the Capital Area Response Team (CARTeam), designed to accommodate GM and future suppliers locating to the region.
Bob started his career with Delta Township, a major township to the immediate west of Lansing, starting and operating their economic development program, landing many industrial plants. During that time Bob was recognized by the Lansing Chamber as the “Small Business Advocate of the Year” and was President of the Regional Economic Development Team (REDTeam). He also was recognized by the Lansing State Journal in 2000 as one of Lansing’s “100 People to Watch in the 21st Century”.