On the Move features and celebrates Flint & Genesee businesses’ grand openings, staff promotions, new hires, recognition, and milestones
(Featured above) Wolves Wellness Center, 7347 N. Genesee Road in Genesee, Aug.13
Promotions, New Hires, and Recognition
The Genesee District Library has named Alex Austermann as its new youth services librarian. Austermann previously worked as a government research librarian and served four years in the Air Force. She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Michigan and a master’s in library and information studies from Florida State University.
Rob Bennett has been appointed president of Bennett Communications Solutions, a telephone answering service and call center based in Flint and established in 1945. As the third generation to lead the family business, Rob follows in the footsteps of his grandfather and founder, Jack, and his father, Bob.
Bre’Asia Hamlin has joined the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, a division of the Flint & Genesee Group, as small business program support assistant.
Grand Blanc Township Deputy Clerk Lynn Henry has been named the Deputy Clerk of the Year by the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks. The award aims to honor municipal clerks who demonstrate professional and personal qualities representing the best of the profession.
Lear Corporation has appointed Rod Lache to its board of directors. Lache recently retired from Wolfe Research, LLC, where he was a managing director and senior analyst covering the auto industry. Before his work with Wolf Research, LLC, he spent 24 years at Deutsche Bank, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, including managing director and senior analyst responsible for the auto sector.
David Pesci has assumed the role of Plante Moran’s Flint office managing partner. He’ll focus on developing and growing the Flint team, while also continuing to lead the commercial practice in the Flint office, where he provides manufacturing and service companies with assurance and consulting services. Pesci succeeds Kimber Smail, who will take on the role of Southfield office managing partner.
Caroline Rathburn has joined the University of Michigan-Flint as a communications specialist. In her role, she is dedicated to enhancing student engagement through strategic communication and marketing initiatives.
Mott Community College has named Shaunda Richardson-Snell as its interim president, following the retirement of previous president Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea. Richardson-Snell is currently the principal at Aquila Advisors in Bloomfield Hills and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan-Flint.
The YWCA of Greater Flint has appointed Tia Coles as its chief program and impact officer. She will join the organization on Sept. 30 in a newly created position on the executive leadership team focusing on refining and expanding programs offered by the YWCA Coles previously served as program director at Hurley Medial Center’s Trauma Recovery Center. She worked in the banking industry, including management positions at Huntington National Bank and JPMorgan Chase Bank, prior to transitioning her career to social work.
Nino Sapone, CEO of Bishop International Airport (FNT), has been selected to serve on a panel for a project that will be led by the Transportation Research Board under the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This board is responsible for mobilizing expertise, experience, and knowledge to aid in solving transportation-related challenges.
“Airports and aviation are a critical part of transportation, and I strive daily at FNT to build upon our world-class operation,” Sapone said. “I look forward to playing a vital role in research aimed at improving transportation everywhere and advancing our nation’s infrastructure.”
Dr. Jawad Shah, the founder and CEO of Insight Health System has been awarded the 2024 Healthcare Leadership Award from the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. This award honors individuals who provide exceptional leadership in healthcare organizations. Dr. Shah founded Insight Health Systems in 2008 as part of a team of four. Dr. Shah is a practicing neurosurgeon and a clinical associate professor at Michigan State University.
Business News
Bennett Communications Solutions has been honored with the 2024 Award of Excellence for the 11th year. This award is presented annually by the Association of TeleServices International, the trade association for telecommunications and call centers in North America and the United Kingdom. Independent judges evaluate message services over a six-month period and score elements including response time, courteousness of rep, accuracy of call, knowledge of account, and overall impression of call. On top of this acknowledgment, the local business also earned the Diamond Plus Award.
Bishop International Airport in Flint has received a nearly $2 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. The funding will be used to make upgrades to the airport’s terminal, including new gate counters, ticket counters, and information displays; construct a new 6,000-foot service road; and add a taxilane. The funding for this project is from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Congressman Dan Kildee helped pass.
“By upgrading our local airports, we can connect Michigan families to the rest of the world and ensure our small businesses can ship their products around the globe,” Kildee said.
Five years into its Focus on Flint initiative, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has published its second report designed to provide credible data and helpful information for residents and other community members. In 2019 and every year since, the Mott Foundation has commissioned a survey of Flint residents about eight key issues that affect quality of life. The new Focus on Flint report shows how residents’ feelings about key issues have – or have not – changed over the years.
Copies of the publication are available at various locations throughout the city. A complete list of pickup locations, as well as a digital version of the publication, can be found at focusonflint.org.
Fentura Financial, Inc., the parent company for The State Bank of Fenton, is merging with ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. Once the merger is finalized – likely in the first quarter of 2025 – it will create the third-largest publicly traded bank in Michigan with approximately $4.3 billion in total assets and 56 offices in the state.
The Genesee County Agricultural Society celebrated the Genesee County Fair’s 175th anniversary in August. Through the fair and other activities, the society aims to promote and educate the community in agriculture, the arts, and sciences.
Hurley Medical Center and McLaren Flint have both been nationally recognized with a Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Award for providing high-quality stroke care to patients. The recognition is provided by the American Heart Association.
“Patients experiencing cardiovascular events rely on efficient, coordinated care to survive,” said Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, past volunteer president of the American Heart Association and chair of the Association’s Quality Oversight Committee, in a news release announcing the 2024 award recipients. “These awardees put in the work to provide equitable, science-backed care in communities across the nation, ensuring all patients have the best chance of survival and the highest quality of life possible.”
Kettering University was ranked No. 8 on Vention’s list of “Best Institutions in the United States for Employability in Artificial Intelligence (AI).” Vention, a leading software development company, studied the latest graduate employment data from the U.S. Department of Education and considered factors such as job placement rates, median salaries, and career growth potential, among others, to determine the rankings.
The study evaluated 1,790 degree programs related to computer science, focusing on students’ employment status one year and four years after graduation. Kettering University’s Computer Science program emerged as a top performer, with graduates achieving a median salary of $91,590 four years after graduation.
Lear Corporation has acquired WIP Industrial Automation. Based in Spain, WIP Industrial Automation works with cutting-edge technologies to create automation solutions that are customized for production applications. The company also has a background in robotics and AI-based computer vision capabilities.
Additionally, McLaren Health Care has taken an ownership stake in Leo Cancer Care. Due to this investment McLaren Health Care Chief Administrative Officer Greg Lane will join the board of directors for Centaur Health Holdings, the holding company for Leo Cancer Care.
The Old Newsboys of Flint, Inc. celebrated its 100th anniversary. The nonprofit was formed when two of Detroit’s Old Newsboy Goodfellows visited Flint’s Buick Body Plant in 1924. With leaders from the factory, police captain, and several business and civic leaders, the Old Newsboys hit the streets for their first newspaper sale. That first year, 210 children across Genesee County found presents under the tree thanks to the organization; to date, more than 848,000 children have received gifts from Santa via the local nonprofit.
At the University of Michigan-Flint, Edward Kim, professor of practice at the College of Innovation & Technology, has launched Side Door Ventures–Michigan, a new venture fund aimed at driving technological advancement and economic growth in the state. Anchored by a $9.8 million commitment from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the $20 million fund will target seed and early-stage startups in emerging tech sectors such as advanced manufacturing, space tech, next-generation computing, mobility, and sustainability.
“This initiative promises to create new opportunities, further integrating UM-Flint into the state’s dynamic innovation and economic ecosystem and bringing further attention to Flint and the surrounding areas as an evolving innovation hub,” Kim said.
Victory Packaging has signed on to be the first tenant in the Flint Commerce Center, located on the former site of Buick City. Their specialty is high-end packaging. They have signed a five-year contract for the space.
Additionally, the developer behind the Flint Commerce Center, Ashley Capital, has been named by Commercial Property Executive as one of 2024’s top commercial property management companies. The rankings feature the top 30 firms across the nation and Ashley Capital ranked No. 17 in the list.