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Guests

Ron Kitchens

For over 28 years, Ron Kitchens has pursued his belief that “the best social program in the world is a well-paying job.”  His path for doing so has been in the field of economic development and has taken Ron all over the world from Vancouver to Melbourne, sharing Southwest Michigan First’s best practices.  Ron has cast the vision for the Southwest Michigan First Group of Companies, the organization he has led since 2005.  Currently, his organization has been tasked by Governor Snyder to lead a collaboration effort built around economic development in the eight counties making Southwest Michigan and take the lead on several of the state’s attraction efforts.  For more on Ron, go to: http://www.southwestmichiganfirst.com/about_us/ron_kitchens_bio.cfm?team=1.

Interested in learning more about the Kalamazoo region's economic growth? Community Capitalism is a book written by Ron Kitchens, Heather Smith, the Vice President for Communications for Southwest Michigan First, and New York Times "Economic View" columnist, Daniel Gross. Community Capitalism details the long-term strategy for economic growth of Kalamazoo, Michigan. In particular, it describes that for a community to be economically viable, the community must address the resources of place, capital, infrastructure, talent, and education simultaneously. The reviews on Amazon are glowing – and many written by Kalamazoo residents. Community Capitalism is available for sale from Amazon and other online retailers.

Other links of interest:

Southwest Michigan First's Website: http://www.southwestmichiganfirst.com/
Find them on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/FOkpvK
Follow them on Twitter: @swmfirst

Follow Ron Kitchens on Twitter: @ronkitchens