David C. Hollister is President & CEO of Prima Civitas Foundation, a new nonprofit organization based in Lansing, that aims at taking a regional approach to boosting Michigan’s economy. The organization is focusing on the promotion of four different industries that present job opportunities for area residents.  Those include life sciences, advanced manufacturing, alternative energy and homeland security.

Mayor Hollister was appointed as Director of the Michigan Department of Consumer & Industry Services in January 2003 by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. On December 8, 2003, CIS joined with the Michigan Department of Career Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and Michigan Broadband Development Authority to form the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth.  Under Mayor Hollister’s leadership, this new department addressed labor, economic growth, and urban development issues in the State of Michigan.

Mayor Hollister has dedicated his entire life to public service. He began his career as a high school teacher in the 1960s after graduating with honors from Michigan State University. His political career began during his tenure as a teacher in the Lansing Public Schools, when he was elected in 1968 as an Ingham County Commissioner, serving through 1974.

In 1974, Mayor Hollister launched a successful campaign for the Michigan House of Representatives, where he served until 1993. He quickly became recognized as one of the top ten legislators, serving on the powerful Appropriations Committee for 16 years and chairing the Appropriations Subcommittee on Social Services for over a decade.

In 1993, Mayor Hollister ran a successful campaign for Mayor of the City of Lansing and was re-elected to his third term in a landslide victory in November 2001. Hollister’s successes as Mayor included over $2.9 billion in investments, including building a new regional transportation center downtown, bringing minor league baseball to Lansing, and striking a partnership with the State of Michigan that includes new buildings for the Legislature, the Supreme Court, and various other departments. Regional partnerships were created with local governments to enable location of a major insurance company’s corporate world headquarters in Lansing and development of a new golf course and upscale housing development. One of the Mayor’s most exciting successes was the commitment by General Motors to consolidate operations and build two new state-of-the-art assembly plants in Lansing.