Michigan Economic Development Foundation (MEDF)

MEDF should not be confused with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), which is the state’s primary economic development agency. ⁶

Overview

The Michigan Economic Development Foundation was created in 1984 by major businesses in Michigan to support the state’s economic development programs.  ⁷ It is best known for its financial support for overseas trade missions by Michigan’s elected and appointed officials.  ^{5  1} In 2024, the MEDF reported spending $453,860 in support of seven overseas missions. ⁸

Leadership

The governor of Michigan is ex officio the Michigan Economic Development Foundation’s honorary chair and occasionally attends its board meetings.  ⁷

The president of the MEDF’s board is Jeff Stoutenberg, the director of state government affairs for Dow Chemical and a former Republican staffer in the Michigan State House of Representatives. ⁹

Rebecca Bahar-Cook is the MEDF’s executive director.  ⁸ She is the CEO of Capitol Fundraising Associates, which received $84,000 in management fees from the MEDF in 2024. ^{10  8} She is also an elected trustee of Michigan State University, running on the Democratic Party ticket. ¹¹

Controversies

For much of its existence, the Michigan Economic Development Foundation received little attention from media, legislators, or the public. This changed in 2025, when a series of high-profile failures of major state-subsidized projects and a $20 million grant to an MEDC executive committee member drove a wave of investigative journalism and legislative inquiries into the state’s economic development operations, including the MEDF’s funding of overseas trips. ^{12  13}

Lack of Transparency

The Michigan Economic Development Foundation has been criticized by both Republican and Democratic state legislators and transparency advocates for its unwillingness to fully disclose information about its donors. ^{7  14}

In October 2025, the Michigan House of Representatives’ oversight committee for the state’s economic development programs held two hearings into the MEDF’s activities and operations. Both Republican chairman Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers) and Democratic minority vice chairman Dylan Wegela (D-Westland) expressed deep concerns about the MEDF’s operations, with Rep. Carra telling the MEDF’s representative, “the people of Michigan want to know more about what money is going to the MEDF and how it’s being spent.”  ⁷

In testimony to the committee, MEDF counsel Eric Doster characterized the group as being “a charity like the Red Cross, like a church, a hospital, a school,” and characterized its willingness to identify the corporations that had received board seats in return for donating $25,000 or more in a year as “extraordinary disclosure.”  ⁷ Doster claimed that the MEDF “is far more transparent than nonprofits typically are,” but declined a request by lawmakers to publicly provide more information about the sources or uses of the MEDF’s donor dollars, calling it “a no good deed goes unpunished question.” ⁷

“Pay for Access” Model

Critics contend that the Michigan Economic Development Foundation serves as a mechanism for large corporations to purchase access to and goodwill from elected and appointed officials who can direct large government subsidies to those corporations. ^{14  3}

In October 2025 testimony to the Michigan House economic development oversight subcommittee, John Mozena of the Center for Economic Accountability, a center-right think tank, testified that at least 20 of the 29 donor companies disclosed by the MEDF had received “some form of tax abatement, grant, or other subsidy from Michigan,” based on his research using databases compiled by the left-of-center advocacy group Good Jobs First. ^{15  14}

An investigation by the Detroit News found that companies with MEDF board seats in 2024 had received roughly $2.2 billion in economic development subsidies from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation during the administration of Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D). ²

The Detroit News also uncovered that in June 2022, Governor Whitmer had hosted an MEDF donor appreciation event at her official residence that appeared to potentially violate state law by using the state’s official seal to promote a private entity.  ⁴ While the governor’s representatives described the event as “a briefing on the state of Michigan’s economy for some of our state’s largest employers and local economic development organizations,” the invitation sent to attendees read, “Governor Gretchen Whitmer requests the pleasure of your company at a reception to honor the Michigan Economic Development Foundation,” and MEDC internal documents described the event as the “MEDF annual reception that includes current and potential contributors.” ⁴

Potential Lobbying Violations

In November 2025, former Michigan Chamber of Commerce general counsel Robert LeBrant filed a complaint with state regulators alleging that the Michigan Economic Development Foundation’s activities amounted to undisclosed lobbying activities, as its board members regularly engaged in activities meeting Michigan’s legal definition of lobbying as “direct communication with a public official for the purpose of influencing administrative action.” ⁵

Many of the MEDF’s board members are registered lobbyists for their respective employers. ³

Funding

As a charitable nonprofit, the Michigan Economic Development Foundation is not required to disclose its donors. On its website, it provides a list of “Board Level Partner” corporations that have donated $25,000 and above, as well as a list of “Corporate Partners” that have donated undisclosed amounts under $25,000. ¹⁶