LANSING ? Governor-elect Rick Snyder Friday announced the appointment of William Rustem, owner of Public Sector Consultants, as Director of Strategy in his new administration. Snyder also appointed Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Michael Finney and Central Michigan University Trustee Stephanie Comai to his Transition team.

Rustem will help the Snyder administration implement the policies and initiatives needed to reinvent Michigan.

“Bill understands how to implement good policy and make government more responsive to the people it serves,” Snyder said. “Bill will help my administration implement the vision to reinvent state government so it brings value to people’s lives.”

Finney shares Governor-elect Snyder’s views that Michigan must re-focus its economic development efforts on existing businesses, helping them grow and succeed here in Michigan. The two worked together at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, after which Finney went on to head Ann Arbor SPARK, which is one of the most successful community-based economic development programs in the country. As an Ann Arbor venture capitalist and entrepreneur, Snyder wrote the Ann Arbor SPARK business plan.

Comai, who served in numerous roles in the Engler administration, made her mark on state government by leading the effort to make all of the state’s online services and information available through a web portal at a time when other states were struggling to find useful ways to use the Internet.

“Stephanie and Michael are uniquely qualified to help me build an administration that is ready to reinvent Michigan,” the governor-elect said. “With their help, we are assembling a government as diverse as Michigan and led by the most qualified professionals from the public and private sectors.”

Rustem owns Public Sector Consultants and serves as the firm’s president and CEO. In that role, he has directed numerous studies on the status of Michigan cities, wastewater treatment needs, recycling and land use.

Rustem is well-versed on environmental issues, having served as former Governor William Milliken’s chief staff advisor on environmental matters and as interim director of the Toxic Substances Control Commission. He was also instrumental in the 1976 campaign for Michigan’s bottle deposit law and helped create Michigan’s Natural Resources Trust Fund.

Rustem is also an adjunct professor at Michigan State University.

Prior to Joining Ann Arbor SPARK, Finney served as president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise in New York and as vice president in charge of emerging business sectors for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Finney also has been rumored to be the next MEDC president.

Comai is a member of the Central Michigan University Board of Trustees, appointed to a term ending December 31, 2010. Comai previously served under former Governor John Engler as a special adviser for information technology and as director of the e-Michigan office. As director of the e-Michigan Office, Comai was responsible for the launch of a new web portal providing access to all of the state’s online services and information.

Prior to her appointment to e-Michigan, Comai served as the director of state government affairs for Governor Engler and worked in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Labor.

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