- MEDC’s governing body meets, does not mention criminal charges against ex-member, criticism of grant oversight
- The executive committee board chair also would not comment after a closed session
- Critics say public accountability by the MEDC is part of its ‘fiduciary responsibility’
LANSING — With criminal charges against a former board member fueling new calls to abolish or reform the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, it was business as usual for the agency’s governing body that met Tuesday in Lansing.
Both CEO Quentin Messer Jr. and the MEDC’s executive committee remained mum on the controversy.
Committee Chair Christina Grossi declined to answer Bridge Michigan questions a week after the charges against ex-board member Fay Baydoun, a businesswoman who leveraged her political connections to obtain and allegedly misuse a $20 million state earmark administered by the MEDC.
Messer, who remains a “potential target” in the ongoing investigation, did not take questions after delivering a 10-minute report to the committee.
“I tell my peers across the nation I still have the best job in economic development,” Messer said during his presentation, which highlighted staff visits to businesses and organizations that had received state funding and offered a 2027 budget timeline.
Related:
- Nessel: Businesswoman stole from state, tapped political ties for $20M grant
- MEDC chief: ‘I was not aware’ of $20M state business grant caught in probe
- Records: Beydoun, other MEDC officials skipped conflict of interest reports
The committee later went into a “closed session,” meeting in private to discuss “information or records” allowed to be treated as privileged under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, according to Grossi.
The committee — made up of gubernatorial appointees, most picked by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer since 2019 — largely attended via videoconferencing. Only Grossi returned to the meeting room after the closed session to adjourn.
The Beydoun charges stem from funding awarded by the Legislature in 2022, when Beydoun sat on the executive committee that oversees MEDC policy and operations.
In announcing the charges last week, Attorney General Dana Nessel said she was concerned the MEDC did not investigate expenses submitted by Beydoun after she’d received the first $10 million of the grant.
An investigative affidavit cites several examples of questionable spending, including a French-language receipt for $6,000 in Tunisian rugs that the MEDC did not translate, and a $40,800 lease for apartments with addresses that were vacant lots.
But none of that was publicly addressed by the executive committee on Tuesday, as it met in Lansing.
The lack of public accountability following the criminal charges is troubling, Cindy Warner, former member of the Michigan Strategic Fund, which is the public funding body for the MEDC, told Bridge. Asking questions is part of the committee’s “fiduciary responsibility” to taxpayers, she added.
“They don’t ask (Messer) anything,” Warner said. “They don’t hold him accountable for anything. And I would challenge them to say, ‘Where is your level of accountability?’”
Messer ‘relatively pleased’ with job performance
Nessel first identified Messer as a potential target in the Beydoun probe in September 2025. But an internal performance evaluation finalized in February showed MEDC staff, customers and supervisors thought Messer’s work generally “meets expectations,” according to documents obtained by Bridge under the Freedom of Information Act.
It was his third positive evaluation in as many years, resulting in pay raises for 2024 and 2025 along with the possibility of performance bonuses, which in 2024 could have ranged from 6.5 to 10%.
Messer has not received a pay increase this year, according to an MEDC spokesperson. His base pay is $343,118.75.
“I have been relatively pleased with my ability to remain focused on the MEDC’s performance amid headwinds,” Messer wrote in a self-evaluation this year. ”While room for improvement remains, the MEDC can look back on a challenging 2025 knowing that it can weather difficult, unforecasted storms.”
One commenter, whose name and role was not disclosed, agreed: “Quentin has led MEDC through arguably the most volatile time in the organization’s history.”
However, the strategic fund board gave Messer a low score — 2.2 out of 5 — in the category of “continuous self-improvement.”
Wrote one unidentified manager: “It is difficult to articulate a concise assessment of how effectively the organization is progressing toward its stated goals. … The long-term strategy is not clearly communicated, making it challenging to evaluate priorities, success metrics, or overall impact.”
Critics allege ‘train wreck’
The MEDC has faced public scrutiny and mounting pressure since at least June 2025, when investigators working for Nessel raided the agency’s offices in Lansing, signaling escalation of the probe.
Lawmakers cut funding for the MEDC last fall. This year’s budget proposals vary. Whitmer’s plan would restore the site readiness portion of the high-dollar Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve, while the House budget cuts more MEDC funding.
“There continues to be ongoing negotiations,” Messer said in his presentation.
The MEDC has been “a train wreck for a long time,” state Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, said Tuesday in Lansing during a press conference calling on Democratic politicians to return any political donations from Beydoun.
Runestad, also chair of the Michigan Republican Party, said agency spending on failed projects added to his concern about the relationship between Messer and Beydoun.
“This should never have been allowed,” Runestad said, “that she’s on the board … being a part of the approval process as the guardrails to oversee her very own grant.”
Meanwhile, Michelle Grinnell, MEDC’s chief communications officer, told Bridge that the attorney general’s investigation is “ongoing,” so the agency would not release additional information.
“We’re always improving policies and procedures,” Grinnell said, describing the MEDC as supportive of new earmark rules adopted by the Legislature after the Beydoun investigation was announced.
Bridge reporter Jordyn Hermani contributed to this report.
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