Trevor Pawl is the Chief Mobility Officer for the State of Michigan, and leads the Michigan’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. In this position, Pawl is responsible for working across state government, academia and private industry to grow Michigan’s mobility ecosystem through strategic policy recommendations and new support services for companies focused on the future of transportation.

 

Prior to this position, Pawl served as the Senior Vice President of Business Innovation at the MEDC, where he led the official state programs for mobility (PlanetM), supply chain assistance (Pure Michigan Business Connect), export assistance (Michigan International Trade program) and entrepreneurial assistance (Michigan Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program).

 

Before joining the MEDC, Pawl brought with him experience in supply chain matchmaking, having led the creation of the economic development program, Connection Point, at the Detroit Regional Chamber, which later became Pure Michigan Business Connect.

 

Trevor has been named Crain’s Detroit Business’s “40 Under 40” and “50 Names to Know in Government”. He’s also been named Development Counsellors International’s “40 Under 40 Rising Stars of Economic Development” and the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council’s “Government Advocate of the Year”.

 

Pawl holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Marketing from Grand Valley State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Detroit Mercy.

Dave Trumpie and Kevin Schumacher didn’t know each other before Rotary, but enjoyed cycling and camping this past weekend through parts of the North Country Scenic Trail in the Manistee National Forest (due East of Ludington). The trail is marked by blue blazes on trees that you can see on the attached picture. If you get together with other Rotarians outside of our Friday lunch (boat rides? Hobbies? I’d even accept golf pictures), send a picture in to the Rotogram and we’ll expand our Rotary comradery to the next level. Just an fyi, Dave’s an awesome photographer, but when doing selfies with others, he frequently does this signature shot of only half his face getting into the frame. Close enough if you’re riding with a Yooper.

The following members have recently elected to resign from our Club:

At 12:30 President Sue opened the meeting with the ringing of the Rotary bell.

 

In keeping with the entertainment theme of our speaker, Patrick Hanes played his guitar and sang the invocation – well some might call it singing. The message of the song, You’ll Never Walk Alone from Carousel, was on point as an anthem of support for the medical and theatre communities.

 

We all joined in the singing of the patriotic song, America.

 

Chris Holman brought a guest, Jordan Munster of High Caliber Carting at the north end of Meridian Mall. Wayne Williams thanked all Rotarians who called during the COVID-19 seclusion, and introduced Jim Barnes, of Williams Auto World.

 

Diane Sanborn announced the health of the club was good.

 

A recognition of the Medal of Honor recipient Navy Ensign Francis Flaherty was announced. Ensign Flaherty was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

Ken Beachler introduced Adam Woolsey with a glowing review. Adam did not disappoint as he performed Someone to Watch Over Me and Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You both in stellar voice. John Dale Smith wowed us with a piano solo.

 

Chair of the Month and Day, Rebecca Bahar-Cook introduced our speaker, Emily Sutton-Smith, who has a listing on IMDb and can perform 10 dialects.

 

Ms. Sutton-Smith talked about the history, surviving the pandemic, and the future of the Williamston Theatre. The theater was started in 2004 and xis a professional resident theater that brings 11,000 visitors per year to Williamston. It has helped spur Williamston into a thriving “foodie” hotspot.

 

The theater closed a show on March 1, 2020 and began work on the next show. Several times they thought they would be able to begin their next production, but had to keep pivoting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They ended up losing an entire season.

 

80% of the theater’s attendees are from outside Williamston so they wanted to keep people coming to support local businesses.

 

In the most recent pivot, the Williamston Theatre has started a Strolling Story Series with a historic walking tour of Williamston – “The Fire Tour” gives some local history, and there are several others in the series, including “Harriet Oriana,” an audio play and “Voices of the Midwest,” an interview with Philip Effiong who survived the civil war in Nigeria.

 

The Williamston Theatre’s goals for the 2021-2022 season are (1) Re-Open (2) Stay Open (3) Keep Everyone Safe. We all hope they are able to meet those goals!

 

President Sue thanked Emily Sutton-Smith for her presentation and announced that in lieu of a speaker’s gift we will be making a donation in his honor to a local organization through our Lansing Rotary Foundation which has, over the history of our club, given in excess of $2,000,000 to local organizations and projects.

 

Posted by Chris Swope, chris.swope@lansingmi.gov