When former Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Tony Saunders finished his assignment in Michigan’s Great Southwest three years ago he essentially jumped from the frying pan directly into the fire by taking on the Herculean task of a turnaround for Michigan’s largest county — Wayne County. Now after three years in that role, Saunders has announced plans to cook a few things up for himself in the private sector. He is leaving to launch a private sector firm that will specialize in what he has done in the public sector for the past seven or eight years — turnaround, private equity and municipal finance.
Saunders has been Chief Restructuring & Financial Officer for Wayne County since wrapping up his stint as Benton Harbor’s Emergency Manager as assigned by Governor Rick Snyder. He held that post in 2013 and 2014 to help lead the turnaround of the city’s financial books before state control ended, and was returned to local control by the City Commission.
While Saunders has tendered his resignation this week, he won’t leave immediately, instead remaining in his current role while Wayne County searches for his replacement.
Warren Evans is Wayne County Executive. He says, “We don’t get where we are today in Wayne County with Tony Saunders. His work stabilizing our finances has been remarkable.” Evans adds, “Tony’s a turnaround specialist, that’s why we recruited him. But Wayne County is in its best financial shape in years and we’ve restored stability. We knew once we did, a young, passionate guy like Tony would be out there seeing where else he could deploy his talents.”
With Saunders overseeing its finances and sticking to its Recovery Plan, the county eliminated its $52-million structural deficit and $82-million accumulated deficit while posting back-to-back budget surpluses in the last two fiscal years, resulting in an accumulated unassigned surplus of more than $80-million.
During Saunder’s tenure at Wayne County, he also reduced unfunded legacy costs from $2.4-billion to approximately $1-billion. Additionally, the county garnered numerous bond upgrades from financial rating institutions, including three upgrades from Moody’s in less than two years. In fact, last October Wayne County exited a consent agreement with the state after just 14 months, disproving many who believed they were headed to bankruptcy.
Saunders, who has already pieced together a crew to launch his new business, hasn’t selected a name for the institution as yet, however he says, “I like being thrown into a problem and finding a solution when everyone says you can’t.” He thanked Evans for his “steady leadership” and for allowing him “to work on some of the most challenging fiscal issues facing a county anywhere in the nation,” and punctuates his close by saying, “It’s been a wild, but rewarding, few years.”
Richard Kaufman is Deputy County Executive for Wayne County. He says, “Tony’s going to excel wherever he goes and we’ll miss him. He made a hell of an impact here.”
While working for Wayne County, Saunders was recognized as one of Crain’s Detroit Business'” 40 Under 40 in 2015 and won the 2017 African-American Leadership Institute Emerging Leader Award.
Prior to his municipal stints with Benton Harbor and Wayne County, Saunders served as a Director at Conway MacKenzie, a corporate turnaround firm based in Birmingham, outside of Detroit, and has also served in advisory roles for the Michigan Department of Treasury and the Detroit City Council.
The 31-year old Saunders says he will base his new turnaround firm in Detroit and will specialize in helping bail municipalities nationwide out of financial straights.
