A Michigan businessman who lives almost as far north as you can go and still be in the state of Michigan has founded an organization he calls All Business is Essential, and he is calling for what he terms “peaceful economic disobedience against un-constitutional executive orders.”
Erik Kiilunen lives in the the tiny town of Ahmeek, about 40 miles southwest of Copper Harbor on the Keweenaw Peninsula in the northernmost reaches of upper Michigan. His town had a population in the 2010 census of 146 people.
Kiilunen identifies himself as a business owner, entrepreneur and founder of All Business is Essential, and he contends that the executive orders from Michigan’s Governor and those in other states are not only un-constitutional, but they have “deprived American citizens of their right to attend to their businesses, their livelihoods, and their jobs.”
Kiilunen is “encouraging business owners of all sizes to engage in Economic Disobedience” by opening their place of business regardless of such executive orders, adding, “Michigan and the USA need commerce. Without it, the poverty created by their absence will cause far greater suffering than anything that COVID-19 will ever lead to now.” He makes a point of noting, “I’ve opened my business as an example to others.”
Since its launch on April 27th, Kiilunen’s GoFundMe page has raised more than $21,000 in contributions against a goal of $50,000 from other Americans who support his message of economic freedom. He plans to use the money for billboard messages on his quest.
The Upper Peninsula man is already erecting billboards with his message in Grand Rapids, Detroit and Howell thus far, with plans to place them elsewhere across the country, and suggests that this is only the beginning, noting, “In what is poised to be one of the most fundamentally American uprisings in US history, All Business is Essential is ready to take on anti-constitutional decrees.”
Kiiliunen contends, “All business is essential, and the government, and state governors, do not have the legal authority to pick and choose who has the right to work and feed their families, and who doesn’t. Ask a single mother running a hair salon and using the profits generated to care for her special needs child if her business is essential.”
Kiilunen has been manufacturing products for 27 years, with 4 acquisitions, 5 start-ups and 1 exit to his credit. Under his holding company Kiilunen Manufacturing Group, he is currently CEO of Neuvokas Corporation, a producer of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer Rebar and is also a business partner in EcoStud, which markets recycled thermoplastic framing and furring products, Dirt Bag Inc., a manufacturer of computer filters and monitor covers, and Superior Polymer Products, a spray-foam insulation company. For 14 years he was also the Chief Operating Officer of Weld Mold Company, a manufacturer and marketer of tool and die welding alloys and more in Brighton, Michigan, a company founded by his grandfather midway between Detroit and Lansing.
Two years ago Kiilunen’s Neuvokas Corporation made to an elite list of The Most Fundable Companies in the nation, an initiative launched in the United States by the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School and the Venture Alliance to point investors towards the most promising start-ups. That list of 15 early-stage U.S. start-ups identified as the most promising for investors, included Neuvokas as 7th ranked in the U.S. The firm had competed against thousands of early-stage U.S. companies with less than $10 million in annual revenue to be named one of the most fundable companies in the United States.
Last August, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation featured Kiilunen in an episode of their video series, “Entrepreneurs in Elevators,” and in October, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist made a visit to his facilities, posing for pictures with Kiilunen, while he was making a swing through the Upper Peninsula.
You can follow the progress of Kiilunen’s fundraising efforts at the link below:
