“This is a community that when we get our arms around doing something, we flat out get it done.” That’s the good news from Whirlpool Corporate Vice President Jeff Noel. The not so good news is that nobody in the room tonight raised their hand to indicate they felt that Berrien County is leading in some of the key indicators that are important to all of us, and Noel says, “If you don’t think the county is leading, and we’ve got data that says Michigan itself isn’t leading, either, does that give us what we want in terms of the kind of future we’re hoping for? Probably not.”
Noel, who heads up Corporate Communications & Public Relations for the appliance giant, gave the Lakeshore Chamber leaders and membership a great overview of the community at Tosi’s Restaurant tonight, but also some stark realities that maybe the community isn’t working hard enough to achieve the level of success that the Business Leaders for Michigan are also working diligently to achieve — Top 10 status not only as a state, but as a local community.
Noel was the inaugural speaker in the Lakeshore Chamber’s new Leadership Connection series designed to analyze the leadership skills and talents required to advance the community down the path to increased growth and prosperity for the businesses, organizations and individuals that call Michigan’s Great Southwest their home.
Make no mistake, Noel has deep appreciation and admiration for the community, saying that he’s been here since November of 1993, and despite other lucrative opportunities to advance his economic development career in such communities as Charleston, South Carolina…Memphis, Tennessee…the state of Hawaii and even with state government in Lansing, there are a myriad of reasons why his family is still here.
Citing the quality of the local school systems and the can-do spirit of an effervescent volunteer community that has allowed the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship to be held here four times and already have more than a thousand signed up for the next run two years from now, that’s a great track record when many other communities would struggle mightily to ever find that level of commitment from its people.
Weaving many personal stories and successes from the community-at-large through his keynote address, Noel called it a pleasure to serve as President of the Bluffside Association to bring the amenities below the bluff from concept to reality, creating a neighborhood that is now a destination attraction. He noted, “People emerged from the woodwork to financially support that reality,” adding, “The number of people who stepped foreward to say ‘You’ve created a vision after nearly a year of open and transparent discussion of what to do with the property below the bluff, and we’ll write checks, volunteer, and make that project become a reality.'”
From his time as President of Cornerstone Alliance, Noel cited rehabilitation of the Fidelity Building that sat empty for 30 years…the Harbortown Building that had been empty for 35 years…four brand new factories inside the city limits of Benton Harbor…demolition of the House of David Cold Storage behemoth of a building, saying, “The things that this community does, are just plain remarkable.”
He also addressed support for public schools…the people who rallied around creation of the Hanson Technology Center at Lake Michigan College, and other projects suggesting, “I just marvel at a community that is the most generous, spirited community that I know.”
Nevertheless, the dynamic community champion is not personally satisfied and suggests that his audience shouldn’t be either, asking bluntly, “Are we happy with where we’re going and what else do we need to make sure we’re doing so that this community continues to be special in the way that it needs to?”
Briefly recapping the modern day success story of Whirlpool’s refusal to just maintain the status quo, Noel applauded the vision of former Chairman & CEO David Whitwam who essentially cautioned that “if we don’t get off of our butts and get focused on innovation and going global, we are going to become a commoditized industry.”
He notes when Whirlpool acquired Maytag and continued to build a strong portfolio of brands, competitors of that day fell by the wayside while those companies on the fringe became major competitors in a “disruption of the marketplace,” that forced everyone to get better.
When Whirlpool moved its cooking technology engineering team from Dayton, the community had to step up and convince everyone that they could efficiently assimilate 180 new families into the community. In return, they pledged to maintain 2,435 jobs locally for the ensuing ten year period. That was in 2002. Today, he says Whirlpool has in excess of 4,000 jobs in the community, has invested $385-Million in the community, and shed some 17 leased facilities while building a new three-phase North American Headquarters at the Riverview Campus in downtown Benton Harbor while converting old and dying warehouse space into a dynamic new refrigeration technology center bringing still more jobs from Evansville, Indiana. While he called it a good business decision, he says it also reflected the company’s commitment to Southwest Michigan.
Still, Noel cautions…we need to continue to ask, “What do we as a community need to do going forward to improve, to anticipate the unknown,” wondering, “What else could happen?”
While pointing with pride to Whirlpool’s addition of nearly 2,000 jobs and that massive investment, he says Lakeland Health has added some 1,500 to 1,800 in the same time period, “Yet…how are we doing as an economy?” Going a step further he asked, “In the last 10-12 years has Berrien County gained in population? Have we gained in employment? Are we getting younger or older as a community?”
Concurring that this is “A very, very special place,” Noel adds, “But, we need to ask ourselves, are we as leaders providing the type of community that we really want for our children and grandchildren?” He says, “Let’s forget about Whirlpool for a second. Wouldn’t it be really cool if we could figure out a way to grow this area, to add employment, add jobs, add funding for our local schools, even as Whirlpool were just an afterthought?” He says, “I would hope that would be our goal as a collective community.”
To reassure the Chamber membership, Noel punctuated his questions saying, Whirlpool’s not going anywhere. Marc Bitzer is a great leader who has already said as long as we can attract and retain great talent, we’re going to be right here. Set aside for a second, that we’ve been a big part of this community. We’re proud to be part of this community, but I’m going to ask the question once again, ‘Are we really happy with where we’re going, and what else can we be doing as a community?'”
He ventured into a series of data points that show Michigan is gaining ground but still lagging, saying, “Based on most things, population, per capita income, GDP, all that good kind of stuff, does Berrien County lead in terms of the 82 counties in Michigan relative to the economic performance of the state? Are we in the bottom 50?”
Diving deeper he says, “If we’re not doing as well as we want, how’s the state doing? We’re doing a whole lot better than we used to, when we were in the very cellar. But, we’re still not where we want to be. We’re still 33rd in GDP, 31st in per capita income, 30th in employment even though we’ve lead the nation in employment growth, we’re still 30th. We’re still 30th in terms of funding for roads. We’re the 9th oldest state in the U.S. We’re 29th in terms of career readiness, but we’ve moved up and that’s a good thing. But we still have issues statewide like being 46th in 4th grade deficiency, 25th in 7th grade math, and those are facts from the Business Leaders for Michigan research.”
Citing Bluffside, Harbor Shores, Hope 6 affordable housing efforts, the Jimmy Carter Project that built 22 homes, the complete rebuild of Main Street in Benton Harbor and gubernatorial tax credits for affordable housing, Noel admitted, “When this community rallies around getting things together, we can make a big difference. That’s what’s so special about it.”
Denying a total picture of doom and gloom, he also recalled the words of another former Whirlpool leader, CEO Bud Gray who asked, “If not now, when…and if not us, who?” He urge his audience of business leaders, “We need to make a difference in our community. We need to come together – business, government, academia – to get the job done. We have never experienced the slide and fall as fast as many other communities, but we also don’t rebound back as fast and far as others, so we’re kind of in this trading zone that’s stuck in the middle. I would argue that if you all were to rally around, and put our arms around the issues, we can make a difference. Let’s make it happen.”
Again sharing Business Leaders for Michigan data, Noel says if Michigan became a top 10 state again, there would be 35,000 more jobs in the state, we would experience a $9,500 more person increase in per capita income, and there would be an $11,700 increase in the GDP, which generates taxes, revenues, funds, for schools, roads, and more.”
Rhetorically he asked, “If Berrien County were to rise to the top 20-percent in Michigan and we elect the right leadership to continue the transformation for our state, how many more people would we have living in Berrien County? What kind of a wage increase could happen locally with that kind of growth? What kind of additional resources would we have to fix the holes in the road?”
Noel argues, “Those are the opportunities. We want to stay here, but the one obstacle that sometimes holds our community back is when we get too comfortable when we say that with the likes of Whirlpool, Leco, and the Cook Nuclear plant, ‘We don’t have a lot to worry about.’ That’s not the attitude of a community that wants to be top 10 and top 20. I would argue that this community that I have seen, this community that I have worked with when it really gets its heart set and its arms around it, wants to be a winner. And it is a winner. And that’s when things happen.”
As he neared the end of his comments, Noel said, “You all have said that you want to make a difference. I am convinced that we need to grow our community without thinking about what Whirlpool’s going to do. So let’s grow our community because it’s the right thing to do and Whirlpool will grow right along with you. We need to sit around the collective table and say we’re proud to want to be in the top 10 or 20 in the state and then work like the dickens to help Michigan continue to grow because we all grow with it. That’s where I hope we’ll go.”
In conclusion, the Whirlpool exec said, “I would encourage us all as residents of Michigan’s Great Southwest to say, ‘What do you want to be as a community 10 years from now, with or without Whirlpool, with or without Leco, with or without Cook Nuclear,’ and the reality is we control that, and we shouldn’t depend upon those companies to tell us what we want.” He challenged, “We should decide for ourselves, and then go out there and make it happen. We’re all part of the community, companies and individuals, and that’s the real hidden power of Michigan’s Great Southwest, if we approach it in those ways. It’s a powerful thing. Don’t overlook what all has been done, and don’t be afraid to take the risks of what you can do as individuals and collectively as a group to do still more for all of us.”
