Business Leaders For Michigan Hires Donofrio To Succeed Rothwell As CEO

LANSING- Business Leaders for Michigan hired of Jeff Donofrio to succeed Doug Rothwell in leading the organization, which aims to make Michigan a Top Ten state for jobs, personal incomes and a healthy economy by championing specific public policy initiatives.

Donofrio’s hiring is effective Nov. 30, and he will spend a month in transition with Rothwell before Rothwell departs at year-end.

Donofrio was chosen after a national search, due in part to his extensive policy experience at the federal, state and local levels. He comes to Business Leaders for Michigan after having served as Director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), in charge of coordinating and streamlining the state’s workforce and economic development programs to meet business and labor needs and grow communities where all Michiganders have equal opportunities to reach their fullest potential. Prior to LEO, Donofrio served as the Executive Director of Workforce Development for the City of Detroit and as an executive at Ford Motor Company.

“Jeff is well-known for being a strategic thinker and a problem solver,” said Gerry Anderson, Business Leaders for Michigan Board Chair and Executive Chairman of DTE. “We know what our challenges are as a state, and we hired a new leader who can advance toward solving them. Those who have worked with Jeff know that he has the passion, the forward-looking leadership and the capabilities to make a transformational impact.”

Jeff Donofrio said: “I’m excited to continue working on behalf of Michigan to increase career opportunities and income for residents, make the state more competitive in attracting talent and improve our economic standing. I look forward to using my career experience to help build on the tremendous work Doug Rothwell and Business Leaders for Michigan have been doing for the past 10 years. Skilled workforce training, K-12 education and working to reduce racial inequities will be chief among my initial priorities in leading the organization.”

During his tenure at LEO, Donofrio successfully implemented numerous workforce development programs designed to train Michiganders as skilled workers for in-demand jobs, including Sixty by 30, Michigan’s goal to increase the number of working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree from 49 percent today to 60 percent by 2030.

“We’re looking forward to having Jeff on board and moving Michigan to Top Ten status in the coming years,” Anderson said. “And our Board wishes to express publicly our immense gratitude to Doug for standing up this organization and leading us in work that yielded tremendous progress over the past 10 years.”