Oxford developer Chuck Schneider shook hands with the man who approached him while he was breaking up the concrete.
He stopped the work he was doing in front of the Farmer’s Market awning on N. Washington St. and let Rick Snyder introduce himself.
Snyder is seeking the Republican nomination to run for Michigan’s governor. He’s now crisscrossing the state spreading his message. His journey led him to Oxford last Thursday. And, though the streets were bare because of the rain, it didn’t slow Snyder down from mingling with the locals.
Schneider, Oxford Downtown Development Authority Vice Chair, shared his views and some laughs with Snyder.
After visiting with a few more people, Snyder got down to business and shared his view on the state of his native state.
‘Michigan is in economic disaster,? he said. ‘We have a family leaving every 12 minutes from our state. We have a 15 percent unemployment rate — that’s unacceptable.?
Snyder wants to reinvent the state and build a future for residents and small businesses.
‘Focus on our youth,? he added. ‘We have too many young people that are growing up in places like this and leaving the state because of the environment today. We want to try to keep them here and create a great environment for them.?
Snyder would like to see government employees treat citizens like customers.
‘It (government) should be a service to make you more successful,? he said. ‘Beyond that, other great things we can do are programs like you see here, the Oxford DDA is very successful and working with the village council. We need to connect communities. We need to get them talking to other communities because that is how we can create a whole region. Everyone wins.?
Snyder, 50, grew up in Battle Creek before serving as president and chief operations officer of computer-maker Gateway in the 1990s and is now head of Ardesta, an Ann Arbor-based investment firm he founded in 2000. He also is the chairman of Ann Arbor SPARK, an economic development organization formed by the University of Michigan and local and state government.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, Attorney General Mike Cox, State Senator Tom George and U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra also want the Republican nod to run for governor in the 2010 election. More are likely to throw their hat into the ring before the August primary next year.
Lt. Governor John Cherry and state Representative Alma Wheeler Smith are seeking the Democratic nomination.