After enduring years of flat horizons and brutish winters, many Big Ten college graduates beat a hasty retreat to the West Coast, hoping to find careers and lifestyles a little more en vogue.
But a number of ex-Midwesterners are returning to the region after establishing themselves on the coasts. LeAnn Auer, executive Director of the
Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA) is one of them, and she’s working to ensure that more like her are returning to — and being retained by — the state of Michigan.
A native Midwesterner and Indiana University graduate, Auer spent the last 13 years in California, much of it working at
Barclay’s Global Investors in San Francisco, an institutional money management firm with over $1 trillion in assets. Last year, she and her young family moved back to her entrepreneur husband’s hometown of Ann Arbor. The Michigan Venture Capital Association, a nonprofit trade association representing private and corporate venture capital funds, quickly snapped her up as its first executive director early this past fall.
"I work to ensure the MVCA is further developed into an effective organization focused on boosting the venture capital industry here," she says.
Serving as the organization’s spokesperson, Auer’s management background at Barclay has turned out to be a good fit for working with MVCA’s ambitious board and running the nonprofit.
But with such extensive experience in trading and institutional money management, why leave the Bay Area? Ann Arbor, despite its charms, remains a college town better known for its liberal politics than its venture capital and private investment.
Auer — and friends of hers who have also made the return leap — says the job was something that came second. It was the environment that drew her.
"My husband and I met in San Francisco — but we always knew we’d move back to Ann Arbor," says Auer, who adds that she spent more time in California than she’d initially planned. The couple decided to migrate back to the Midwest when they had their daughter, now almost 2 years old.
Auer considers Ann Arbor "a big rival to Chicago," — the typical magnet for returning Midwesterners. Ann Arbor offers many big city advantages without actually being in a big city. Its highly regarded schools also help.
Since taking on her role at the MVCA, Auer says she’s met several other experienced business professionals, much like her, who have returned Southeast Michigan to join companies or transfer their skills to new enterprises.
"We’re seeing a trend of people moving back to Michigan," she says. "I think it says a lot about Ann Arbor — people who grew up here want to move back."
The Bay Area is widely considered one of — if not the — centers of the venture capital universe. It would be unfair to pattern the future of Southeast Michigan VC on the Bay Area community, as the regions have very different economic infrastructures. But there’s no reason why Michigan can’t improve upon its growing community to become a VC power in its own right. In many ways, the health of the state depends upon it.
"There are immediate goals to meet first," Auer says. "The MVCA is focused on implementing programs that meet [our] strategic goals: more capital, more entrepreneurial talent and more information about our industry."
Established with a $2.1 million grant from the state of
Michigan’s 21st Century Jobs fund, the MVCA’s three main programs revolve around developing abundant and accessible capital, talent and research.
"The programs are designed to address some of the things we don’t think are [necessarily] missing, but that we just don’t have enough of in the state," Auer says.
To promote successful and increased numbers of venture capital funds, the first MVCA program emphasizes the best investment of capital and establishing grant money for new VC funds. This could mean support for an existing venture capitalist starting a new fund or helping promising new partnerships to raise more money for their first fund.
"The more capital we have, the more that capital will grow," Auer says. "Having an abundance of capital in Michigan may increase investments made locally."
Beyond the need for 'walking around money,' however, it’s necessary to have the talent to manage new deals. This is where the MVCA’s Executive in Residence program comes in. The goal is to attract seasoned business professionals to Michigan while retaining the talent that is already here. This is especially important in light of
Pfizer’s recent announcement that it would pull out of Ann Arbor completely by 2008 and the state’s struggling automotive industry, which has seen a white-collar flight of senior employees to healthier companies on the west coast.
"One thing MVCA would love to see is abundant and accessible talent," Auer says.
"That’s why this pattern of relocating talent — myself included — is a key aspect to our industry."
Finally, because active centralization of the Michigan venture capital community is still a relatively new concept, the MVCA’s third major focus involves research. Numbers on how much capital is actually available in the state — and how much more Michigan needs — haven't ever before been collected by one centralized organization.
"Good research data is needed. What's been lacking are answers to questions like: How much capital is available for investment in Michigan? How many jobs have been created by venture capital investing? Who will invest in Michigan?" Auer says.
The results of such a full-scale project by the MVCA would not only help the venture capital and independent enterprise community, but also provide state legislators with the kind of data that lets them know just how important VC is to Michigan’s economic future. Auer describes this "town crier" duty as a vital role for the MVCA.
Even though the bulk of Michigan’s economic resources seem to be in the Southeast (and so are most of the VCs), Auer stresses the need to track venture capitalists throughout the entire state.
Ultimately, cultivating a strong and widespread venture capital community — starting with the MVCA’s three main goals — will lead to greater investment in Michigan and connect the state to national and international interests.
Auer estimates these three programs will be her main focus for the better part of the next two years. But after strengthening the framework of Michigan venture capital, she plans on staying to watch it grow.
This is good news to the board members at the MVCA, who are excited by the Executive in Residence and Fund Development program, launched under Auer’s young leadership.
"LeAnn’s enthusiasm for forwarding the MVCA’s mission — to grow and sustain a vibrant venture capital community in Michigan — was obvious in our first meeting," says current MVCA president and co-founder of Ann Arbor’s EDF ventures Mary Lincoln Campbell. "Her financial background, her years in California, and her love for the Midwest combine with her commitment and drive to make her the perfect MVCA executive director."
Kimberly Chou is a freelance writer living in Ann Arbor.
Photos:
LeAnn Auer
Photographs Copyright Peter Schottenfels