As he prepares to step down, Cornerstone Alliance President Rob Cleveland is reflecting on a busy nine years.
Cleveland is leaving Southwest Michigan next month and heading off to Louisiana for a new economic development position. We asked him about some of the biggest things Cornerstone has accomplished in his time and he said COVID was a major challenge.
“All the work we did around the COVID recovery, and Cornerstone had some of our own projects,” Cleveland said. “We worked with Kinexus, we worked with Berrien Community Development on a couple of those projects. But the whole process during COVID and the relief and the recovery is something that I’m proud of.”
Other projects have been work showcasing the community to investors during the Senior PGA Championship events at Harbor Shores. Cleveland says a lot has been done to prepare the region for major job providers.
“The strategic site readiness. We’ve secured over $4.3 million for this community for site readiness out at the Lake Michigan Industrial Park, which will be transformational. It will add jobs for generations, and those kinds of things have just been really fun to be a part of and to see the results.”
Cleveland will be in charge of a ten parish region in Louisiana with his new position. His last day with Cornerstone Alliance will be July 5.
Cleveland says it took a great deal of collaboration with community partners to grow the Southwest Michigan economy, and he thanks all of them for their help.
