Scandal-plagued agency spends millions on feel-good ads

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is trying to rebrand itself via a small-town ad blitz as state residents’ perception of the quasi-government agency turns sour.

One of the corporation’s key officials has been accused of embezzling money, and its office was raided in June 2025 by agents of Attorney General Dana Nessel. In May, the attorney general charged former MEDC board member Fay Beydoun with 16 felonies for allegedly stealing taxpayer money that was meant to bring businesses to the state.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed Beydoun to the MEDC board in 2019. Then, Beydoun used her influence to obtain a $20 million earmark, which she spent on a $4,500 coffeemaker, along with other apparently personal expenses. She paid herself a $550,000 salary, spent $10,000 on legal fees for her son’s dispute with an insurer, and obtained reimbursements for an apartment that didn’t exist.

Complaint FILED 5-4-26 Redacted by mcclallen

The MEDC is supposed to create jobs in Michigan, but a 2024 Mackinac Center for Public Policy study found that only 9% of the jobs announced in major state-sponsored deals from 2000 to 2020 were ever created. More recently, the MEDC offered incentives worth $1.1 billion to one company to set up shop in Genesee County, but the company refused.

The Michigan Economic Development Foundation in 2025 paid for more than $1 million in foreign travel undertaken by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited.

In 2025, several Michigan lawmakers introduced a 53-bill package that sought to close the MEDC.

The MEDC survived that effort and has launched a new ad campaign on social media, radio and elsewhere. It’s pivoting from advertising megasites to marketing Michigan small-town communities and apple orchards, playgrounds and lighthouses.

Here are some examples.

From Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025, the MEDC spent $7.45 million on national efforts to attract businesses. That includes:

• Broadcast, cable or satellite TV: $725,087

• Digital displays: $2.1 million

• Events: $897,784

• Social media: $1.3 million

By comparison, the MEDC spent $3.18 million on marketing in the state.

The advertising campaigns are a part of the MEDC’s “core function” of attracting new business and people to Michigan, Danielle Emerson, MEDC public relations manager, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email.

"None of our advertising dollars go to ‘subsidies,’ as you asked,” Emerson wrote. “Rather, these campaigns are executing a core function of MEDC, which is to attract new businesses and people from markets across the country, as well as ensure continued state support for those already in-state. This work delivers a significant return on investment through new opportunities and connections for Michigan businesses, entrepreneurs, and communities of all sizes and types, grows our state's population, and enhances the various pieces of our economy that thrive alongside our tourism industry. We measure that impact in real time in various ways, and we are proud of the results we've delivered for the people of Michigan.”

In the first four months of 2026, the MEDC spent $5.8 million on six companies engaged in advertising or marketing, according to a document that CapCon obtained through a records request.