Senior Vice President of Strategy, Planning, and External Affairs
Phone:
517-241-8030
Email:
bakkals@michigan.org
As the Senior Vice President of Strategy, Planning, and External Affairs, Steve leads the organizations efforts to develop and implement a comprehensive economic development strategy. In his role, Steve overseas a team that provides key data, research, reporting, and analytics to help inform decision-making across the organization. Steve’s team also manages state and federal relations with state legislators, Michigan’s Congressional delegation, and interested stakeholders to facilitate passage of identified legislative priorities for the MEDC and statewide economic development initiatives.
Prior to this role, Steve has served in various leadership positions at the MEDC, including the director of the Michigan Energy Office, and director of a cross-functional team responsible for developing and executing a strategy to expand clean energy manufacturing and R&D investments to the state.
Prior to the MEDC, Steve worked in the automotive industry for over 12 years in various engineering and leadership positions focused on advanced manufacturing project development and execution.
Steve has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University as well as a Master of Business Administration from Wayne State University.
