DALLAS – Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone PLC has launched a public-private partnership consulting subsidiary that will be led by the former head of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
Miller Canfield Consulting will seek to provide services to real estate developers and private companies interested in investing or expanding in Michigan. Such targest include economic development organizations and national and international businesses seeking to locate in the Midwest, foreign inbound investors, and emerging companies and industries such as autonomous vehicle development and renewable energy.
The firm will offer services such as site location, advise and develop strategies on project execution at the state and federal levels, and identify and access funding sources.
“Our goal in launching Miller Canfield Consulting is to provide a broader palate of services to the economic development community than simply legal services,” said Miller Canfield chief executive officer Michael McGee.
Miller Canfield has a deep bench of public finance and P3 attorneys and works on a wide swath of public projects, from highways and bridges to schools to stadiums. The firm ranked first among bond counsel in Michigan and ninth among bond counsel in the Midwest for the first half of the year, according to data from Thomson Reuters.
Steve Arwood will lead the new division of Miller Canfield charged with helping "clients navigate the complex process of identifying and securing incentives, financing and other opportunities for public-private partnerships," according to a news release.
“This is an opportunity to look at a wide variety of clients from a non-traditional legal standpoint, particularly in private public/partnership area interactions with state economic development organizations, local economic development organizations and federal government in a wider range of economic development in public private partnership issues,” said Arwood.
Arwood ran the MEDC from January 2015 until June, when he left the office.
At the MEDC, he led the agency that marketed the state, with the goal of driving job creation and investment. That often meant creating public-private partnerships, and using public money to incentivize development. He "was one of the primary decision makers in almost every major economic development project in Michigan during this period, including those seeking state incentives or assistance," according to the release.
A spokesperson for the firm said that the consulting arm of the firm will expand when opportunities or client needs necessitate growth.
