The CEO of Port Huron’s Community Foundation keenly followed IMG’s Model D publication in Detroit and invited the team to visit the community. Through a funding coalition connected to a regional leadership coalition called Blue Meets Green, IMG launched The Keel in 2016 with the goal of talent attraction and better sharing the region’s story as key strategic priorities. Regional leadership was also concerned at the time with the rapid decline of the local newspaper, which no longer publishes daily. The Keel represented IMG’s first intentional multi-year coalition contract and involved partners paying to a fund established with the Community Foundation. Additionally, the Community Foundation has been instrumental in arranging for IMG to present to a roundtable of Community Foundation CEOs in Michigan, which catalyzed the company’s expansion into many 2nd-tier cities in Michigan.
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