Northern Lakes Economic Alliance (NLEA) is pleased to announce two recently appointed members to the Board of Directors. Juliette King McAvoy from King Orchards and David Roland Finley, PhD from North Central Michigan College.
Juliette King McAvoy is the VP of Marketing & Sales for King Orchards, a family owned and operated farm and food business in Northwest Michigan. King Orchards farms over 400 acres of fruit and vegetables, has two retail farm markets with “U-Pick” throughout the seasons, a seasonal bakery, and a fruit manufacturing business that markets value-added products to the food industry and consumers around the world. Juliette is a graduate of Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture with degrees in Agribusiness Management and Horticultures. She is also a member of Cherry Industry Administrative Board and Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Business Network. Juliette enjoys spending time with her toddler son and family, running, skiing, and living an active outdoor lifestyle.
Dr. David Roland Finley is president of North Central Michigan College (NCMC) in Petoskey, Michigan. In this role, he leads the dynamic institution of 2,000 degree-seeking and 1,500 continuing education students in achieving its mission of providing ‘an exceptional, accessible, and relevant education of, and for, the community.’
Formerly the dean of business and engineering at Lake Superior State University (LSSU), Finley also served as interim provost, as well as acting president, at this institution. Prior to Lake State, Finley served in a variety of teaching and administrative roles at Trine University in Angola, Indiana. He began his career as an environmental scientist at Applied Science & Technology, Inc. Finley earned a master’s degree in atmospheric science at the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Wayne State University in Detroit.
The NLEA Board of Directors is made up of 23 appointees from public/private organizations. Our three-member counties, Antrim, Charlevoix, and Cheboygan, appoint five members each. Permanent seats are appointed by NLEA founding organizations: North Central Michigan College, Char-Em ISD, NW MI Industrial Association, and MSU Extension. The remaining four seats are “at-large” appointments and represent our three utility companies, DTE Energy, Consumers Energy, Great Lakes Energy, as well as Baker College.
NLEA Board of Directors and Staff would like to recognize and thank Joe Short of Short’s Brewery and Chuck Hayes from North Central Michigan College for the years of service on the Board of Directors.
