Governor appoints Earl to broadband consortium.

Seth Earl

Governor appoints Earl to broadband consortium.

LANSING  – Hamlin Township resident Seth Earl was recently appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the Michigan Consortium of Advanced Networks created by Executive Order 2018-2.

The consortium is housed within the Executive Office and serves in an advisory capacity to the Governor. The consortium is being directed to submit a final report by Aug. 1, 2018, that establishes a roadmap to help strengthen statewide broadband access and connectivity, leading to a digital transformation of Michigan.

“Ensuring all Michiganders have access to secure, reliable and affordable broadband services is an important step in our work to maximize Michigan’s momentum long into the future,” Snyder said. “Each person appointed to this consortium brings a variety of experience that will be instrumental in establishing recommendations to develop statewide broadband access and connectivity and I thank them for their commitment to this topic.”

The 13-member board consists of seven gubernatorial appointees, two of whom are recommendations from the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House, as well as the following department heads or their designees including:

• The Director of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget
• The Director of the Michigan State Police
• The Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
• The Chief Executive Officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation
• The Chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission
• The Director of the Department of Transportation

Bonnie Alfonso of Traverse City is the president and CEO of Alfie Logo Gear and is an active member of the board of directors and executive committee for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Michigan State University.

Dan Dundas of Lansing is the deputy director of the Michigan Senate Majority Policy Office, previously serving as a policy advisor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Michigan State University and a law degree from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Seth Earl of Ludington is a district conservationist for the USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service. He holds a bachelor’s degree in soil and crop science from Colorado State University and a certificate of agricultural technologies in agricultural industries from Michigan State University. He is also the president of Mason County Farm Bureau.

Linglong He of Franklin is the chief information officer of Quicken Loans Inc., previously serving in the roles of director of database and systems engineering, software engineer, Oracle DBA, Progress DBS and as a UNIX system administrator. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Hohai University and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Wuhan University.

Gavin Leach of Marquette is the vice president of finance and administration at Northern Michigan University. He oversees planning and implementation of the university’s computer leasing program, wide area network, administrative computer systems and programmers, and the university’s human resource operations. Leach is a certified public accountant and holds both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master of public administration from Northern Michigan University.

Daniel Williams of Grand Rapids is the executive director for the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology and previously served as principal for the middle and high school for Grand Rapids Public Schools. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Iowa, a master of education from Eastern Michigan University, and a doctor of education from Creighton University.

David DeVries will serve as chair. Members will serve terms expiring at the pleasure of the governor.