Members' 25-Year Reminiscences

Manager, Southeast Michigan Office
Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Livonia, Michigan

I graduated with a B.A. in 1970 from Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit. At that point, I still did not know what kind of career I wanted to pursue. I knew that graduate school made sense but in what? I knew that I found it boring to be isolated in a limited field of study such as accounting or chemistry.

I liked a variety of work in a professional field and was reading some of the WSU catalogue descriptions. I found the Urban Planning curriculum interesting because of the range of activity, including physical planning, budgeting, environmental studies, and economic development. At the time though, it was the longest curriculum offered at WSU — 72 quarter hours vs. 45 for most other programs. Nevertheless, I plunged ahead and never regretted my decision.

Towards the end of my program, I chose to pursue a Master's Thesis rather than an essay. This was the pre-computer and calculator era and at the mid-point, I began to have doubts as to whether I could finish. I was fortunate to have as an advisor, mentor, and friend Dr. Eugene Perle, who always kept pushing and bolstering my confidence. I'm sad to say that Dr. Perle passed away some six months ago, at too young an age and only one year after retiring from WSU. Although he is gone, he left behind a legacy at WSU through the students he nurtured and through his writings in Transportation Planning. I will always be grateful for his guidance and that of Dr. Gary Sands for my 25-year career.

Larry Gormezano has been Manager of the Southeast Michigan Office of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) – Michigan Business Development (MBD) Division since October 1997. Based in Livonia, he is responsible for managing the MEDC retention program, through a staff of 12 account managers, covering the eight counties of Southeast Michigan. Prior to assuming this position, he served as an Account Manager with primary responsibilities for the City of Detroit and Ford Motor Company.

Prior to joining state government in 1987, Larry served as a Community and Economic Development Specialist with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In this role, he worked with developers and localities in providing underwriting and technical assistance services for commercial, retail, and industrial projects through the Urban Development Action Grant program. He also had primary responsibility for overseeing the administration of the Michigan Small Cities Community Development Block Grant program.

From 1974-1980, Larry held professional positions with the U.S. Public Health Service, and a local nonprofit agency as a planning and budget analyst.

Larry received his B.A. and Master of Urban Planning degrees from Wayne State University. In 1996, he served on the WSU College of Urban, Labor, and Metropolitan Affairs Advisory Board for the national accreditation of the WSU Urban Planning program. In addition to his membership in APA and AICP, he is a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional through the National Development Council, Washington, D.C. He is the author of several professional articles.