Michigan Economic Development Corporation Lansing.jpg

Michigan contracts with Iowa-based Meredith Corp. to produce the Pure Michigan travel guide.

(Brandon Howell | MLive.com)

UPDATE: Insights on why Iowa firm chosen over Michigan company

LANSING — Reports that an Iowa-based company received a contract to produce Pure Michigan travel guides has angered some Michiganders who say the business should stay in state.

The 108-page full color spring/summer magazine and two other seasonal publications are produced by Meredith Corp., a Des Moines-based company that also makes Midwest Living magazine.



The company has worked on Michigan travel guides for more than 15 years — under both Democratic and Republican state leadership.

Critics say the state should support its own economy by hiring a Michigan-based firm to do the job. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. pointed out that the guide is printed in Michigan and that Meredith employs more people in state than other Michigan-based companies that bid on the project. Meredith owns WNEM Channel 5 in Saginaw.

The Michigan Strategic Fund, part of the taxpayer-supported MEDC, paid the firm $1.5 million to create three travel guides (spring/summer, fall and winter) for 2013. The cost is offset in part by revenue from ad sales.

Midwest Living oversaw the editorial work in Iowa, and some content came from out-of-state writers and photographers who traveled to Michigan. Michigan-based freelancers also worked on the project, and the advertising sales were handled by staff in state. The publication was printed by Wisconsin-based Quad Graphics in Midland under a subcontract and distributed by Meredith.

While the issue isn't new — it came up during a legislative committee hearing in 2012 — a recent article in the Traverse City Record-Eagle prompted renewed scrutiny of the practice.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer posted an online petition on his campaign website to ask Gov. Rick Snyder "why he wasted our money" on the out-of-state business.

"I have no doubt that there are a number of Michigan businesses that could produce the Pure Michigan Travel Guide right here in Michigan, putting Michiganders to work in the process," Schauer said in a statement. "Gov. Snyder's actions to outsource this business and our tax dollars to Iowa indicate that he feels otherwise."

Meredith was awarded the contract to produce the guides through a "fair bid process," according to MEDC President and CEO Michael Finney. Two Michigan companies also submitted bids, but the MEDC refused to release the names of the companies or bid amounts without a Freedom of Information Act request. MLive filed a request on Tuesday afternoon. UPDATE: The information was released, read more here.

"The company not only put forth the best proposal for this publication but also employs more people in Michigan than any other bidder," Finney said in a statement. "As is true of all Michigan Strategic Fund actions, this project was administered as required and in strict accordance to statute."

Meredith's distribution capabilities played a role in the contract decision, said Michelle Begnoche, spokeswoman for Travel Michigan, the state's tourism office under the MEDC. For the spring/summer guide, 650,000 of the 1 million copies were distributed along with the March/April issue of Midwest Living.

"We have to look at the whole picture, and that includes the quality of the product," Begnoche said. "We've been working with Meredith on the travel guide for more than 15 years. There's a quality level our customers are used to."

A spokesman for Meredith could not be reached for comment. Midwest Living Editor-in-Chief Greg Philby told the Record-Eagle the state wanted to reach markets in a cost-effective way.

Some Michigan residents were surprised to hear that the state contracts with an Iowa company for a project focused on promoting Michigan.

"I'm always disappointed anytime work goes outside the state of Michigan, in particularly in this case, if they're promoting and talking about Michigan, that's a surprise," said Lisa Diggs, founder of Buy Michigan Now, a campaign supported by Michigan-based businesses. "At the same time, we always say Michigan companies need to be competitive and certainly state agencies are beholden to taxpayers for dollars."

Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park said the issue highlights the need for the state to be more open about the way they use taxpayer dollars and funds from Michigan businesses. He introduced a bill that would require MSF funds to be spent through the state government appropriations process.

Michigan isn't the only state to outsource production of its travel guide — Kansas has used Midwest Living, and most recently contracted with an Arizona-based firm, according to Kansas.com.

While Pure Michigan has largely proven to be a popular tourism campaign that's credited with attracting millions of out-of-state visitors, the brand is not immune to criticism.

In January the MEDC caught flak over an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal that used the Pure Michigan logo while touting the new right-to-work law as a reason to do business in the state.

The move angered some Pure Michigan fans who said it wrongly politicized what has been a very popular tourism campaign, and Snyder later said the issue was divisive enough that it shouldn't have been front-and-center on the ad.

Email Melissa Anders at manders@mlive.com. Follow her on Google+ and Twitter: @MelissaDAnders. Download the MLive app for iPhone and Android.