Ann Arbor, Mich.-based entrepreneur Shri Thanedar, the former chief executive officer of Avomeen Analytical Services LLC and three-time winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, has filed papers to run for governor of Michigan in 2018.
The Indian American filed papers with the Secretary of State’s Office April 5, allowing him to raise funds for his campaign. Though he has filed for his candidacy, Thanedar has made no formal announcements of his candidacy, according to a Detroit News report. Thanedar, who filed as a Democrat, launched Avomeen in 2010 and made headlines late last year when he gave his employees $1.5 million in holiday bonuses, collectively.
Thanedar, former CEO of Avomeen Analytical Services, was named 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year by multinational finance giant Ernst and Young and made local headlines in December for giving his employees a collective $1.5 million in holiday bonuses.
The India native submitted paperwork to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office on April 5 that would allow him to raise funds for a gubernatorial campaign, but he has not yet announced any formal plans to seek the post. If he runs, Thanedar would join a growing Democratic field that includes former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, former Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed and former Xerox executive Bill Cobbs. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, is also considering a run for governor.
Thanedar, who earned an M.B.A. from Fontbonne University and a doctorate degree from the University of Akron, was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999, 2007 and 2016. Thanedar made and lost a fortune in Missouri before moving to Michigan and finding new success. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported he bought and built up a chemical analysis firm there, eventually purchasing a Ferrari and constructing a 13,000-square-foot mansion.
But the Great Recession and financial industry crash hit his company and acquisitions hard, reportedly prompting a lender to take him to court, where a bankruptcy judge appointed a receiver to sell the business.
Jim Hines, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Saginaw and president of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, has announced his candidacy on the GOP ballot. Attorney General Bill Schuette and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley are contemplating bids, the report added. Incumbent Gov. Rick Snyder cannot seek re-election in 2018 under Michigan’s term-limits law. The Michigan 2018 primary is Aug. 7.
