Michael Finney to be paid $250,000 as Michigan Economic Development Corp. CEO

Finney will be paid a salary of $250,000 in addition to "deferred compensation equal to 18 percent of his salary in lieu of a retirement plan," the Free Press reported.

Finney was paid $258,423 at SPARK in 2008, the most recent year in which tax documents were available. SPARK is an economic development group whose budget is composed of a mix of dollars from tax coffers, public universities, municipalities, private companies and foundations.

Gov. Rick Snyder, who co-founded SPARK and personally recruited Finney to become the first CEO of SPARK in 2005, recommended Finney to succeed Greg Main as MEDC CEO. Main was paid $200,000 to lead MEDC, a quasi public-private entity that distributes state tax incentives.

Finney was a vice president of MEDC until 2002, when he left to start an economic development group in Rochester, N.Y.

According to a recent AnnArbor.com review of salaries at economic development agencies, Finney's compensation is comparable to his colleagues throughout the rest of the state.

Here's a list of the total compensation figures of other Michigan economic development group leaders, figures that include the value of benefits and retirement compensation, as compiled from recent tax documents:

--Ron Kitchens of Kalamazoo-based Southwest Michigan First: $439,859 (2008); $417,185 (2007); $415,308 (2006).

--Birgit Klohs of Grand Rapids-based The Right Place: $282,320 (2008); $310,392 (2007); $352,151 (2006).

--Finney: $258,423 (2009); $258,720 (2007); $233,307 (2006).

--JoAnn Crary of Saginaw Future: $198,939 (2009); $156,732 (2008); $113,674 (2007).

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.