Tuesday, September 09, 2014

Michigan economic development group used 'secret shopper' and fake company to evaluate Michigan

By Stephen Kloosterman

MUSKEGON, MI – The Michigan Economic Development Corporation used a professional site selector and a fake business for a "secret shopper" survey of Michigan cities this summer.

"In an effort to continuously improve service to our business clients, we engaged in a secret siting activity to objectively look at how well we navigate and respond to inquiries from clients looking to locate in Michigan," MEDC CEO Michael Finney said in a written statement Thursday, Aug. 28.

The secret shopper operation started with a formal request for information from local communities, Finney said. All of the communities involved provided responses to the request in early July. Later, there were mock site visits at Muskegon, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo locations, he said. More here.

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