Michael Shoemaker

Director of Industry Strategy

Michael Shoemaker is the Director of Industry Strategy at iNDustry Labs. At his core, Michael is a connector, someone who's constantly learning about the companies and people around him, looking for dots to connect. Ask his family: he's been known to work a plant tour into a vacation.

That passion shows up in how he works with regional manufacturers. He has spent years building relationships across the region's manufacturing community, with a particular soft spot for owner-operators. He's driven by turning those relationships into real outcomes, new programs, new funding, and new opportunities for the companies and students he works with.

Michael's experience wasn't a straight line into economic development; he started as an engineer, launching his career at Ford Motor Company on Global Powertrain assembly lines. That hands-on manufacturing background is part of what makes him effective today: he speaks the language of the shop floor and the boardroom, and he's just as comfortable talking about a bill of materials as he is about strategy.

He holds a dual degree from the University of Michigan, a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering Management.