Described by The Economist as "an energetic economic development leader," Ron Kitchens is the Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Michigan First, as well as the General Partner of Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund.

He is the author of the best-selling book, Community Capitalism: Lessons from Kalamazoo and Beyond, which presents a ground-breaking economic development strategy for individuals, groups and organizations wondering what they can do to make a real difference in their communities. He also writes a monthly business column.

Ron is known for his motivational speeches to business and professional groups throughout the nation and internationally.  Topics include Community Capitalism, Leadership Lessons, Dual Bottom Line Investing, Education as Economic Development and Talent Gets It Done.

Ron has worked with more than 200 Fortune 500, international and regional corporations as diverse as Stryker, GE Capital, Aker, Celanese, Scholastic, Kiewit, Boeing, Exxon Mobil and Ryan Sanders Baseball. Along with his 25 years of experience as an economic developer and venture capitalist, Ron has successfully started and operated multiple privately held companies. In addition, he has been an elected official and staff member to U.S. Senator John Danforth.

Ron's work has been recognized with dozens of awards, including the prestigious National Marketing for Results Award, The Wall Street Journal's Winning Workplaces, the Leadership and Innovation Awards from CoreNet Global and numerous International Economic Development Council Awards. 

He has been extensively featured in over 100 national and international media outlets including CBS News, Forbes, Fortune, Fox Business News, NBC News, NPR, The Economist, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.