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University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library

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Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113, USA
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Rick Snyder papers, 1995-2019 (majority within 2010-2018)

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Summary

Creator:
Snyder, Rick, 1958-
Abstract:
University of Michigan graduate and Republican governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2018. The collection documents Snyder's two terms as the 48th Governor of Michigan. Materials include audio and video recordings, briefings, correspondence and memoranda, dashboards, meetings agenda and minutes, press releases, reports, subject files, and other records documenting Snyder's gubernatorial career and the work of his administration.
Extent:
880.7 GB (online)
19.3 linear feet
Language:
English
Chinese
Call Number:
2020007 Aa 2
Authors:
Finding aid created by Emily Mathay in October 2020; Olga Virakhovskaya in May 2025

Background

Scope and Content:

The Rick Snyder papers document the activities and policies of the executive branch of Michigan's state government during Rick Snyder's two terms as governor.

The collection documents a wide range of the administration's activities. It is particularly strong in documenting the governor's efforts to stimulate Michigan's economy and urban centers, as well as the governor's actions in the areas of education and the environment.

Biographical / Historical:

Richard (Rick) Dale Snyder was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, on August 19, 1958. Snyder's father, Dale F. Snyder (1911-1991), was a local business owner; his mother, Helen L. (Howald) Snyder (1912-1993), was a homemaker.

Snyder attended Lakeview High School, a public high school in Battle Creek. At 16, Snyder began taking weekend business classes at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek. Subsequently, he enrolled at U-M in January 1976 and graduated early with a Bachelor of General Studies degree in 1977. He went on to earn his M.B.A. in 1979 and his J.D. in 1982, both from U-M. He finished all three degrees by age 23. After graduation, he became a certified public accountant (CPA) and a member of the Michigan Bar.

Snyder joined the Detroit office of Coopers & Lybrand as a tax accountant in 1982 and made partner by 1988. Between 1982 and 1984, Snyder also was an adjunct professor of tax and accounting in the U-M MBA program. While at Coopers & Lybrand, Snyder met his wife, Sue (Kerr) Snyder, a Dearborn, Michigan native. They were married in 1987.

In 1991, the Snyders relocated to N. Sioux City, South Dakota, where Snyder joined the computer hardware company Gateway 2000 (subsequently renamed Gateway Inc.) as the executive vice president. He served as president and chief operating officer from 1996-1997, and a board member from 1997 – 2007 During this period, Gateway became a Fortune 500 Company growing from 600 people to 13,000 and $600mm in revenue to $6 billion.

After relocating to Ann Arbor in 1997, he founded a venture capital company, Avalon Investments, Inc. The following year, Snyder and U-M School of Public Health professor Victor Strecher co-founded Health Media Incorporated (HMI). HMI used questionnaires to gather personal information with the goal of creating individualized health promotion plans.

In 2000, Snyder co-founded the venture capital and private equity company Ardesta LLC, which invested in start-ups that focused on developing micro- and nanotechnologies. Snyder was chairman and CEO of Ardesta until 2011. In 2005, Snyder was a leader of a group of Ann Arbor investors and community leaders who founded Ann Arbor SPARK, a non-profit economic development organization serving Washtenaw and Livingston counties. He wrote Spark's business plan and served as its first Chair.

In 2010, Rick Snyder ran as a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Using the slogan "One Tough Nerd," Snyder's campaign introduced him as a businessman with a plan to reinvent Michigan through bipartisanship and his Ten Point Plan: "leverage more and better jobs; leverage our new tax system; reinvent our government; keep our youth–our future–here; restore our cities; enhance our national and international image; protect our environment; revitalize our educational system; reinvent our health care system; winning in Michigan through Relentless Positive Action."

Rick Snyder won the November 2010 election, receiving 58% of the vote. Along with Snyder's election, Republicans gained a majority in the Michigan House and increased their majority in the Michigan Senate. His inauguration as Michigan's 48th governor took place on January 1, 2011. Rick Snyder was the first CPA elected governor of Michigan and only the second in the nation's history.

When Gov. Snyder took office, Michigan was at the bottom of almost every state ranking. It had one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, it was the only state that lost population in the 2010 census, and it had a multiple billion-dollar budget deficit. In two of the three years prior to his election, Michigan suffered government shutdowns due to the lack of timely budgets.

During his first term multiple reforms were made to make Michigan a better state. The job crippling Michigan Business Tax was replaced with a simple, fair, and efficient corporate income tax encouraging job creation and investment in Michigan. In 2012, Snyder signed legislation making Michigan a right to work state which significantly increased the pipeline of inbound investment in Michigan and created thousands of jobs. The Secure Cities Partnership brought State Police resources to Michigan's highest-crime cities, reducing violent crime by nearly 45% in Flint and bringing about an almost 45% decrease in property crime in Saginaw. In 2014, Snyder launched the Healthy Michigan Plan which covered hundreds of thousands of formerly uninsured or underinsured Michiganders. In subsequent years, the program grew to cover one million people.

A significant event of Gov. Snyder's first term was the bankruptcy and recovery of Detroit. In 2012, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, the Detroit City Council, and Gov. Snyder agreed the state would help the city with its finances if the state government had greater fiscal oversight of the city. The City failed to accomplish any of their agreed upon improvements so in February 2013, Snyder announced that his administration would take financial control of Detroit. Following a declaration of financial emergency, the state's Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board appointed Kevyn Orr as Detroit's emergency manager. As emergency manager, Orr controlled all of Detroit's financial matters. The city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in July 2013.

One of the biggest debates during Detroit's bankruptcy was whether Detroit's cultural assets were available to creditors. This created a controversy over the possible sale of artwork from the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) to help pay off the city's debt. A plan nicknamed the "Grand Bargain" was developed to avoid the sale of the art, assist pensioners, and allow the city to exit bankruptcy. Under the terms of the "Grand Bargain," multiple foundations and the State of Michigan donated funds to help reduce pension cuts caused by the bankruptcy. Detroit city retirees voted to accept the pension cuts, and the DIA was allowed to become an independent institution, preventing the artwork from being considered city-owned assets. The city exited bankruptcy on December 10, 2014, although it was still required to report to the state oversight board, the Financial Review Commission.

In November 2014, Snyder was reelected Governor with 51% of the vote.

The Flint water crisis dominated much of Snyder's second term. In 2014, Snyder appointed a series of emergency managers who had control over the city's finances – to address Flint's long-standing financial problems. The emergency manager agreed that Flint would join a new countywide water treatment system that drew water from Lake Huron. The Flint City Council voted 7-1 to support this change. The new system was not yet completed, so as a stopgap measure the city begin drawing water from the Flint River in April 2014.

State regulators failed to ensure that Flint city employees used proper corrosion control chemicals in the water. As a result, lead leached from old pipes running to many homes causing health problems among some Flint residents. Although residents raised concerns about the water quality, Flint officials, state officials, and the US EPA maintained that the water was safe to drink. In September 2015, a Virginia Tech University research team released a report that confirmed Flint's water had dangerously elevated levels of lead. In January 2016, Snyder declared a state of emergency in Genesee County, which was shortly followed by President Barack Obama's declaration of a federal state of emergency. Snyder implemented a 75-point action plan investing over $300 million addressing the water crisis. Snyder also apologized for his administration's role in the crisis. In 2019, Snyder was charged with willful neglect of duty along with other charges against several other officials. In December 2023, all charges were formally dismissed. As of September 2022, 95 percent of the lead pipes had been replaced with modern infrastructure. In 2024, the City of Flint was found in contempt of court for its slow role in the lead pipe replacement.

In July 2018, the construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge began, a second bridge over the Detroit River to Canada. Snyder enabled the building of the bridge by signing a unique agreement with Canada where Canada provided funding for the entire bridge. In 2018, Snyder signed into law a package of bills strengthening protections against sexual abuse of children and creating anti-bullying statutes that included cyberbullying. From 2011-2018, Michigan passed balanced budgets several months earlier than required. All three major rating agencies raised Michigan's credit rating, and the state's Budget Stabilization Fund (aka Rainy-Day Fund) reached $1 billion by 2018, up from $2.2 million in 2011.

During Snyder's time as Governor, Michigan grew again in population, it recorded low unemployment, leading increases in per capita income, and became an inbound state for the migration of working age adults. Over the eight-year period, 87% of the bills signed by Snyder had bipartisan support in both legislative chambers.

Snyder returned to private life in Ann Arbor at the end of his term in 2018. He established the company RPAction LLC.

Sue Snyder

Sue Snyder studied business and administration at Western Michigan University. Before Rick Snyder became governor, she was actively involved with several charitable organizations dedicated to supporting families' health, well-being, and education. She has worked with the United Way, MakeA-Wish Foundation, and Girls Inc. and served as president of the board and development chair for Daycroft Montessori School in Ann Arbor.

As Michigan's first lady, Sue Snyder continued her work in the areas of health and wellness, as well as the safety issues of the state's women, children, teenagers, and young adults. She became an advocate for campus sexual assault awareness and prevention by launching the "Inform. Empower. Prevent. Let's End Campus Sexual Assault" initiative, with the goal of making Michigan the leader in addressing this sensitive but important issue.

Sue Snyder is a Fostering Futures supporter, a program that provides foster children with the resources needed to pursue higher education. She also is an advocate for multiple organizations highlighting infant-safe sleep practices to help end preventable childhood deaths.

As a breast cancer survivor, Snyder is passionate about working with a variety of cancer awareness and treatment organizations. Sue Snyder also advocated for LightUp, an organization that offers programs in an open and supportive environment for individuals with special needs to participate actively in their community.

She previously served on the board of The Neutral Zone in Ann Arbor, an educational non-profit center for teenagers. She also has been a spokesperson for Ele's Place in Lansing and Ann Arbor, a healing center for grieving children and their families.

The biographical note has been edited by Rick Snyder.

Acquisition Information:
Donated by Rick Snyder (donor no. 11427 ) in four accessions between January 2016 and January 2019.
Processing information:

The biographical note has been edited by Rick Snyder.

Arrangement:

Arranged into 15 series: Administrative Services, Appointments, Chief of Staff, Communications, Constituent Relations, District of Columbia (DC) Office, Executive Office - Governor, Legal, Legislative Affairs, Lieutenant Governor, Northern Michigan Office, Office of Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives (OUMI), Scheduling, Strategy, and Transformation Manager. The materials were titled and primarily arranged by Governor Snyder's staff before they were transferred to the Bentley Historical Library.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open without restriction.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Donor(s) have not transferred any applicable copyright to the Regents of the University of Michigan. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[item], [URL], Rick Snyder papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. [item], folder, box, Rick Snyder papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

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Collection

Rick Snyder papers, 1995-2019 (majority within 2010-2018)
Call Number 2020007 Aa 2
Total components 2,681
Items available online Online 2,462
Last indexed 2025-06-04