William Riley
Fay Beydoun
By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
American Arab Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Fay Beydoun of Dearborn and Inkster Police Chief William Riley III of Dearborn Heights were reappointed to their positions to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Committee and Advisory Board for the Michigan Intelligence Operations Center for Homeland Security, respectively.
Beydoun will represent the private sector for a term starting April 6 and expiring April 5, 2024. Riley’s position represents local police departments in Michigan or the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police starting April 12 and ending April 11, 2024.
“I am honored to have been reappointed to the MEDC executive board by Governor Whitmer,” she said. “This provides me with the opportunity to serve the business community and citizens of Michigan through economic development from the local to the international arenas.”
Beydoun is the chief operating officer of Tejara & the Tejara Global Business Development Center and chairwoman of the East Michigan District Export Council.
She also co-founded the U.S. Arab Women’s Business Council, is a member of various MENA region chambers of commerce and serves on various boards including New Detroit, Global Detroit, Global Ties, Detroit Strategic Framework Plan, HFCC Citizens Advisory Board, ACLU Advisory Board, Investors-Leadership Council of the Michigan Economic Center, and the Detroit Creative Corridor Center, the AACC website said.
The MEDC Executive Committee provides policy direction and guidance to the MEDC regarding economic development program and initiatives, approves the MEDC corporate budget, and appoints the chief executive officer who administers all programs, funds, personnel, and all other administrative transactions of the MEDC, the state’s press release said.
Also, the MEDC Executive Committee supports the MEDC through governance, support to enable results-based action, and advocacy for the organization and economic development in Michigan.
Riley, has been the police chief in Inkster since 2015 after serving as police chief in Selma, Ala. starting in 2008. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserve from 1997 to 2003.
“I’m kind of service oriented,” Riley said. “For myself, I’ve been involved with policing for about 35 years and I’ve had the pleasure of policing on the East Coast, the South and now I’m in the North. I feel I bring a lot to the committee because of the fact that I’ve been around, been involved with so much and I continue to have the same drive I had over 30 years ago.
“I’m the type of person, I just don’t want to be part of something to be part of it, I want to be part of something to make something good out of it and it make it better. I believe in the policy, leave something better then when you leave it then when you got it.
According to his online resume, Riley has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Saint Paul’s College. He completed supervisory management training in Mid-Atlantic Supervisory Institute for Police Management, executive training in senior management institute of police, and police executive training in administrative officers management program 37th Session.
The Michigan’s Intelligence Operations Center aims to collect, evaluate, collate and analyze information and intelligence and then, as appropriate, disseminate this information and intelligence to the proper public safety agencies so that any threat of terrorism or criminal activity can be successfully identified and addressed, the state’s press release said.
Both appointments are not subject to the advice and consent of the state Senate.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])