by Ivy Hughes
January 16, 2008

Photo by David Trumpie

Here’s a networking tip. If you can’t get someone in the Lansing political arena to call you back, tell him or her you want to talk about Kathy Wilbur. You’ll get a call back in less than 24 hours.

Kathy Wilbur is Central Michigan University’s chief lobbyist. Vice President for Government Relations and Public Affairs, she is a highly respected professional who is known for her ability to make people laugh while working her tail off. She is also the woman who consolidated five major state departments under former Governor John Engler, the only woman in Michigan history to head up three state departments, and the woman who ran former Republican Senator William Sederburg’s legislative office for seven years.

“There’s never been a plan. It just all kind of happened,” Wilbur said about her extensive career in Lansing politics.

Wilbur, who has been advocating for CMU in the fierce budget battles since 2002, may always have been a powerhouse — she just didn’t always know exactly where her career was headed. She jokes that in college she was on the leading edge of the trend toward a five-year rather than four-year undergraduate degree. When the Detroit native did graduate from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism, she waitressed for six months before getting a “real job.”

“I didn’t want to work for a newspaper, necessarily, but I thought journalism writing would be a good skill to have,” she said.

Wilbur did some writing for a small publication and public relations firm in Birmingham, but it was politics rather than the inverted pyramid that held her attention. In 1978 she threw her energy into big-time politics by working on U.S. Senator Bob Griffin’s re-election campaign. Griffin, the incumbent, eventually lost his seat to then-Detroit City Council President Carl Levin (D-Detroit), but Wilbur’s political fire had been stoked.

“That experience made me think, ‘I really want to focus on the campaign aspect of politics,’” Wilbur said.

Though the Griffin experience propelled Wilbur into a long-lasting political career, it was far from being Wilbur’s earliest training ground. In her politically active Detroit family, politics was as much a part of growing up as summer vacations and slumber parties were for other children.

Wilbur helped her father, a Ford Motor employee, run against a neighbor for precinct delegate in Detroit. Her father lost, but his campaign led Wilbur to explore political aspirations of her own. She got involved in school politics when she attended Benedictine High School in Detroit and later at MSU when she was elected vice president of the Residence Halls Association.

“I am totally into politics,” she admits.

Wilbur’s husband, Tom, is also passionate about politics and served on the Ingham County Commission for more than 15 years. Tom is also an artist and has had several paintings displayed in local galleries.

After the Griffin campaign, Wilbur hooked up with former state Senator William Sederburg and worked with him from 1983–1990. Wilbur met Sederburg after she joined the Senate Republican central staff, a job that was opened for her by then-Republican state chairman Spence Abraham. With Sederberg, Wilbur gained extensive experience working on higher education budgets and health care issues.

As Sederberg was wrapping up his career in the Senate (he decided not to seek re-election in 1990), Wilbur tossed around the idea of staying home with her kids. She was pregnant with twins and thought that since Sederburg wasn’t seeking re-election, she would stay home for a year or two. But that plan didn’t last long. When Senate Majority Leader John Engler got word of Wilbur’s plans, he talked her into staying on with him, and by January 1991, Wilbur was heading up the state Department of Licensing and Regulation as part of the new governor’s cabinet.

“My husband said, ‘this is a great opportunity. We will make this work,’” Wilbur remembered.

Engler charged Wilbur with carrying out his campaign pledge to eliminate the Department of Licensing and Regulation. After she did that, she combined the departments of Commerce and Labor into the Department of Consumer and Industry Services. Engler rewarded her for rolling up these departments by having her set up the Michigan Jobs Commission, which was the forerunner to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. He also had her bring the Commission and Commerce and Labor together.

Photo by David Trumpie

By the time Wilbur was finished with her role as department consolidator, five state departments had been eliminated.

“Yes, I was known as the terminator back then,” she said, laughing.

Wilbur may be the only “terminator” in recent memory to use her ability to eliminate institutions and positions to bring people together rather than drive them apart. Wilbur said that while she was consolidating the departments, she did her best to help state employees adapt to the changes.

“We had to do a lot of team building,” she said. “That’s what I did for about 12 years while he was governor.”

Lee Schwartz, executive vice president of government relations for the Michigan Association of Home Builders, said Wilbur always had control of the people who worked under her, which is an important, but difficult task in a bureaucracy.

Wilbur’s ability to balance business and human relationships also helped her find middle ground with the agencies she regulated. Schwartz said he and Wilbur were frequently on opposite sides — she the regulator, he the one trying not to be regulated — but they always found a compromise.

“She’s terrific to work with because she’s straightforward, her word is good and she’s got a good grasp of the issues,” Schwartz said.

When Wilbur couldn’t consolidate any more departments and Engler was wrapping up his final term, Wilbur was tapped for the CMU position. Her higher education experience, as well as her reputation as a devoted, realistic, hard worker with strong networking capabilities, got her the post.

The majority of Wilbur’s CMU responsibilities include eking out of the state an annual higher education budget that prevents CMU from losing even more state funding. Beginning in the late 1980s, when CMU started to see a significant drop in state funding, the school received 75 percent of its funding from the state. Now, after years of state budget deficits and billions in cuts, it receives 37 percent of its funding from the state.

In 2007 Wilbur spent much of her time trying to stop Governor Jennifer Granholm’s proposal to split the higher education budget. Granholm wanted to split the budget to give the three “research” universities — MSU, University of Michigan and Wayne State University — more funding. CMU and 11 other smaller state schools lobbied hard to prevent the legislature from creating one budget for the smaller schools and one for the three largest schools, contending that splitting the budgets would shortchange the smaller schools.

“That’s a terrific way to fund research, but my argument would be that it shouldn’t come out of state appropriation dollars for educating undergraduates in the state,” Wilbur said.

Photo by David Trumpie

The split didn’t happen, thanks in large part to Wilbur, who worked hard to get 12 schools with 12 different agendas and 12 different bureaucracies to lobby for the same outcome.

Wilbur, who frequently refrains from stealing the spotlight, credited the other schools and term limits of all things, for avoiding the split. Term limits helped CMU’s budgetary cause because the new legislators were more willing to hear the smaller schools’ plea, Wilbur said. She anticipates that this open mindedness will help CMU and the legislature find alternative higher education funding mechanisms.

What made this year’s higher education budget issue even more interesting for Wilbur is that her position at CMU pit her against her alma mater, MSU, where she held an elected Board of Trustees position from 1985-1991.

Wilbur chuckled when asked about the CMU/MSU budget rivalry, but then gave a diplomatic answer that didn’t point the finger at either school.

“I just thought it was very unfortunate, because I did not think any of the higher education institutions should be caught like that,” she said.

A self-described “practical Polly,” Wilbur knows how to get a job done while keeping her emotions at bay.

“I think the fact that she never over reacted is one of her best qualities,” said state Budget Director Bob Emerson about working with Wilbur. “Some lobbyists see something happen and go into overkill mode. Kathy’s never done that.”

Emerson, a long-time Democratic lawmaker before he became budget director, and Wilbur worked together when Wilbur was working for Sederburg.

“A lot of lobbyists do a pretty good job, but Kathy is pretty well grounded,” Emerson said. “She knows what’s important around here and doesn’t get too excited about the flashy stuff.”

Michigan AT&T President Gail Torreano said she doesn’t know anyone like Wilbur who can cultivate relationships and create opportunities for people.

“I’ve always been really impressed with Kathy,” she said. “She’s tenacious and she has the ability to network in a way that I don’t know anyone else who does it as well as she does.”

Wilbur’s resume reads like the introductory speech for a foreign dignitary, but talking to her is as natural as talking to a good friend. Wilbur values people and shows a genuine interest in her audience. She’s even carved out a spot on her resume marked “personal.” Below it she has one bullet point that says, “Married to Tom Wilbur; four children — Thomas, William, Samuel and Raymond.”

In this small addition, Wilbur gives a little insight into the reason for her success. Yes, she cares about her job, but more importantly, she cares about people. They mean more to her than any political designation or award.

“I admit that this is often what I say to my kids, but I try to live this,” she said. “At least weekly or daily I say, ‘have you thought of anyone else today and if you have, what have you done for those people?’”

This philosophy led Wilbur to turn a networking cocktail hour into the Women’s Caring Program, which raises money for women and children who are in need. Wilbur said after a year of having women meet for a drink after work, she felt guilty that they were only serving themselves, so she helped co-found the program.

Torreano said Wilbur is phenomenal at remembering personal details and is always ready to recommend someone she knows for a job.

“You know the six degrees of separation? She’s got that whole thing in her head,” Torreano said.

Wilbur was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in October 2007 and was recognized at a dinner along with several other women. Torreano said Wilbur’s network of supporters, which far exceeded everyone else’s, is indicative of Wilbur’s character.

“I thought that said something,” Torreano said. “You can have acquaintances, but to have people who take the time to want to celebrate your success, that doesn’t come in great numbers usually.”

A trinket hanging from the door of Wilbur’s Lansing office says, “I am woman. I am invincible. I am tired.”

While the first two adages are evident in Wilbur’s determined work ethic, if the third applies, it doesn’t show.

“I’ve been extremely, extremely fortunate. I know that,” Wilbur said. “I’m very happy to work in an area that I feel so passionately about and care about so much.”

Ivy Hughes is development and innovations editor of the online business publication Capital Gains.