About his time in Tucson and Atlanta he says, “They were nice enough places, but being away only reinforced my love for Michigan. When my soon-to-be wife bought a barely winterized cottage on the lake in Fair Haven more than 10 years ago, I fell head-over-heels for the Anchor Bay Area and St Clair County.”
Since then, Shmina renovated and added onto the house—pouring buckets of sweat equity into
it and employing local tradesmen along the way—to accommodate a growing family. “Both of my step kids have graduated from high school here, and now my son is in second grade, and my daughter’s getting ready to start Kindergarten this fall. It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by, but when I hold my step-daughter’s baby in my arms, I marvel at it.”
Shmina is involved with the Cub Scouts, and a member of St. Clair County Council on Aging and Immaculate Conception Parrish in Anchorville. With his roots firmly planted in the local community, Shmina is a project manager with A.Z. Shmina, Inc., the family business since 1916. Three generations later, Shmina’s job has given him a unique perspective on Michigan’s economy. He admitted, “After working a large job in Detroit for the Public School District, I had the opportunity to see how long-term unemployment can impact communities on a grand scale.”
As a project manager, Shmina helps keep big-budget projects on-schedule and within scope. He says of his current project, “The Pontiac Waste Water Treatment Plant has an operating budget of eight million dollars, but I can’t ever let the size of the job overwhelm me. It’s knowing how to break everything down into a daily schedule and understand how materials — and people — need to come together to make it happen that is a skill I continue to hone. I think that experience, that enjoyment will really serve me well in Lansing, and believe that’s what gives me the advantage over the incumbent.”
No matter the size of the project, it all comes down to having the right people to do the work. “I couldn’t do what I do without the right people in place,” Shmina says. “Like any small, local business, we hire locally. The salaries our employees earn provide for their way of life. In turn, they have the opportunity to invest back into the community, too. It’s an economic circle of life, and it starts with the small business owner being able to hire more people.
