MALB Hires Eric Schertzing to be its First Executive Director
The Michigan Association of Land Banks (MALB) is pleased to announce the hiring of its first Executive Director, Eric Schertzing. Schertzing retired from his position as Ingham County Treasurer on March 31, 2022 where he served for 21 years. In 2005 he led the establishment of the Ingham County Land Bank, the second land bank in Michigan, and served as the Chairperson until his retirement.
“For 16 years my involvement has been extensive and intimate to the day to day work of our Land Bank acquisition, management and disposition strategy” said Schertzing. “We use extensive programming and partnerships to remove blight where necessary and renovate and build homes where possible. My strongest skill is connecting the people and resources necessary to make this work possible. Each situation is unique and the solution is one property at a time. Over time this builds significant progress. The Michigan Land Bank industry is at the fulcrum of pulling together the disparate resources of people and money to propel our communities forward and thrive. Land Banking is hard work but very fulfilling and I can think of no better opportunity than working with MALB to grow the Land Bank industry in Michigan.”
MALB President, Anne Giroux, who is the Director of the Marquette County Land Bank Authority is looking forward to having Schertzing on board working for Land Banks in Michigan. “Eric has been involved with MALB since its inception, serving as its first Chairperson and recently as Vice Chairperson. He brings the knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm for land banking that is necessary to serve our member organizations and advocate on behalf of Land Banks in Michigan. Michigan’s land banks are very fortunate to have Eric serving us in this role” she said.
MALB represents Michigan’s 46 land banks. Michigan land banks are equipped to cost-effectively acquire, hold, and transfer property in service of community goals. They facilitate home rehabilitation and new construction, commercial redevelopment, vacant land management and innovative reuse, demolition and deconstruction of dangerous structures, and other programming to strengthen communities. As quasi-governmental entities, land banks regularly partner with the public and private sector.
Michigan land banks have returned thousands of residential, commercial, and industrial properties to productive use with demonstrated positive impacts on public health, safety, and economic stability. Some examples of these successes are featured at www.milandbank.org/project-spotlights. Numerous studies have documented how Michigan land bank interventions have increased property values, reduced the number of future tax reverted properties, created jobs, lowered crime, and had other critical economic and community impacts.
Contact: Anne Giroux, MALB President, agiroux@mqtco.org 906-225-8177
Eric Schertzing, MALB Executive Director, eschertzing@aol.com 517-303-7233