MEC presented the state's highest environmental achievement awards on October 5 to Compuware co-founder Peter Karmanos, Jr. and Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation co-founder Terry Swier at an awards ceremony that followed a packed and lively reception at Compuware's new headquarters in downtown Detroit.

Karmanos was presented with The Helen and William Milliken Distinguished Service Award for the key role he has played in the revitalization of Detroit.

"While there have been many bold participants in Detroit's renaissance, it is most fitting that we honor the man who is leading the restoration of Campus Martius and who stepped forward to invest $400 million there in a magnificent 1.1 million square foot facility for Michigan's largest technology company," MEC President Lana Pollack said. "In doing so, Peter Kamanos not only brought thousands of new jobs into the heart of the city and sparked a building boom that is changing its face and reputation, but he also is helping to reshape land-use patterns in the region in a more sensible and sustainable direction."

In accepting the award, Karmanos spoke of the beautiful natural places he frequented as a city youth-places that have long since been swept away by the tide of sprawl in the metropolitan area. He railed against the construction of highways in the city that split neighborhoods, slashed Detroit's tax base, and fueled the consumption of undeveloped land further and further from the city's core. And he talked of the great prospects for continued economic and civic renewal in Detroit if additional businesses follow the example that Compuware and others have set.

Swier was presented with the The Petoskey Prize for Environmental Grassroots Leadership for engaging in a "David and Goliath struggle" to challenge a major multi-national corporation's right to withdraw and bottle spring water in Mecosta County.

"Terry Swier is a living example of the historical pattern in Michigan in which citizens lead our political leaders in making change to protect our state's environment," Pollack said. "She and her colleagues have enlisted some 1,800 members of their community in a genuine and formidable grassroots campaign, and they have raised $400,000 for the effort, largely through bake sales and yard sales. In the process, Terry Swier is re-shaping the water rights debate in our state to better reflect the public's interest in Michigan's most important natural resource."