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MSU Extension highlights long county partnership, SNAP-Ed layoffs and search for replacement funding
Summary
MSU Extension district director James Kelly presented the annual report, noting a 109-year partnership with Muskegon County, about 537 programs attended by residents, broad digital outreach and the loss of two SNAP-Ed staff after statewide funding cuts; Extension is seeking alternate funding including AmeriCorps placements.
James Kelly, district director for Michigan State University (MSU) Extension, presented the Extension's annual report to the Board of Commissioners, highlighting local program activity, partnerships, and the impact of recent funding changes.
Kelly noted the 109-year formal partnership with Muskegon County and said county residents participated in roughly 537 different Extension programs last year. He described extensive communications reach (about 86,000 contacts across social and web channels) and cited the local 4-H Facebook reach as an example of digital outreach.
Kelly explained that a statewide SNAP-Ed grant loss required laying off two full-time SNAP-Ed staff in mid-2025, a change that reduced direct health and nutrition programming in schools and senior centers. "We were entering a strategic phase of switching activity from direct programming to policy, systems and environmental change," Kelly said, and the layoffs interrupted that work; he said MSU Extension is pursuing alternative funding and an AmeriCorps placement to restore some services.
He also described local program highlights including product innovation counseling that served 30 businesses with 378 hours of consulting and partnerships with local schools for youth development programs and campus exploration days.
Commissioners thanked Kelly and asked about tours of local facilities and the potential to recover SNAP-Ed positions; Kelly said statewide SNAP-Ed funding for extension was about $9,000,000 and that two positions in the district equate to more than $100,000 in payroll for the two staff he lost.
