Warren Rose

For Warren Rose, the fight for free markets and free minds is the family legacy. A third- generation builder, he feels the impact of government intervention on his business every day. But it was his father, Sheldon Rose, a highly successful businessman and freedom-supporting philanthropist, who taught him the principles of free markets and the power of individual liberty.

Warren grew up in his family’s 102-year-old residential development and management company, Edward Rose & Sons, in Metro Detroit. He worked alongside his father, Sheldon, for 30 years before taking the reins of the company, which has grown across Michigan and the Midwest. Sheldon, a supporter of the Mackinac Center until his passing in 2020, showed Warren how the ins and outs of the family business proved the ideals that Warren proudly stands by today.

“I was exposed to free-market principles and organizations through my father’s influence. He was a maven of Milton Friedman and the Austrian School of economics and would preach at the dinner table about business and free markets. So, I got exposed to these ideas at a very young age,” Warren says.

The principles of freedom weren’t just preached at the family dinner table, but also at the “Friends of Liberty” dinner series that his father Sheldon started in Southeast Michigan. Sheldon drew high-profile leaders and intellectuals from organizations across the country, including the Mackinac Center, to speak with fellow freedom lovers in Metro Detroit. The Friends of Liberty dinners built a strong community, and the Rose family’s leadership was at the center of it all. This eventually led to one of Warren’s most memorable moments: dinner with Milton and Rose Friedman.

“While I was in college I was deeply exposed to these leaders, and I was getting all their publications sent to me, so it became ingrained in me. It developed my sense of economics,” said Warren. Those publications were often met with disapproving looks or jabs from his collegiate colleagues, but Warren had seen the light.

When looking out on the landscape of Michigan today, however, he sees free-market ideas in peril.

“We have a leadership problem in Lansing,” he says. “We’ve lost track of what’s beneficial to the state and how we help our economy. There’s been a shift away from solid, free-market initiatives.

That shift is not benefiting industry, and it’s causing businesses and people to leave the state. The governor has set up a population growth committee to address this, but you’re not drawing people back if you have high taxes or impediments to business and economic freedom. It’s not the weather or green energy that’s going to bring people back to Michigan.”

The population loss and economic struggles aredirectly affecting Warren’s business. “We are losing people who would fill our apartments,” he says. “Another problem we have is the lack of production of new and affordable housing in Michigan. The state just doesn’t understand how to get that done. They put up barriers like regulations, licensing, building codes, zoning ordinances and the like.”

Warren is passionate about turning things around. “We need solid leadership and to develop the economic climate to attract entrepreneurs to our state,” he says. “Indiana is eating our lunch. People are going over state lines where there are better climates.”

Warren Rose supports the Mackinac Center because he has a passion for free markets. But he also gives much of the credit to his father Sheldon. “I was exposed through him to the Mackinac Center, their mission, their accomplishments and their great work in the state. My priority is to support the organization that does the best work in the state of Michigan,” he says.