The staff and board of the Mackinac Center are saddened by the passing of James M. Rodney, longtime friend and member of the Mackinac Center Board of Directors from 1993 to 2011.

Born in 1923, Rodney passed away on Aug. 30, 2021. He was the founder of Detroit Forming, Inc., which designs and manufactures rigid plastic packaging.

“Jim was stalwart in his dedication to free markets and limited government,” said Mackinac Center President Joseph G. Lehman. “Through his business and in his philanthropy, he showed how individual liberty and economic opportunity make life better for the people of Michigan. His guidance and support helped not just the Mackinac Center but many free-market organizations around the nation. He was a great and principled friend, with a gentlemanly bearing and generous spirit.”

Rodney received the Mackinac Center's Champions of Freedom Award in 2000, in recognition of his work to pare back harmful regulations and discriminatory tax policies that make it harder to do business in Michigan. “Jim was a business owner who never sought or took a dime of government handouts, and he actively opposed them for all businesses,” said Lehman.

He also was a member of the Mackinac Center Legacy Society, saying when he joined, “A bequest to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy will ensure someone is around to fight for individual liberty and economic opportunity after you are gone. I can think of no better gift to leave future generations.”

“I and the entire Mackinac Center team offer our condolences to the Rodney family and all who knew and loved him,” said Lehman.