This past weekend at the Michigan District State Championship, Governor Rick Snyder was awarded with the 2015 Annual Will.I.Am Make It Loud Award. Dean Kamen gave a great speech about how the Governor has consistently been outspoken about how FIRST is Michigan's future, and has gone above and beyond to support the program.
Here is an excerpt from the Governor's State of the State address in January 2015:
"One thing in particular I am proud of that is not just about what we are doing today, but how we are preparing for the future is, FIRST Robotics. A tremendous program we have been supporting. If you look at kids who do FIRST Robotics, the likelihood of them going into engineering or the skilled trades goes up dramatically. We were number two in the country several years ago, but over the last few years we have added teams. This least year 77 teams that is more than the other 49 states combined. We are up to 349 teams, 110 more than California now.
And, we are moving to be a leader in that and I want to give a shout out to Kettering University that did the first of a kind community centered for FIRST Robotics teams. They have been a true leader. We have the president of Kettering and I want to recognize him, but I also want to recognize a student named Harrison Ford, not the actor, the student Harrison Ford. I want to mention Harrison in particular as he is a junior now at Kettering in their co-op program. He is doing tremendously well. But he was on a FIRST Robotics team it had meant so much to him, he is now a mentor for another FIRST Robotics team in Flint, the Flint Fire. So, this is a case of someone having success giving back, so let’s give a big shout out in the balcony to Dr. Robert McMahan, President of Kettering and Harrison Ford, a student at Kettering. Thank you so much. Keep building those robots."
The Governor also spoke at the championship this weekend, and had the following to say about FIRST:
"This is something that is easy to support, when you see the passion in the eyes of all the people that have put in the time and effort, because we all know why this is so important for the students. You are our future and we believe in you and we want to support you with all the resources we can."
I know that I'm proud to have a Governor that is so outspoken about supporting FIRST, and that he is being recognized for that support by FIRST HQ. Hopefully, this will lead to more supporters in government everywhere!
Edit: Here are some relevant links showcasing some neat things the Governor has been promoting:
If you have not had a positive experience in FIRST, please don't bring those that have down. - Jeff K. [more] 
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