MEDC Downplayed Pure Michigan Return On Investment Claims? Oh Really [Michigan Capitol Confidential]

MEDC Downplayed Pure Michigan Return On Investment Claims? Oh Really [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
Secretive numbers used in claims have headlined many tales told to reporters and lawmakers
"David Lorenz is the Michigan Economic Development Corporation official in charge of the state agency’s Travel Michigan tourism promotion bureau.
Lorenz said in a recent news article that he wants to make sure the $35 million spent on Pure Michigan ads is used wisely.
The MEDC recently ended its relationship with Longwoods International, a company that provided alleged rate-of-return calculations on how much the ads added to state economic activity and tax collections.
Longwoods’ most recent report stated that the state received more than $8 in additional tax dollars for every dollar spent on Pure Michigan promotions.
(The ads must have got better, because in 2010, Longwoods and the MEDC were claiming just an extra $2.23 collected per dollar spent.)
There’s just one catch: 
The company and the MEDC refuse to divulge the methods used to come up with those numbers, saying the process contained proprietary information. 
Essentially, what they have told both taxpayers and policymakers is, “Trust us.”
Yet Lorenz now says he never focused on how much return on investment the state gets from its Pure Michigan tourism campaign.
“People always focus on the (ROI) numbers. I never have,” Lorenz said in a Crain’s Detroit Business article..."