Gov.-elect Rick Snyder Tuesday gave the first glimpse of how his vision to reinvent Michigan will take shape as he announced Dan Wyant of Cassopolis as his group executive for Quality of Life, a new role that will bring a more streamlined business management model to state government for the departments of Environmental Quality, Natural Resources and Agriculture and Rural Development.

Snyder also announced that Wyant’s former deputy, Keith Creagh, will head the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Rodney Stokes will direct the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Wyant, who will be working for his third governor, will also serve as director of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in addition to his role as group executive.

“Reinventing Michigan means reinventing how state government is organized to provide exceptional value to the taxpayers and citizens it serves,” Snyder said. “Dan, Keith and Rodney bring exceptional private and public sector experience to this new management model which will allow departments to function better and take successful practices from the private sector and put them to work in government.”

This new group executive model will mean that the current Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (DNRE) will be split back into separately functioning departments of Environmental Quality and Natural Resources. The governor-elect will issue executive orders after Jan. 1, 2011, to reconstitute these two departments.

This reorganization will allow DEQ and DNR to better focus on their core missions than the currently constituted super-sized DNRE is able.

“I am excited at the opportunity to help Gov.-elect Snyder reinvent Michigan and about creating a new government management model that will improve the services it provides residents and businesses,” Wyant said. “I am honored to be part of a dynamic team focused on implementing customer service-orientated government.”

“It happened pretty quick,” Wyant told the Daily News Tuesday evening  by telephone from Lansing. He had been on the transition team, reporting on agriculture.

The two men were “acquaintances” who knew each other from serving on the Nature Conservancy board.

Snyder brought his campaign to Southwestern Michigan College July 26 during the Republican primary.

The Daily News jokingly asked Wyant, a Dowagiac Rotarian and SMC trustee, at the grand opening of the Edward Lowe Foundation’s Tower of Tomorrow Nov. 3 whether Snyder’s election the day before meant Wyant would be returning to state government as agriculture director.

“I’d done (agriculture) once,” he said. “I missed (Lansing) for six months, then I got over it and got comfortable with southwest Michigan,” where he grew up in Pokagon Township. “This is just a really significant opportunity I’m very excited about,” Wyant said. “I couldn’t turn it down. It’s a very exciting offer from a guy I like what I hear, so I’m coming back to serve. He’s a very smart guy and very impressive. What I find so refreshing about Rick Snyder is I don’t see the partisanship in his rhetoric or decisionmaking. That’s refreshing and I’m encouraged.”

That from a man whose nine years as agriculture secretary spanned the Republican Engler administration and Democratic Granholm administration.

Wyant said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow kidded him about his daughter, Monica, who works at the White House, being an “Obama girl.”

Dan and his wife, Kathy, also have a son, Jordan, who is a student in Portland, Maine.

“Today’s been all about press conferences,” said Wyant, whose appointment was announced at 1 p.m.

“It ought to be fun to watch” the Snyder administration once it takes office Jan. 1, he said. “There will be a lot happening to fix Michigan and put focus on customer service. We’re going to hit the ground running.”

Expansion of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development recognizes the importance of agriculture as Michigan’s second-leading industry and the roles farming and agri-business play in strengthening the state’s rural communities through economic development and stewardship of natural resources.

As part of this organizational restructuring, agency and department directors will report to their respective group executive, who will report directly to the governor.

Snyder will announce the other group executives as he finalizes his remaining appointments in the coming weeks.

Wyant is president and chief operating officer of the Lowe Foundation, which promotes entrepreneurship and helps second-stage business owners accelerate growth for their companies, a position he’s held since 2005. Wyant holds a bachelor’s degree in food systems management from Michigan State University and an MBA from American University in Washington, D.C.