PLATTEVILLE — UW-Platteville hosted the Cooperative Educational Service Agency District 3 Business & Education Summit Thursday.

The theme of the annual event may have been stated by Mark Lee of Crawford County’s Driftless Development: “The only way this works is through a ton of collaboration.”

Ron Brisbois of the Grant County Economic Development Corp. pointed out that 80% of job growth comes from existing businesses.

Brisbois sees a “need to attract and retain young talent” as young as in grade school, particularly given the “workforce shortages” in this area.

Olivia Otte of the Green County Economic Development Corp. said her role is “to find out what our key stakeholders in our county are looking for, and that fluctuates from year to year and decade to decade.”

Allison Taylor said she came from the entertainment industry in “big cities” to the Lafayette County Economic Development Corp., which serves a county dominated by agriculture and food processing. She said LCEDC’s goal is “being able to support those around you.”

Lee came from real estate in Austin, Texas, to Driftless Development. 

“We have a four-lane from Walmart to McDonald’s and the rest of the county has two lanes,” he said, not mentioning the four-lane U.S. 18 north of the Bridgeport bridge into Prairie du Chien. 

Lee noted the county’s size in saying “Menard’s isn’t coming, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Kohl’s isn’t coming. … We focus on what we have and helping them grow.”

“Economic developers used to be smokestack-chasers,” he said, adding they now “work with the existing infrastructure we have” and “work with existing businesses.”

One example of collaboration Taylor noted was the Southwest Wisconsin Technical College Certified Nursing Assistant program, in which high school students are “able to leave [school] early with that partnership.”

Conversely, she said HVAC companies in Darlington and Shullsburg can “bring in education for their new hires.” She quipped that “no one is calling in an economic development officer at 2 a.m. when their furnace goes off.”

Otte pointed to Monroe High School’s Home Construction Cooperative, which renovated a house donated by SSM Health, using local subcontractors. The house was sold to a teacher. The group now plans to build a house on a lot donated by the City of Monroe that has been vacant since 1845.

Brisbois mentioned CESA 3’s Career Pathways program. 

“What I hear from businesses and others is where the gaps are,” he said.

The definition of “infrastructure” varies on where you are and whom you ask.

Housing is a major issue for Brisbois. If a company came to him bringing 100 families to Grant County, “I have no idea where to put them,” he said. “And then we talk about the affordability side. .. Housing in all of its aspects is needed.”

Otte defined infrastructure as “strengthening structures that we have in place that really affect our community.”

She said every employer she talks to identifies housing as one of the biggest issues, citing one study that 2,000 housing units are needed to support 1% population growth in her county by 2030. The study indicates that the average household size in Green County has been dropping since 1980, following a national trend. The shift requires a larger supply of housing units for the same population size.

Green County businesses put up $3 million to fund low-interest loans for housing incentives, she said.

“Housing is the biggest issue,” said Taylor, but added, “our infrastructure is broadband. Without broadband infrastructure we can’t grow.”

Lee said areas of Crawford County near Vernon County or Richland County have better broadband than other areas due to the work of our-of-county co-ops. The topography of the county “makes it really hard to do some of that infrastructure.”

Lee added artificial intelligence is “really energy-intensive,” which is a “huge issue too.” 

“No one wants to do sustainable energy sources that just means we’ll cover up acres of farmland anymore,” said Taylor, who said people support, for instance, solar panels on the tops of buildings or farms or houses, which she called “sustainability in both senses.”

Lee said there are “all kinds of jobs in green energy,” but added, “We don’t have the luxury right now to flip the proverbial switch and be all renewables. That’s going to be true for quite a while.”

Brisbois said Grant County is “one of the most diverse ag regions in the country,” mentioning the “challenge of sustainability in an ag economy.” 

Otte defined another issue — financial.

“Sustainability is something that’s coming up over and over again,” said Otte, “how can we do this locally, how can we do this sustainably so we don’t rely on grants that can be pulled away … keep dollars local.”

Matt Kirchner, president of LAB Midwest and creator of The TechEd podcast, talked about the fast growth of AI and how it will spread to nearly every industry and job.

Also speaking were representatives from the Craftsmen with Character Foundation, which is “committed to building an industrial workforce of young individuals who work with purpose and character.”