Warm feeling for citys economic development
MONROE - When it comes to economic development at the city level, Monroe is a community passionately invested in its capital and its people, according to Pam Christopher, executive director of Monroe Chamber of Commerce.
Christopher, who also oversees economic development for the city, is promoting Monroe with special advertising, aimed at Chicago in particular. While financial advantages can draw businesses to Wisconsin, the warm feel of Monroe as its hometown can clinch the deal - if Christopher can get the business leaders here to take a look, she said.
Monroe's people are passionate about their community, and the businesses cross-use each other's products and services, Christopher noted.
"Our community has CEOs who are leaders, and they get it," she said. "I've never seen a community that gets it" (help and utilize each other) as much as Monroe does. The amount of philanthropic giving - I have never, ever seen before."
Christopher pointed out three key areas for the city.
One is the downtown parking ramp. Support for keeping the aging ramp comes not just for nor from downtown businesses, Christopher said.
"Ninety percent of our chamber members say to fight for it," Christopher said. "It's for the MAC, churches, events, businesses off the Square. Our other business members are in support to them, too."
The airport terminal is another component for economic development. Investing in a new municipal airport terminal, expected to be built later this year, was "very good," she said. Business leaders looking at Monroe "are excited to find an airport that close."
The airport is already important to some current businesses in the county, including Jack Links, MTX, Monroe Clinic and Colony Brands, she said.
"Many people may not be utilizing the airport directly, but their employer may be," Christopher said.
Having people "on the ground" affects the jobs of thousands, she added. "It's imperative, and businesses and CEOs are looking for that factor ... for their acquisitions, their products and fly-in meetings."
Confidentiality for the client is a must, and a meeting at an airport can help facilitate that.
Face-to-face meetings, even "meeting with clients at the airport in a conference room where they can lay out plans and discuss business like business people," makes a difference in how things are conveyed, she said.
And upgrading the wastewater treatment plant, another planned city project, is of "major" importance to the city's development, "to have enough capacity to continue to grow the industrial parks," Christopher said.
- Tere Dunlap
"The landscape of economic development is changing," said Anna Schramke, executive director of GCDC.
Where local forces once worked to bridge the gap between the communities and the state for funding and information in economic development, there are now regional entities at work.
GCDC has chosen two specific areas of focus to work on in its three-year plan.
One of those areas is a growth and strengthening of the county's business climate to include increasing all levels of jobs created and increasing levels of workforce skills and education.
Economic development "should not be just about job creation - the number of jobs - anymore," Schramke said. "It needs to be about the types of jobs - as an investment into the community and the company.
"Good paying jobs, high tech solutions and better jobs ensure the company will be around a long time," she added. "Businesses looking for low-educated labor are only looking at the bottom line."
To GCDC, that means taking a two-prong approach: Advancing methods in manufacturing to maintain a competitive edge and finding ways to support advanced education for the workforce, whether it is in technical skills or college degrees.
A high school degree isn't going to cut it anymore; future job positions are going to require at least two extra years of schooling or training, Schramke noted. Even now, the skills of the labor force are not matching up with job positions.
"Right now, job creation is coming out of our existing companies - the Colony (Brands), Kuhn (North America), the cheese factories - and technology is advancing, like at our breweries," Schramke said. "Experience is needed, until we figure out a way to increase the skills of our workforce. We have a lot to learn about this."
One early route to increasing labor skills is to find funding and programing for employers to increase on-the-the-job-training, at least until the educational training is up to speed, according to Schramke. A state program for the "newly unemployed" is the W3 program, which brings a promise of a full-time position. It is essential a 6-week part-time training opportunity, while allowing the worker to continue to receive unemployment benefits and a travel stipend.
GCDC's other area of focus involves strengthening its core clusters of value-added agriculture, metal fabrication, health care, and energy development as well as sustainable resources.
"We will have more play in agriculture," Schramke said.
According to information from the GCDC strategic plan, a 12-percent growth in dairy manufacturing, cheese manufacturing, milk products manufacturing, meat processing and breweries is expected in the county by 2020. Ethanol alcohol manufacturing is expected to grow by 10 percent, and custom iron forging by 22 percent.
While GCDC is intent on the local business environment, world-wide changes do contribute to changes in economic development here, according to Schramke.
"The changes in leadership in southern Europe affect Wisconsin," she said. "The Middle East, our federal handling of the debt ... federal support for economic development activity is decreasing and falls on the local government and the state."
Still, Schramke said the economy is expected to pick up by the end of 2013 and in early 2014. She already sees some easing in banks being more willing to make small business loans, property purchases beginning to move again, and some creative financing programs coming about.