A Joint Initiative Between     Heart of Wisconsin     Business & Economic Alliance and     Community Foundation of     South Wood County

Home About Us B2B Club Breaking News Contact Donate Events / Programs Feedback Ideas Incubator Industry Clusters Links / Resources Progess Funds Progress Teams Public Art / Murals Publications		Breaking News May 1, 2004 - Initiative has helped others: struggling communities from Washington to Australia have rallied under program By Antoinette Rahn Daily Tribune Staff The Community Progress Initiative is new to south Wood County, but it represents various approaches used elsewhere to empower people to shape their area's future. Similar projects from as near as Duluth, Minn., to as far as Australia have succeeded in creating jobs and building community spirit. "The principle in any of these approaches is engaging the community to find out the needs, having local people create the vision and providing opportunities to develop the skills need to achieve that vision," said David Beurle, an Australian expert on rural leadership and development who helped to form the local Community Progress Initiative. "These approaches are most powerful when these elements are part of the catalyst." The Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance and the Community Foundation of South Wood County are leading the three-year initiative to build endowment funds and the local economy. At Community Progress Initiative rallies, Beurle shares stories about communities in Western Australia capitalizing on natural resources as tourism attractions, and leadership programs and collaborations helping a community rebuild after a season of massive flooding. These are elements of the Progress Rural Western Australia - a model that fuses social and recreational leadership, industry, technology skills and community development. In Clallum County, Wash., an industry cluster approach to development is helping to revitalize this region of about 60,000 people. The clusters, named Clallum netWorks, are part of the basis for the business clusters proposed in the Community Progress Initiative for south Wood County. Clallum County's story may seem familiar to Wisconsin Rapids-area residents. By four years ago, many of Clallum County's manufacturing industries had left, and there was a shift to service-sector jobs. Local workshop participants determined the county lacked collaboration, depended on primary industries, gradually accepted the economic decline and harbored a widespread opinion that economic development was the job of government. "We were at 65 percent of the average wage in the state, and our school enrollments were declining because people were leaving the area," said Jim Haugewood, executive director of the Clallum County Economic Development Council. "We also had one of the smallest percentages (36) of population in the labor force in the state." Logging and fishing, two of Clallum County's remaining major industries, were diminishing, and the community was "tightening its belt," said Bob Lawrence, director of the Center for Excellence at Peninsula College, an industry cluster participant. Changing views A change in the vision for economic growth was one of the first steps, Lawrence said. "In the past, our economic strategy was let's bring in a new, big industry, and as we started working at the clusters we realized that probably wouldn't happen," he said. "So we approached it as, what resources do we already have here and how can we grow smaller businesses." In 2002, citizens and businesses helped the council develop a five-year strategy built on cluster teams. Financing came from the community, public and private donors and a grant, said Haugewood, who will speak in Wisconsin Rapids as part of an intiative program in June. The teams established their priorities based on creating links inside and outside industry sectors and using resources of the area in collaborations. Clallum netWorks' goal is to create 2,285 new jobs at $40,000 a year and increase the wages of 5,000 existing jobs by $5,000 a year by 2007. "Some of these cluster teams are more active than others. It depends on the members," Haguewood said. "Those that have industry leaders and members that are passionate do better. "This is not government-led. It's people-led." Two years into the initiative, the percentage of the population in the work force has increased by 3 percent to 39 percent, 425 new jobs were created and the wages of 110 existing jobs were improved by $5,000 a year, according to the Economic Development Council. In addition, there's been improvement in the unemployment rate. "For the first time in 20 to 25 years, our unemployment level will be below 6 percent next month," Lawrence said. The work isn't without challenges and lost patience, though. "I think people are becoming more aware of this, and I see the attitude changing, but that's a process that takes time," Lawrence said. Thinking small In the areas of northeast Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, nonprofit and business partnerships are building the economic base one small business at a time. The Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, a nonprofit organization, helps businesses with five or fewer employees obtain loans, counseling and group training. In 15 years of existence, the fund has assisted 715 businesses, helped create or retain 1,600 jobs and made 239 loans totaling $4.2 million. The organization was created on the heels of a downturn in the mining industry in 1989 as a way to try to figure out how to change attitudes and bring former employees into their own businesses. "At that time, we knew if we don't try and change it, no one is going to come in and change it for us," said Anita Provinzino, chief operating officer of the fund. Ed Knutson, owner of No Swetts of Duluth, Minn., a specialty screen-print and embroidery business, received a $2,000 loan from the fund after personal changes in his life and changes in the operations of one of his major contracts affected his business. "I'm convinced small businesses are it," Knutson said. "Duluth has tried to get big industries in here, but I think it's about taking care of the businesses already here, giving more incentives for new small businesses to come in and training for new business owners." You can reach Antoinette Rahn at 422-6726 or at arahn@wisconsinrapidstribune.com.
		Copyright © 2005, Community Progress Initiative, South Wood County & Town of Rome