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 June 12, 2006 - Event to look at local economy By Melissa Loken, for the Daily Tribune As many of you have been following over the past year, the industry clusters, as part of the Community Progress Initiative, have been in the process of developing a comprehensive industry cluster strategy. The clusters are Downtown Revitalization, New E-conomies, Tourism, Paper and Forest Products, Workforce Training and Education, Small Business and Agriculture. They consist entirely of volunteers donating their time to work towards the overarching goal of promoting existing and new business growth and development. To aid in this goal, we are very fortunate to be welcoming Anthony Flaccavento, from Appalachian Sustainable Development Abingdon, Virginia, to work with our cluster groups from 8 a.m. until noon on Wednesday at the Hotel Mead. Anthony Flaccavento has previously won the Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World Award. He will be providing expert advice in the area of sustainable economic development and how every citizen can be involved in creating a positive economic future. Also assisting us with expert advice will be Matt Kures, UW-Extension Center for Community Economic Development GIS-Cluster specialist. Mr. Kures will guide us in recognizing progress indicators and cluster opportunities. Following the expert speakers, the Workforce Training and Education Cluster will act as a catalyst for setting goals, objectives and outcome indicators with the assistance of our keynotes, Anthony Flaccavento and Matt Kures, all with the end goal of promoting existing and new business growth and development. As the goals and objectives are filled in, our vision for the future will become apparent, and all groups will have the opportunity to plan their cluster activities for the future. Participants are welcome to stay for a networking lunch. We invite anyone with an interest in creating a business friendly culture in our Heart of Wisconsin community to be involved and join us for this meeting. To learn more about the industry clusters and the Community Progress Initiative, please visit www.progressinitiative.com or call 422-4856 to register for Wednesday's event.
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