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 December 4, 2006 - Area delegation learns from Ireland's economy By Dean Ryerson, for the Daily Tribune Young people who graduate from the community and leave for employment elsewhere. Concerns about changes in local industry and employment. The role of education in economic development. Working across city and community boundaries to see economic development as a regional goal. How is economic development tied to community building? Those themes echo throughout the Wisconsin Rapids area. They also reverberate throughout Ireland, where successful efforts have been made to tackle the difficult challenges of economic and community development. With that in mind, and as a part of the Community Progress Initiative, a delegation of 16 Wisconsin Rapids area community and business leaders, funded through the support of the Ford Foundation and their own personal investment, spent eight days in Ireland in early November to find out what connections and learnings could be brought back for efforts to grow our communities here in central Wisconsin. The delegation discussed with officials in the southeast corner of Ireland in West Cork how a regional branding effort linked the development of quality products to markets in the region. Those officials also shared the development of the regional brand, the quality components attached to the brand and the marketing efforts to sell the region. A visit to a technology park that some once called a waste of resources and a white elephant found construction of new facilities and more than 600 employees working in high-paying jobs new to the region. Discussions with farmers who worked to involve family members in the development of a unique niche of products from high quality cheese, pork, herbs and poultry surfaced ideas on how to further develop the dairy, cranberry and other agriculture opportunities here in south Wood County. Connections between a community college and a once-dying community in the Galway region illustrated what can happen when leaders develop a vision and mission and patiently work to see that vision to fruition. "It takes time to change a culture and to foster development," noted a community leader who had been about the effort for nearly 20 years. In a visit to the troubled city of Belfast in the British province of Northern Ireland, officials from the Community Foundation of Northern Ireland shared their efforts at community building and at bridge-making efforts in a region long torn by violence between Protestants and Catholics. Also in Belfast, a session with the Invest Northern Ireland organization explored the importance of education in economic development, the processes used to provide incentives to entrepreneurs such as an ice cream maker in Irvinestown, and partnerships with global companies such as Allstate, Oracle, Microsoft and Prudential, which have made large investments in the area. Common themes heard were the importance of developing trust, the importance of thinking regionally, patience, collaboration, effective governance and boardmanship, and the need to focus on community, social, environmental and economic development. As the owner/manager of a large supermarket who supported the regional branding concept noted, "Anyone can look into the corner. It's those who look around the corner who will survive and make a difference." Participants, eager to use what was learned from the study tour in Ireland to further the efforts of the Community Progress Initiative, are willing to share the stories of their learnings with various local organizations and individuals. In sharing the stories, they look to engage others in the community to assist in applying ideas from Ireland to areas of opportunity in our own community economic development approaches. For more information on the Ireland visit or to have a participant speak to your community group on their learning experience, call the Heart of Wisconsin Business and Economic Alliance (423-1830) or the Community Foundation of South Wood County (423-3863). Contributed by Dean Ryerson, co-chairman of the Workforce Development and Education Cluster of the Community Progress Initiative and participant in the Nov. 3 to 12 Regional Innovation Study Tour of Ireland.
		Copyright © 2005, Community Progress Initiative, South Wood County & Town of Rome