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 January 1, 2007 - Industry clusters celebrate great year, look ahead By: Melissa Lokan, for the Daily Tribune The vision of the Community Progress Initiative is to create an innovative, self-reliant and business-friendly culture in a vibrant community with a prosperous local economy. The Industry Cluster Network and its community volunteers from south Wood County and the town of Rome are taking great strides to make that vision a reality. It has been a very busy year for all of the clusters. The Tourism Cluster, co-chaired by Mary Brazeau Brown and Karin Mast, has successfully hosted, "Know Your Own Back Yard Training," to acquaint front line service employees with the community and its various attractions. They also will unveil community information kiosks featuring a new map developed by Wood County. Watch for future news about the possibility of a Cranberry Blossom Celebration in 2007 and a possible focus on agri- and eco-tourism. The Small Business Cluster, co-chaired by Alan Panek and Steve Lewallen, hosted four Entrepreneurial Boot Camps that graduated 36 potential business owners. Members of the cluster have provided advice and mentorship to many small business owners in the community. Watch for continued Boot Camps in 2007 as well as new programs to help business owners, possibly including a business-to-business match-making event. 'The New Economies Cluster, co-chaired by Chad Borman, Dr. John Dietrich and J.R. Siewert, launched the Ideas Incubator. This is a Web site (www.ideasincubator.org) that matches ideas to entrepreneurs. They also commissioned a telecommunications study that was completed by NorthStar Economics. The results and recommendations of this study will provide for the course of action for 2007. The Downtown Cluster, co-chaired currently by Leata Anderson and Jerry Bach, is celebrating the successes of its sub-committee the Public Art Group, chaired by Marion Ruelle. This group has worked with businesses and individuals to solicit sponsorships and facilitate the development and placement of six murals in our downtown area. They also have worked to design and place new banners throughout the downtown. Special thanks to previous co-chairs of this group Jackie Bredl-Dietrich and Larrie Hayes. In 2007, plans include inventorying all downtown businesses, promoting those businesses and creating a database and presentation folder of all available space in the downtown. The Workforce Training and Education Cluster, co-chaired by Dean Ryerson, Doris McCallister and Deanna MacMillan, has worked with the other clusters to report their outcomes and gauge cluster impact. They also have identified resources necessary to promote workforce training and education. In 2007, they will be exploring how we are inventorying the knowledge, skills and abilities of our human resources within our communities and focusing on the relationship between education and economic development. The Paper and Forest Products Cluster, chaired by Dale Arendt, has, with the help of the Small Business Cluster, encouraged and supported the expansion of a local business into the area of flexo printing. It also has brought awareness to the industry through participation in Hogs to Bogs and hosting a group of study tour participants from Grow North. In 2007, watch for the possible growth of the cluster into the manufacturing area and continued support for local businesses dealing with Paper and Forest Products and continued promotion of the industry. The Arts & Heritage Cluster, co-chaired by Mary Olson and Ann Kroll, was created as a result of the North Carolina Study Tour. The Public Art group has joined them in their efforts to promote and celebrate the arts and history in our area and leverage those assets for economic growth. Watch for more details about this emerging cluster. All community members are welcome to join us at 2 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Hotel Mead to be part of creating the future of clusters. If you would like more information or to join a cluster at any time, please call me at 422-4856. Melissa Loken is the business development specialist for the Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance.
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