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 April 16, 2007 - Progress Initiative responds to economic needs By Andrew Hellpap, Daily Tribune staff The headline in the Daily Tribune on Aug. 26, 2004 read: “Stora Enso to cut 1,050 jobs. Area mills lose 490.” It seemed economic stability in the paper industry might be lost. Around the time the job cuts came, the Community Foundation of South Wood County and the Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance had been conducting strategic planning. “For the Community Foundation in every public session we handled, job creation and economic development was a top priority,” said Kelly Lucas, Community Foundation president ad chief executive officer. A central theme arose. The community needed direction after the job cuts followed the sale of Consolidated Papers to Helsinki, Finland-based Stora Enso in 2000, she said. “It’s kind of changed life as we know it,” Lucas said. The two groups became partners in what would become the Community Progress Initiative, she said, because both were involved in each others’ processes and with the Heart of Wisconsin chamber of commerce responsibilities. Further research, planning and discussion ensued, including looking at projects and programs in Nebraska and Australia, along with new ideas from Connie Loden, Heart of Wisconsin’s executive director, Lucas said. The Community Progress Initiative was taking shape. With the help of Ruth and Hartley Barker of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Gilbert and Jaylee Mead of Washington, D.C., in late April 2004, the initiative took off, Lucas said. The gift included an inaugural contribution of a $75,000 grant supporting the Community Progress Initiative and a $350,000 contribution, during four years, to the Community Foundation’s Community Grants Fund. The three-year initiative kicked off at a launch event April 22, 2004, at Centralia Center. “We need to work together as a group to keep money in the town,” Rapids Sign owner Mike Fickey said in 2004. The initiative has helped to do just that over the years, he said. With the help of private and government grants, in addition to a $240,000 Ford Foundation grant in February 2006, and a $500,000 grant in January, the initiative is poised for continued success. The scope hasn’t really changed despite the different programs the initiative has produced in the last three years because the focus has always been on the community, Loden said.
		Copyright © 2005, Community Progress Initiative, South Wood County & Town of Rome