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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 September 17, 2007 - Industry Clusters still make progress By: Dale Arendt, for the Daily Tribune A recent encounter with international visitors to our area reminded me once again that the cluster activities of the Community Progress Initiative are truly making a difference. This past week at our quarterly cluster meeting, we hosted a dialogue with a 15-member delegation from Germany that was participating in an education and business study tour of Wood County. Our visitors cited similarities in agriculture, tourism, health care and commitment to adult education as reasons why they came to central Wisconsin. As we shared our Progress Initiative story, they marveled at the number of volunteers who cared enough for the future of our community that they were willing to give of their time and energy to make a difference. One visitor, Brigitte Harder, commented to me on how she saw hope and enthusiasm from the cluster members as they shared their community successes and challenges with the German delegation. Another delegate, Burkhard Albers, spoke of how he wanted to bring additional study groups to central Wisconsin to continue some shared learning of best practices between our community business leaders and their German counterparts. I had two take-aways from this cultural exchange. The first was to reflect on how fortunate we are in central Wisconsin to be a part of a pro-active community who believes in and is striving to make a difference in a world that continues to rapidly change. The second "ah-ha" was to reflect on the reality that we are indeed making a difference. If it was readily visible to a delegation of business and education professionals from Germany (who want to come back again and learn more), it can also be visible to us "locals" if we choose to look for indicators of community progress and change. So then my mind wandered to the following three questions: • Have we done all that we can to cause community progress? • Has everything we've attempted succeeded? • Have all of our problems gone away? The answer to these three rhetorical questions is obviously no. But, for the individuals actively participating in the Community Progress Initiative and those residents looking for signs of community progress, we can find indicators in both quantifiable numbers and heart-felt personal stories of how the initiative is making a difference in people's lives. Sometimes it takes someone from another country to come and affirm to us that a difference is truly being made through our community efforts.
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