A Joint Initiative Between     Heart of Wisconsin     Business & Economic Alliance and     Community Foundation of Greater     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 17, 2007 - Regional response required to face significant change By: Connie Loden, for the Daily Tribune With the announcement of Domtar closing the Port Edwards Mill and the impact that it will have on the community, it is important we come together and act as a region. This is not a one community issue, it is one that affects all of us across the region, and requires a unified regional approach to providing the appropriate action in response to this news that helps us prepare to minimize the impact when this change occurs. It is conceivable that if we work together collectively, we can identify and act on strategies that generate significant results to chart a new course and continue to build on our efforts to diversify our economy. We certainly are better prepared to address this unfortunate news today, than we were several years ago when Consolidated Papers sold to Stora Enso and the large job loss occurred as a result of that transaction. The Community Progress Initiative, which engages people across the community to be involved in making our community stronger, provides a leadership network to work on identifying the response strategies and steps to take in implementing these. This type of announcement and economic impact as a result cannot be solved by any one person, organization or community. It takes collective, cohesive action across the region to make a difference in how effective we can be in our ability to shift it positively from a crisis to an opportunity. The Heart of Wisconsin brought representatives from the various segments of the region together to do strategic planning and look at the preferred scenario of the future we wanted to create. One of the priority recommendations for action was to build new levels of collaboration and cooperation across the region, developing a focused and coordinated area approach to regional economic development. Time is now of the essence to make this happen -- we must join forces and focus on the future and how we can design this to be an opportunity for additional strength and diversity in our economy. The leadership networks are in place to have this be a reality. We will be forming a Community Response Team with leadership from across the municipalities and organizations engaged to develop a course of action -- as a region. Let's move forward, seeing the positive assets and opportunities we can create as a region, when we look beyond boundaries and barriers, join forces to capitalize on efforts to date and foster innovation to create a strong future for our community. Together we can build new levels of collaboration and cooperation across the region and "Make it Happen!" Connie Loden is president and chief executive officer of the Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance.
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