County Board Gets First Look at EDWC New Executive Director

12/09/2009

---

An emphasis on helping existing businesses grow and identifying targeted industries in the county to
promote are among the tasks the new executive director of Economic Development/Washington County has
on his to-do list for his first 100 days.

Tuesday, Christian G. Tscheschlok was introduced to the County Board by Tony Warren, vice president of EDWC’s volunteer board of directors. Warren, chairman and former chief executive officer of West Bend Mutual Insurance Co., had been the organization’s interim director for the past five months.
“It’s been a busy year for us,” Warren told the county supervisors as part of the EDWC’s annual report to the county. “But the most exciting thing is being able to hire a professional executive director.”

“We need to focus in on our existing businesses,” said Tscheschlok (pronounced Shesh-lok), 36, a certified economic developer with more than 13 years experience in rural and urban economic development and redevelopment. He took over the reins of EDWC Monday.

Calling it “economic gardening,” Tscheschlok said he intends for the EDWC to provide the resources and consulting services small businesses cannot provide for themselves. “To help them grow jobs,” he said. Tscheschlok replaced John V. “Jack” Caldwell Jr., who resigned at the end of June for undisclosed reasons.

The first executive director of EDWC, Caldwell held the position since April 2006 and moved here from Louisiana to accept it. Tscheschlok’s hiring was announced by the EDWC late in October.

While the emphasis will be on promoting job growth through existing businesses, Tscheschlok said, the
EDWC will not overlook trying to find new businesses to move into the county.

But, he said, “we need to be smart about it.” Trying to recruit new business can eat up “enormous resources” for an organization, so the EDWC needs to be careful where to expend its energy, Tscheschlok said. Focusing on targeted industries will help in setting such priorities, he said. “We can’t be everything to everybody, but our (existing) supply chain does offer advantages to certain industries.”

Two of those targeted industries are agribusiness and advanced manufacturing, he said, which already exist in Washington County.

“That’s just common sense. Those are the only two that are surfacing right now. I expect two or three more will emerge. A combination of common sense and research will identify them,” he said.

Daniel Stoffel, a county supervisor from the town of Kewaskum and a farmer himself, noted that the EDWC issued a pair of revolving loans to agricultural businesses recently. That wasn’t done in the past. “I appreciate the focus that is being put onto agriculture.”

Tscheschlok said he wants to take the EDWC “to the next level” and demonstrate its value as a professional, countywide economic development organization.
To do that, he said he wants to “build relationships with our existing businesses. We want to be able to be proactive. That can only take place through solid relationships.”

Daniel Goetz, a county supervisor from Richfield, said he hoped the EDWC would remember to help small
businesses in the county. “We have to work with them,” he said. “We have to keep them here.” “(Companies with) 100 jobs or less is the majority of businesses in Washington County,” Tscheschlok said. “We’re your staff, is the way I look at it.”

Tscheschlok had been vice president of the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp. since June 2007, where he provided consulting services for business and community projects.

As the new EDWC executive director, Tscheschlok will represented the county’s interests in the regional economic development cooperative Milwaukee 7, which consists of Washington, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Walworth, Kenosha and Racine counties.

EDWC also operates the low-interest Revolving Loan Fund, which assists businesses relocating or expanding in the county.

This fall the County Board appointed the EDWC as the administrative agency for the county’s $7.09 million Re-covery Zone Facility (RZF) Bond Program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (commonly called the federal stimulus plan).

Applications for low-interest RZF bonds from local businesses are being received by the EDWC, Tscheschlok said, and the organization hopes to be able to make decisions on issuing the bonds early next year.

The EDWC is a county-wide public-private partnership to promote economic development in Washington County. The county provides funding for the organization as do private businesses and other entities.

“The mission of the EDWC is to support and nurture the economy of our county,” Warren said.

Dave Rank, Daily News Staff