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I am grateful that the committee invited me to participate and impressed with the committees commitment to creating a healthier Washington County.

— Sandy Bernier, Tobacco Control Program Coordinator

Next Level Strategy Unfolds for EDWC

04/18/2010


Next Level Strategy Unfolds: Special Message from EDWC Executive Director
Board members, committee members and investors came together April 15 at the Schauer Arts and Activities Center in Hartford to discover where opportunity and places of greatest potential may exist for a targeted approach to county-wide economic development.

EDWC partnered with Paul Roback of UW Extension-Washington County to package together a variety of data points in ways meaningful for decision-making. Paul brought forth the expertise of Bill Pinkovitz and Matt Kures of UW-Extension’s Center for Community and Economic Development to share discoveries and surprises from their analysis of Washington County’s Economy. Participants that morning, myself included, experienced several “ah-ha” moments throughout their presentation.

EDWC Board President Tony Warren kicked off the morning by sharing the Board’s vision for EDWC as an entrepreneurial economic development organization guided by a measurable, targeted, and B2B-oriented 3-year strategy.

Participants also heard a briefing on national executive and site selector perspectives utilizing information obtained from Area Development magazine’s 24th Annual Corporate & 6th Annual Site Selector surveys. Lastly,I brought these perspectives closer to home by summarizing some key-takeaways and observations from two business retention and expansion surveys done in 2009 by EDWC and West Bend Economic Development Corporation.

The morning may have never fully crystallized, however, were it not for a presentation by Pouch Converting Technologies, Inc. CEO Tom Wetsch, who shared why this recent start-up—now already becoming a second stage growth company—chose Washington County. Proximity to markets, ease of doing business, and strong supply-chain connectivity have helped them advance their business strategy. While I sure have enjoyed working with the Pouch team, they also represent a place of potential (supported by data) that could mark a successful development niche for Washington County…second stage, young growth companies.

Feel free to explore these presentations in more depth through the links below. I’ve also included links to data sources mentioned in the presentations so you can mine the data for some nuggets of particular interest to you.

I would like to thank board members, committee members and investors for their thoughtful consideration of the data and dedicated efforts to help EDWC hone in on an impactful 3-Year Strategy. They gather next on April 21st for EDWC’s 2011-2013 Strategy Summit, where discussion will result in consensus on top priorities for economic development in Washington County.

Now, that’s exciting!

Christian Tscheschlok, CEcD

Presentations


Referenced Data for Further Mining


Data Requested by Participants