How we got started | Vision Statement | Committee Members

Committee Members

Tim Baneck
School District of Marinette

Peter Behnke
School District of Bonduel

Don Clewey
Marinette County  Association for Business & Industry

Ann Franz
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Wendy Gehloff
Florence County Economic Development

James Golembeski
Bay Are Workforce Development

Robert Kellogg
Cooperative Educational Service Agency 8

John Knickerbocker
Cooperative Educational Service Agency 8

Brian Lancour
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Dale Mohr
UW-Extension - Oconto County

Holly Peoples
Michigan Works! The Job Force Board

Paul Putnam
Uw-Extension - Marinette County

Vision Statement

The Northwoods is a unique location where nature meets business. We are united to promote the region as a good place to live, work, and play.
 

THE NEW NORTHWOODS

An Economic and Workforce Development Strategy-Executive Summary

In March 2005, in direct response to a continuing trend of discouraging economic indicators for rural Northeastern Wisconsin (NEW), a Steering Committee was convened to begin planning the Northwoods Economic Summit. Almost 150 widely divergent business and public sector professionals were willing to pay a registration fee to spend the day discussing ways to promote economic and workforce development. Over 60 different strategies were discussed.

However, the overall conclusion was that the Northwoods needed to join together under a common vision to promote itself regionally as a good place to live, work and play, in order to be successful in economic and workforce development. The challenge, of course, is how to organize the disparate groups and needs of those in the Northwoods to promote this regional approach.

Therefore, the primary recommendation is to create and sustain the organizational capacity necessary to use the momentum from the Summit to ensure all appropriate actions are taken to implement the strategies identified. Creation of the NEW Northwoods Commission as a 501 corporation will enable the counties of Florence, Forest, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto and Shawano to collectively develop the political and financial clout to serve as a regional entity to promote economic and workforce development. Although there are many talented and quality organizations and individuals promoting economic health across the counties, they are separated by municipal, county, organizational, mission, and funding purposes.

Creation of the NEW Northwoods Commission will provide the permanent organizational capacity from which to implement the identified strategies discussed during the Northwoods Economic Summit. However, a bolder agenda for economic and workforce development in the area should promote the use of tourism as a feeder for growth. Therefore, the Commission will be charged to promote tourism development as the stimulus for broader economic growth throughout the region. Those activities that promote tourism also have a tendency to promote a greater sense of community identity overall. As such, improving the tourism product has the direct consequence of promoting economic and workforce development by addressing the issues of culture that have a tendency to inhibit optimism in the area.

Although tourism by itself is no economic panacea, it takes advantage of a widely available resource in the region at relatively low cost. Furthermore, it is anticipated that a more positive and proactive approach to tourism will lead to other kinds of development to promote economic vitality and sustainability in the future.