Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/140775
Business Development Telling our story Business Locator shows the value of New North By Se an Joh n son Mid-Year 13 T he New North region has always had compelling anecdotes for attracting businesses to the region. Whether it's the work ethic of the labor force or the value placed on education and training or the ability of the manufacturing sector to make things, the folks who work dayto-day to encourage business investment and location have an arsenal of powerful stories to share with companies and prospects. But what they didn't have – until recently – was a tool that collected those stories, applied real metrics that demonstrated the area strength and value and pulled it all together into a single resource that made the information easy to share. For the past two years, a group working within New North has been doing just that, collecting the anecdotes of why New North is a great place to live and do business and applying statistics to back the stories up. The result is the New North Business Locator Guide, a powerful tool that tells of the compelling qualities that can help make the case for why prospective businesses would do well to locate here. "It shows all the things you think you know but don't really know," says Ann Duginske, director of marketing & development for New North, Inc. "We always had good testimonials, but the comparisons show the real value of the region – and our advantage is our value." That value is reflected in the statistical measurements featured in the 24-page guide, which in category after category shows the New North as a leader not only within the state of Wisconsin, but 12 N e w n o r t h , i n c. also when compared to other regions across the country. For example, the education pages show that high school students in the New North region not only outperform the rest of the state when it comes to measuring preparedness such as ACT scores, but pace well ahead of the country as a whole. Need to make sure you can get finished products to market? In just a few concise pages, the region's transportation links, both domestic and international, show how you can get your products to markets easily and efficiently. Even those who have been involved in crafting the guide are surprised at how much impact the finished piece holds. "It really shows the integration of the many different disciplines that make the New North an attractive place to work and live," says Oliver Buechse, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Associated Bank. "It's not just a single discipline, but a reflection of many disciplines that help make us successful."