Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/180153
UP FRONT Regional Roundup » 11 Face Time » 17 Connections » 20 "Winnebago County and Northeast Wisconsin have a number of unique assets that exist today and can certainly be built upon going forward, " – Mike Mathews, president of Economic Growth Advisors By Felic ia Clark Blueprint for success Winnebago County study points direction for area growth If you speak with economic development officials, they will tell you that what is good for Oshkosh is good for Northeast Wisconsin as a whole. The same is true that any city will leave an impact on a region-wide scale. With that in mind, the Oshkosh Area Economic Development Marketing Group sent out a Request for Proposal to consulting firms for an Oshkosh Business and Industry Cluster Analysis on Winnebago County last year and came back with plenty of recommendations and strategies. The study was designed to analyze the economic markets of Winnebago, Brown, Waupaca, Waushara, Green Lake, Fond du Lac, Calumet and Outagamie counties. The research was compiled and shared with county leaders. Rob Kleman, Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of economic development, says the study is a blueprint for success. "The bottom line was who should we be targeting, where should we be spending our time and resources and how we were going to do that," he says. The group hired two consultants, Mike Mathews, president of Economic Growth Advisors, and David J. Ward, CEO of Northstar Consulting Group LLC. "What happens is that sometimes 10 | Insight • O c t o b e r 2 013 "One of the goals is to create sustainable highwage jobs, and what we've seen in Oshkosh is a rapidly growing IT center." –Rob Kleman, Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of economic development you get in the forest and you get too close to the trees and you can't see what's happening," Ward says. And that's when Winnebago County sought consulting expertise. The consultants collected and analyzed data by conducting community-wide interviews and online surveys with businesses and organizations with an interest in economic and business development to establish an understanding of the workforce, employment and economic trends in the area, Mathews says. The main goal in using the data is to further develop business and industry clusters in Winnebago County and the New North region that look to increase private investment, enhance job retention success, and increase job creation and regional business area relationships, Kleman says. The report, completed June 27, had 15 recommendations for the county. Five of them are listed as priorities, including a closer focus on developing particular sectors including information technology, manufacturing, aviation, talent/ workforce development and secondstage companies. The county is currently working to implement the recommendations and strategies by assigning leaders and groups to each area, Kleman says. "Winnebago County and Northeast Wisconsin have a number of unique assets that exist today and can certainly be built upon going forward," Mathews says. One of those areas, he says, is the manufacturing sector, where a unique cluster of manufacturing specialization exists in Northeast Wisconsin. "When we looked at Northeast Wisconsin, not only within the state of Wisconsin but across the entire country, that kind of concentration of manufacturing specialization is very unique," Mathews says. "And if an area (is) experiencing a resurgence, that means that Northeast Wisconsin has some substantial opportunities for growth in the manufacturing sector." w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m