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w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m S e p t e m b e r 2 0 15 • I NSIGH T | 33 920-734-3358 FoxCities.org/bringithome SHARE WHAT IS To bring your event home to the Fox Cities, visit FoxCities.org/bringithome You may have just returned from an exciting convention or event in another city or state. Imagine that group meeting right here in the Fox Cities. We encourage you to get involved and work with us to "Bring it Home" to the Fox Cities. By booking an event with the Bring it Home program, you may receive Fox Cities area gift certificates. increased 60 percent between 2008 and 2011, which helped fuel the building of the 95,000 square-foot training center. Enhancing emergency response skills locally was one initiative behind the facility's creation. e training center is designed to handle everything from emergency response training to other related crisis scenarios. River City, which is designed to replicate a real community, has real buildings including two houses, a gas station and a bank, among others. "To have an actual airplane to conduct training on is not something that a lot of public safety officials encounter when they go through different training courses," Tomlinson says. "But it's capabilities like this that put us on the map, and why we are so lucky." Economic impact An economic impact study conducted before the center opened showed that the center will have a $12 million impact on the region. It also brings in an estimated $500,000 in new tax revenue each year. is past spring the center hosted 70 field agents for a training session for the Department of Health and Human Services. Tomlinson says the center's national reputation has helped the local economy by bringing large groups to Appleton. "When the agents came for the training session, they stayed in downtown Appleton for the entire week, so not only are we drawing attention to the public training center itself, but local businesses are also seeing the effect the project has brought to the area," Tomlinson says. e Appleton Police Department has used the facility to ensure its personnel receive the best and most comprehensive training available. Assistant Police Chief Todd Olm was at the facility in the spring and said he had never seen a facility of this magnitude before. "e capabilities and size of the training center are truly astonishing," Olm says. "It trains our officers in settings that resemble real-life scenarios, which in turn makes us even more capable to handle emergency situations." e training center, which took 10 years to plan and create is now a working reality for officials and students who dedicate their careers to protect the safety of the communities they serve. Fox Valley Technical College is proud of the model it has created, and the feedback it has received over time drives its mission forward. "Everyone is always amazed when they come out here, and we always hear how fortunate our students and local departments are to have a community to support a project like this," Tomlinson says. "e biggest part of our mission here is to educate on how to keep the community safe, and that truly is the piece that keeps us going."