MadREP in the News

Check out the Madison Region Economic Partnership's recent newsworthy economic development activities.

 

MadREP CEO Jason Fields Shares Expertise in Forbes Best Practices Roundup

In the business world, gaining recognition from a prestigious publication can be a game-changer. Recently, Jason Fields, the President and CEO of Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP), was featured in a Forbes’ “best practices” roundup, 20 Ways Nonprofits Can Demonstrate Impact Beyond Numbers. This milestone not only highlights his expertise but also underscores the innovative approach MadREP takes in supporting startups and fostering economic growth in Southcentral Wisconsin.

The Forbes Council and Jason Fields’ Involvement

An Exclusive Honor

Forbes Nonprofit Council Graphic

Being part of the Forbes Council is no small feat. This invitation-only community is comprised of top industry leaders who share their insights and expertise on various topics. Jason Fields’ inclusion in this esteemed group is a testament to his impactful work at MadREP and his commitment to economic development.

Expert Advice in the Spotlight

Fields’ expert advice was selected for the “best practices” roundup, 20 Ways Nonprofits Can Demonstrate Impact Beyond Numbers, a collection of valuable tips and strategies from industry leaders. His contribution sheds light on innovative ways nonprofits can demonstrate their impact beyond just numbers.

Beyond Numbers How Nonprofits Can Demonstrate Impact

The Challenge of Quantifying Impact

Nonprofits often face the challenge of illustrating their value in a way that goes beyond financial metrics. Jason Fields, along with other experts from the Forbes Nonprofit Council, provide creative solutions to this problem.

Showcase Visuals and Contextual Data

One effective strategy is to combine storytelling with metrics. By using visuals, testimonials, and contextual data, nonprofits can paint a fuller picture of their work. This approach makes their impact more relatable and understandable to stakeholders.

Personalized Communication

It’s crucial to tailor communication to different stakeholder groups. Understanding what each group values and creating dynamic campaigns based on their interests can significantly enhance engagement.

Real Stories from Real People

Personalized updates and stories from those directly impacted by the nonprofit’s work can humanize the mission. Sharing these narratives is often more powerful than statistics alone.

MadREP’s Mission and Support for Startups

Technical Assistance for Promising Startups

At the core of MadREP’s mission is providing technical assistance to promising startups in southcentral Wisconsin. By offering resources, guidance, and support, MadREP helps these startups thrive in a competitive landscape.

Building a Thriving Business Ecosystem

MadREP is dedicated to building a robust business ecosystem. Through various initiatives, they foster innovation, support local businesses, and attract potential investors to the Region.

Your Startup Could Be Next

If you have a promising startup, MadREP wants to hear from you. Our commitment to nurturing new businesses means that your venture could benefit from our resources and expertise.

20 Strategies for Nonprofits to Demonstrate Impact

Showcase Visuals and Contextual Data

By using storytelling alongside metrics, nonprofits can provide a comprehensive view of their work. Success stories, visuals, and contextual data help make the impact more tangible.

Communicate Differently to Each Stakeholder Group

Identifying and understanding your stakeholders is key. Tailoring communication to address their specific interests and priorities can enhance the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Provide Personalized Updates

Sharing real, personalized stories from those benefiting from the nonprofit’s work can have a significant impact. These narratives humanize the mission and resonate on a deeper level.

Create Your Own Measurement Model

Developing a unique model for measuring progress and success can be very effective. Being transparent about goals, progress, and setbacks helps build trust with stakeholders.

Utilize Financial Results

Even when mission-based results are hard to quantify, financial results can always be leveraged. Sharing how investments are used and showcasing growth can illustrate value effectively.

Get Your Stakeholders Involved

Involve stakeholders in evaluating the impact. Engaging them through interviews, workshops, or direct feedback sessions makes them feel more connected and invested.

Use Images and Social Media

Leveraging multimedia, such as video, images, and social media, can bring your nonprofit’s work to life. These tools help make intangible results more tangible.

Forge Qualitative Data

Using qualitative data, like testimonials and stories, can powerfully demonstrate impact. These narratives draw in your audience and stakeholders by showcasing transformations.

Give a Behind-the-Scenes Look

Offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse into daily operations can engage stakeholders. This approach helps them understand the day-to-day activities and challenges.

Create Video Testimonials

Video testimonials are a compelling way to tell your story. They allow donors and stakeholders to hear directly from those whose lives have been impacted.

Share Stories from Multiple Viewpoints

Storytelling from various perspectives, including clients, staff, and volunteers, creates a comprehensive narrative. Recent and specific examples are particularly powerful.

Highlight Key Successes

Focusing on key successes and using first-person testimonies can effectively share your impact without overloading stakeholders with data.

Answer the ‘So What?’ Question

It’s essential to go beyond the numbers and explain the significance of your work. Highlighting how your efforts have led to tangible benefits can make a stronger impression.

Share Long-Term Results

Demonstrating long-term outcomes, such as increased earnings or reduced societal costs, can provide compelling evidence of your nonprofit’s impact.

Share Detailed Case Studies

Developing case studies that highlight specific success stories can illustrate the significance of your work. These detailed narratives provide a vivid picture of your contributions.

Provide Your Net Promoter Score

Using metrics like the Net Promoter Score can help gauge stakeholder satisfaction. This score reflects how likely people are to recommend your organization.

Communicate the Four T’s of Philanthropy

Highlighting the time, talent, treasure, and testimony involved in your work can effectively demonstrate return on investment for stakeholders.

Share Stories That Tell the Greater Story

Testimonials from direct recipients of your services can be incredibly impactful. These stories evoke emotion and leave a lasting impression.

Showcase Before-and-After Scenarios

Crafting before-and-after scenarios can make the impact more relatable. This approach turns abstract achievements into tangible narratives.

Always Be Transparent

Transparency about your processes, programs, and people is crucial. Being open about your intentions and approach can rally more supporters.

Empowering Your Entrepreneurial Journey

Jason Fields’ feature in Forbes not only highlights his expertise but also underscores MadREP’s dedication to fostering economic growth and supporting startups. By implementing the strategies shared by Fields and other experts, nonprofits can effectively demonstrate their impact and engage stakeholders more deeply.

If you’re an entrepreneur with a promising startup, MadREP is here to support you. Reach out to us and discover how we can help you thrive in southcentral Wisconsin.

For more insights and expert advice, stay tuned to our blog and consider joining the vibrant community of business leaders and entrepreneurs who are shaping the future.

Madison365 | LeRoy Butler, Michele Thornton Ghee to keynote 2024 Madison Region Economic Development & Diversity Summit Madison365 |

Originally published on madison365.com

The Urban League of Greater Madison and the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) will host the 2024 Madison Region Economic Development & Diversity Summit on Thursday, May 2, at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.

Keynote speakers will include Michele Thornton Ghee, former CEO of Ebony & Jet Magazine, and LeRoy Butler, former Green Bay Packer Pro Football Hall of Famer and motivational speaker. Butler will provide the opening keynote address at the event and Ghee will deliver the luncheon keynote presentation.

“This pivotal event will convene industry leaders, policymakers, and community stakeholders to explore the intersection of economic development and diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Madison Region. Attendees will engage in meaningful discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities aimed at fostering a more inclusive economy” MadRep said in a press release. MadREP is the economic development agency for the eight-county Madison Region, founded by business and community leaders to create a dynamic environment where people and businesses prosper.

For the full list of featured speakers, workshops, breakout sessions, and to register, click here.

WisPolitics: U.S. Sen. Baldwin: Backs Wisconsin’s application for a regional Tech Hub, calls on Biden Administration to deliver Hub for Wisconsin

Source: WisPolitics

WISCONSIN – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) today announced her support for Wisconsin’s application to bring a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub (Tech Hub) to Wisconsin. The Tech Hub program is an economic development initiative created by the Baldwin-backed CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Baldwin worked to secure an initial $500 million to fund the initiative aimed at driving technology- and innovation-centric growth and creating good-paying jobs.

Under the Tech Hubs program, the Economic Development Administration will first designate promising Tech Hubs across the country and award strategy development grants to accelerate the development of future Tech Hubs. From there, EDA will make at least five implementation awards to selected Tech Hubs. Since the program’s creation, Senator Baldwin has been working to bring a Tech Hub to Wisconsin. The Tech Hub program was modeled off the Brookings Institute report that identified Wisconsin as the top destination for a regional hub.

“Wisconsin has a rich history of innovation, backed by world-class research institutions, a robust Made in Wisconsin manufacturing economy, and the necessary pipeline of new talent to continue growing for the future,” said Senator Baldwin. “I was proud to support the legislation that created Tech Hubs, and am now proud to support Wisconsin’s application to bring a Tech Hub to the Badger State. Wisconsin is a leader in biotech and personalized medicine, and bringing a Tech Hub to Wisconsin will bolster our state as a growth center in this cutting-edge industry, accelerating advances in health care, spurring economic growth in our communities, and creating good-paying jobs in the process.”

Wisconsin’s application comes from a consortium of 15 public and private partners organized by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to bolster Wisconsin’s leadership in personalized medicine and biohealth technology. Personalized medicine has the potential to transform medical care with customized treatments for each patient, combining genomic innovation, advanced imaging technologies, big data analytics, AI computing, and other cutting-edge technology to provide effective, affordable, and equitable health care.

Consortium members include: Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), the University of Wisconsin System Administration, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, GE HealthCare, Rockwell Automation, Exact Sciences Corporation, BioForward Wisconsin, Employ Milwaukee, Accuray, Plexus, WRTP Big Step, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Madison Area Technical College, the Madison [Region] Economic Partnership (MadREP), and Milwaukee7.

“Wisconsin has always been at the center of research, innovation, education, and manufacturing that changes the world, transforms people’s lives, and enhances their economic and personal well-being,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “Wisconsin is now at the forefront of one of the most dramatic advances we’re seeing in medical care – personalized medicine. We owe it to the people of our state – and the world – to continue to build on that momentum.”

Article originally published on wispolitics.com

The Cap Times: How a former Army strategist plans to close economic gaps in Madison

Economic Development Cap Times LogoSource: The Cap Times

Tonnetta Darcel Carter has spent years solving complex problems in finance and logistics, including as an Army chief of staff involved in some of the earliest troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.

Madison Region Economic Partnership, or MadREP, this summer named Darcel Carter as its chief strategy officer for the organization’s new Bridge Wisconsin initiative, which aims to provide economic support and opportunities to rural businesses and entrepreneurs of color.

MadREP is an economic development agency spanning eight counties in south central Wisconsin, including Dane County. The organization provides technical support and opportunities to emerging and minority-owned businesses, attracts businesses to invest in the Madison region and expands export and foreign direct investment opportunities for existing local businesses.

Darcel Carter previously worked with local venture firm gener8tor and served as development director for the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Hope to Health Campaign. She is also the founder and CEO of alternative asset consulting firm Carter Wilson Group, which provides venture and economic development strategies.

Darcel Carter spoke to the Cap Times about her experience in finance and her plans for the Bridge Wisconsin initiative.

First off, could you tell me a little bit about yourself?

My educational background is in finance. I went to (UW)-Whitewater for undergrad. During my second year in school, I joined the Army National Guard, originally as an engineer, and then later became a chief of staff.

During that time, I deployed twice. I spent some time in the Middle East traveling across Afghanistan, where I really focused on demobilization — bringing our troops back home — in 2014. We sent probably close to 20,000 troops home during my time over there.

I then was deployed to South Korea in 2018 under President Trump. That was really what we call a real wartime analysis. So if things were to go haywire during President Trump’s time in North Korea what role would the U.S. play, and what would that involvement look like?

To be at the age that I was, it was very eye opening and (I was) learning how to be a strategic thinker and find creative ways to solve very, very complex problems.

I was (later) appointed to the Board of Veterans Affairs for the state of Wisconsin under Gov. (Tony) Evers, and I’ve been in that capacity since 2019. My bread and butter is really, how do we support our veteran families and our veterans as they’re transitioning to civilian life? That could be supporting veteran entrepreneurs, veteran-owned businesses and things of that nature.

Could you describe MadREP’s new Bridge Wisconsin initiative? What are its goals?

Bridge Wisconsin’s really reflective of our mission to develop a dynamic economy where people and businesses thrive. … We’re looking to improve the quality of life through a community-based investment.

Looking at collected data and surveys across the region, we are seeing what our region’s greatest needs are. That’s when we really identified our top five priorities, and those are housing, early childhood education, economic equity and investment, workforce development and sustainability.

Why did you decide on those five different priorities?

Digging into two of our priorities — housing, for example — studies project there will be (a need for) an estimated 200,000 (new) homes across the state by 2030.

What we’re seeing is that homeownership is very high for our aging population, and that’s at about 81% for those who are 65 and older. As they’re looking to downsize, but not necessarily want or need assisted living, there’s a shortage of accommodation to offer the amenities they desire.

There’s a very low transition for new families and workers. Housing is just not available across the spectrum. In our region we’re looking to really increase homeownership and close those workforce housing gaps by investing in quality, affordable homes.

We plan to do that by partnering with organizations to train and support developers in our counties to really build in their respective areas. That can be through an array of programmatic and/or funding options.

Digging into the economic equity and investment component — which I’m very passionate about — people of color make up approximately 40% of the U.S. population. Yet, these groups own roughly 20% of businesses. Over the past five years, these groups have, I want to say, had an increase of about 22% (in) revenue, yet only 27% of them get fully approved for financing, which is very, very interesting.

Looking at a snapshot of Wisconsin itself, we are ranked as the fourth worst state for entrepreneurs of color. (Wisconsin is actually ranked second-to-last in economic equality, according to a study from WalletHub.)

These groups make up about 21% of our state’s population, and only own roughly 7.4% of our startups and businesses across the state.

At Bridge Wisconsin, we are really looking to support those small and technical businesses by providing real capital and technical resources, which can include capacity building for those entrepreneurs across our region and the state as a whole.

What are some things you’re going to do to close the gap between the rural and urban area in the eight counties?

I think that’s really why we’ve established these five priorities. Looking at, let’s say, workforce development, what you’re seeing across geography is you really serve just to build a robust talent pipeline inclusive of new workers, as well as how we work to upskill existing workers.

So, it’s how we’re providing training across those industries that we’re seeing are very high in our region.

How can we look at, say, cybersecurity, at IT, at manufacturing? How do we give our residents the tools that they need to be successful in these careers? How do we educate, train and retain a workforce that meets current and projected business needs?

We’re seeing that those are the needs across both geographies. Now, how can we help these groups … to really find advancement?

What does the timeline look like for implementation of Bridge Wisconsin? It’s launching in the fall, correct?

Yeah. With anything of this magnitude, we’re not going to launch each priority all at once; we’ll begin to roll them out as they’re being developed. We’re looking to roll out a few of our priorities over the next three to four months. For sure, in the fall, we’ll have at least one priority launched and up and running if things go as planned. Conversations are going really well, so fingers crossed on hitting the ground running in the next couple of months.

What are the things you’re starting off with?

We’re starting off with our economic equity and investment priority.

What are your plans for raising money for these initiatives or getting money sorted out?

Without sharing way too much, we’re having conversations with some really cool organizations about bringing some potential outside capital to Wisconsin for our city entrepreneurs, as well as working with folks who are already doing the work here, amplifying what they’re already doing.

We’ve identified some great potential funding sources for some of those initiatives already.

What do you hope the business investment landscape for this region will look like in the next few years with the help of Bridge Wisconsin?

How do I answer that question? If I could get everything I want and have everything go my way:

I think the landscape, for one, would have more tech-enabled businesses operating for people of color. We would have an increase in revenue and resources in these counties, especially looking at people of color as well as those who are in areas geographically that just don’t have the access to that funding.

Really, oh, my gosh, it will look like just an increase in the millions (of dollars) for entrepreneurs in southwest Wisconsin.

Article originally published on captimes.com 

Television Wisconsin: Live It Up | Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP)

In a captivating episode of “Live it Up” with Lee Acker and Michaela Tacasso, the duo hosts Jason Fields, President and CEO of Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP). The conversation centers on the crucial role of MadREP in fostering economic development, supporting entrepreneurs, and building a stronger Madison Region.

The “Live It Up” episode featuring Jason Fields and MadREP sheds light on the incredible work being done to strengthen the Region’s entrepreneurial community. Through visionary leadership, strategic partnerships, and a commitment to empowering entrepreneurs, MadREP is transforming the economic landscape of Southcentral Wisconsin.

As entrepreneurs seek guidance, funding, and connections, MadREP serves as a reliable and comprehensive resource. Their proactive approach and extensive network ensure that entrepreneurs have the tools they need to thrive, making our community an ideal place to start and grow a business.

With Jason Fields at the helm, MadREP continues to be an influential force, driving economic growth, job opportunities, and fostering a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our commitment to making the Madison Region an exceptional place to live, work, and play is unwavering.