Excerpted from Fond du Lac Reporter
By Nate Beck

John Deere’s new manufacturing plant in Horicon is up and running.

The company held a ribbon-cutting event last week for the new $45 million facility that employs 80 people. Production at the new facility began last month.

John Deere announced a 388,000-square-foot expansion to the existing facility in October 2015 after local and state agencies secured incentives for the project. New operations at the Horicon Works facility replace warehousing and sub-manufacturing work done in Janesville. As the Horicon project began, John Deere ended its contract with a third-party employer, eliminating 100 jobs in Janesville.

John Deere has operated in Horicon since 1911 and employed more than 1,000 in the town of 3,500 in Dodge County before this latest project.

The Horicon Works expansion allows that factory to begin producing the Gator utility vehicle, adding shipping and warehousing operations. The Gator accounted for about half the plant’s volume in 2013. John Deere began building Gators in Horicon after moving its operations there in 2009 from Canada.

“We have a good, talented workforce that has demonstrated ability,” Jim Schaefer, director of economic development at the City of Horicon, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin in 2015. “This will be a shot in the arm for our community.”

Read the full article.

Excerpted from Baraboo News Republic
By Jake Prinsen

The Sauk County Development Corp. has chosen Platteville economic developer Edward White to head the agency as its new executive director.

The hiring marks one of the final actions in an 18-month effort to restructure the 40-year-old economic development agency from a quasi-governmental entity to a public/private partnership. White will take over the position starting Jan. 3.

Andrew Strathman led the search for the new director as president of organization’s transitional board of directors. He said White’s experience in connecting private industries with public development projects put him ahead of a dozen other candidates for the position.

Strathman said several times throughout the search for a new director that the group needed a “game changer” in its leader. He believes White will bring that change by facilitating collaboration between municipalities and the private sector.

White has served as economic development program manager for the Southwest Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and executive director of the Platteville Business Incubator.

As a certified economic development finance professional and business incubation manager, White brings more than 30 years of experience in building and financing community and economic development to the position.

Read the full article.

PRESS RELEASE:  November 29, 2016

Madison, Wis. — In July 2015, Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) received the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) designation, becoming one of just twenty-four IMCP regions in the nation. Led by the U.S. Department of Commerce, IMCP is a multi-agency initiative designed to leverage economic development funds and accelerate the resurgence of manufacturing industries nationwide by supporting the development of long-term economic development strategies.

MadREP applied for IMCP designation in the Agriculture, Food, and Beverage manufacturing sector — an industry in which the region ranks nationally and boasts R&D, workforce, technology, and climate advantages. However, the IMCP designation can be leveraged to advance any industry. The IMCP region includes the eight-county Madison Region, augmented by six additional partner counties in southwestern Wisconsin. Thirty projects were included in MadREP’s comprehensive IMCP strategy, spanning workforce and training, supplier network, infrastructure/site development, research and innovation, trade and international investment, and operational improvement and capital access.

As an IMCP designee, MadREP and its partners have received coordinated support from dedicated liaisons at eleven federal agencies to navigate available resources, affording MadREP and its partners the opportunity to access significantly greater federal dollars to position the region to attract talent, technology, and investment.

Following the designation, MadREP formed an IMCP Consortium of 85 partners committed to the implementation of the thirty projects included in the comprehensive strategy, as well as any other opportunities that would advance the regional economy. Since receiving the designation, the IMCP Consortium — led by MadREP Senior Vice President Michael Gay, CEcD — has supported 12 applications for more than $6 million in State, Federal, and private funds.

Leveraging the IMCP designation, the following projects have been awarded to date, totaling over $2.1 million in federal funding.

• REAP Food Group was awarded $203,500 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program for its Wisconsin Farm Fresh Atlas project, which will create a statewide website for local food and implement a local food marketing campaign — connecting local farms to more consumers throughout Wisconsin.
• The Food Finance Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Extension received $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to deliver financial management and training programs for Food Hubs to accelerate their growth and enable them to reach financial sustainability.
• The U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) has selected University of Wisconsin-Extension as an EDA University Center for Wisconsin, awarding the organization $750,000 to further its assistance to local government and nonprofits for research and development of regional economic development strategies. This grant builds on the Agriculture, Food & Beverage Industry Cluster Analysis and furthers that research through support for innovative economic clusters, fostering entrepreneurship, and strengthening vibrant and cohesive regional economies throughout the state.
• StartingBlock Madison, the entrepreneurial hub slated for construction in 2017 in the City of Madison’s Capital East District, is one of 35 organizations from 19 states to receive $475,000 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration through its i6 Challenge. The grant will further StartingBlock’s objectives to cultivate the next generation of entrepreneurs, provide proof-of-concept and commercialization support to existing companies, and leverage and connect regional assets.
• Madison Region Economic Partnership was awarded $200,000 in EDA Local Assistance funding to implement the MadREP IMCP Consortium.

“The key to the success of all of these efforts is that they are remarkable projects irrespective of their relationship to IMCP,” said MadREP President Paul Jadin. “MadREP is pleased to add a competitive advantage by authoring, serving as co-applicant, sponsoring or endorsing the projects under the auspices of the IMCP program. We look forward to improving federal relations and assisting many more worthwhile programs while we have the designation.”

Contact: Paul Jadin
pjadin@madisonregion.org | 608.571.0401

Excerpted from WisBusiness.com

The U.S. Economic Development Agency (EDA) announced today that StartingBlock Madison is one of the winners of its i6 Challenge. Launched in 2010, the i6 Challenge is part of the EDA’s Startup America Initiative. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced 35 organizations from 19 states—out of more than 215 applicants—will receive nearly $15 million to create and expand cluster-focused, proof-of-concept and commercialization programs, and early-stage seed capital funds through the EDA’s Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program.

StartingBlock’s Executive Director, Scott Resnick, says that the EDA announcement is an exciting show of support and “will help StartingBlock carry out its bold and ambitious dream of strengthening our region by helping Madison’s most promising startups and entrepreneurs succeed.” The grant will provide $475,000 over three years to further StartingBlock’s objectives to cultivate the next generation of entrepreneurs, provide proof-of-concept and commercialization support to existing companies, and leverage and connect regional assets.

The EDA funding will support StartingBlock programming and operations, including staff funding for its Director of Programming, a talent resource specialist, a part-time Lab Coordinator, and mentor-in-residence. “Wisconsin has a proud history of entrepreneurship and innovation,” said Senator Baldwin. “I congratulate StartingBlock in being selected for the Economic Development Administrations’ 2016 Regional Innovation Strategies i6 Challenge grant. Their work will help equip Made in Wisconsin startups and entrepreneurs with the tools they need to succeed.”

The federal funds will complement the tremendous commitment and belief in StartingBlock by the City of Madison, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, American Family Insurance, the UW-Madison, MGE, and other community leaders. “The support from business leaders, especially American Family Insurance, and federal, state, regional and municipal entities makes StartingBlock a game-changing collaboration,” said MadREP President Paul Jadin. “StartingBlock Madison will become another Madison asset that enables our region to set new standards for the global marketplace.”

View the full press release.

Excerpted from Portage Daily Register
By Lyn Jerde

For all their talk about “looking forward to seeing this town in my rear-view mirror,” many small-town high school students truly want to come home to live, work and raise their families.

With the help of a computer program and add-on available in most Columbia County high schools, maybe they can.

Gene Dalhoff, vice president for talent and education for the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP), told more than 100 attendees at Wednesday’s Columbia County Economic Development Corporation awards banquet at Club 60 near Columbus that including their businesses in a database accessible to career-exploring teens is a sound investment in the future — not only of the teen, but also of the businesses.

“If we want small towns to sustain and thrive,” Dalhoff said, “we have to connect kids with local businesses, while they’re still in high school.”

That’s where Inspire comes in.

Inspire Madison Region is an add-on to CareerCruising.com, a computer program that’s already in place in the guidance offices of many high schools.

Career Cruising offers students information on various kinds of careers — what kind of education is required, what a typical workday is like, what an employee can expect in the way of compensation.

“It helps students to identify whether this (kind of job) is going to be a good fit for them,” Dalhoff said.

Inspire takes the process one step further, by connecting students with local companies that offer the kinds of jobs in which they might be interested.

Ideally, Dalhoff said, students will be able to find a company within about 20 minutes of their home that not only offers the kinds of jobs they want, but also offers opportunities to experience those jobs, through programs such as apprenticeships, internships and job-shadowing.

It also includes “career coaches” — professionals in particular fields, who can offer advice on how to prepare for and succeed in a job.

The computer programs don’t take the place of a school district’s guidance counselors or school-to-work coordinators. In fact, these people are needed to provide the students with guidance in using the program, and to ensure that no student undertakes a job-shadowing or internship opportunity without first being adequately prepared.

What is most needed now, Dalhoff said, is more participation by Columbia County businesses.

“This is your opportunity,” he said, “to connect with students that are in your communities, or in your surrounding communities. Kids are looking for opportunities. Better to find them in Columbia County.”

Read the full story.