At the 2013 State of the Madison Region Summit, Thrive announced a new name and logo that better communicate the dynamic counties we serve and the collaborations we foster. We will now be known as Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP).

When the organization was given the name Thrive in 2007, it was a fitting and celebrated name. It’s a powerful word that captures the energy and spirit of these eight counties. It captures the tremendous potential of living, working, and doing business in this great region. 

Yet today, we recognize the need to do a better job of telling the rest of the world about that potential. And in so doing, we need a name that clearly communicates who and where we are. It’s the first step in telling the Madison Region’s story, a directive clearly given to us in the Advance Now Strategy.

Our new identifiers communicate the great counties, communities, and businesses that comprise this region, while speaking to the fundamental collaboration that moves our economy forward. We believe they capture the energy and essence of our collective efforts to build a more prosperous future for this dynamic Wisconsin region.

As we usher in a new era under the name Madison Region Economic Partnership, we remain as committed as always to ensuring that people and businesses thrive here.

The State of the Madison Region Summit also featured updates from the five workgroups steering Advance Now implementation. Learn more about their key recommendations for year-one strategy implementation.

Excerpted from Wisconsin State Journal
By Barry Adams

Enerpac, one of the city’s largest employers, and Zilber, a development company, broke ground this week on a $17 million, 167,100-square-foot manufacturing facility that will be next to the Highway 73 off-ramp and visible to the 20,000 motorists who travel daily on Highway 151.

City officials say Enerpac and its 200 employees will become the anchor of the Gateway Business Park, which could someday also be home to other manufacturers, retail, a hotel, senior housing, parkland and a park-and-ride lot.

“It’s going to mean an incredible opportunity to grow the city of Columbus,” said Steve Sobiek, the city’s economic development director. “In order to compete from an economic development and a job creation standpoint … we have to compete in a regional and a global economy and that means growing the population of Columbus while at the same time offering good, well-paying jobs.”

Enerpac, a manufacturer of hydraulic high-force tools and equipment used in industrial markets, has been located for more than 50 years in a 135,000-square-foot leased facility at 720 W. James St.

The new facility, scheduled for completion by the end of the year, will also be leased but allow for continued growth with room for a 105,000-square-foot addition.

“We’ve really just outgrown that facility. It’s been added on several times and it’s really not an efficient building to work in anymore,” said Ken Bockhorst, Enerpac’s global operations leader. “We are optimistic that this project will certainly be able to set us up for future growth and expansion.

Bockhorst, who joined Enerpac in 2011, said the company looked at several locations in the area but wanted the new facility to remain in or near Columbus in an effort to retain employees.

“It’s just been a strong collaborative effort with the city of Columbus. We didn’t want to lose any employees,” Bockhorst said. “This new facility will be laid out in a way that we’ll be able to optimize our processes and do a much better job of servicing our customers.”

“We want to encourage manufacturing, and I think the Enerpac facility will set the gold standard,” Sobiek said. “I think there will be a natural attractant to other area and regional manufacturers.”

Read the full article.

Excerpted from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
by Kathleen Gallagher

A Madison company with a unique, inexpensive technology for authenticating mobile transactions, has been accepted into the highly selective TechStars Boulder start-up accelerator program.

Claus Moberg, chief executive officer of Snowshoe Food Inc., and the company’s four other employees will spend the summer in Boulder, Co. working with mentors and further developing their company.

Snowshoe is the fifth Madison-based company to go through a TechStar program. Fewer than 1% of all the companies that apply are accepted into TechStars, which are located in five U.S. cities and London.

Snowshoe, founded in 2010, has developed a small block of conductive material that can be touched to a smartphone screen to authenticate a user. The company sells its technology to software developers and other technology firms so they can make apps from it.

Participating in the TechStars program will give Showshoe broader connections to potential customers.

“TechStars is the best network of start-up technology companies outside of Silicon Valley,” Moberg said.

Moberg and Matt Lea of Snowshoe teamed up with three others to win first place and $70,000 at the Disrupt SF Hackathon 2012 in San Francisco. Using Snowshoe’s technology, they created a lock that can be attached to any door with Velcro and opened with a verified smartphone.

Read the full article.

Excerpted from Midwest Real Estate News
By Brian Wasag

For businesses considering relocation, Rock County, Wis., certainly offers its fair share of advantages, according to the Rock County Development Alliance.

James Otterstein, economic development manager for the Rock County Development Alliance, pointed to the county’s central location and connectivity as one major advantage.

“The county’s geographic location, coupled with its advanced transportation network, creates cost saving just-in-time and supply chain connections for companies serving domestic – as well as international – needs,” he said.

The county is located within 500 miles of one-third of all manufacturing operations within the U.S.; it does not have toll roads; it is served by three railroads; and it has the 24/7, year-around Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport.

The county also features an abundant and skilled labor supply, Otterstein said. He added that the county’s state-line location enables employers to access cross-border commuters that travel from Madison, Milwaukee, Rockford and the Chicago area.

Some of the businesses locating to Rock County include advanced and green manufacturing companies, food processing and technology firms, health care and medical technologies, logistics companies and value-added agriculture, according to Otterstein.

“There’s been a resurgence of manufacturing,” Membrino said. “Most of it is smaller. You’re seeing people looking for 40,000, 50,000 or 100,000 square feet of good manufacturing space. It’s filling up quite rapidly, but that’s a lot of the business we’re seeing.”

In fact, since Jan. 1, the county has witnessed 45 private sector development projects, $652 million in new capital investment, 2,029 new jobs, 1.3 million square feet of construction and 1.7 million square feet of space leased or sold, according to Otterstein.

“The economy has not only stabilized, post Great Recession, but also diversified and grown,” Otterstein said.

Read the full article. 

 

Excerpted from Wisconsin State Journal
By Barry Adams

Some are retired and spend Wednesday afternoons playing Michigan rummy and kibitzing in the community center.

Others have day jobs at Kraemer Brothers Construction, Peoples Community Bank, Cedar Grove Cheese and MadREP, a Madison-based economic development agency that serves an eight county region. One works at Whole Foods in Madison and another is the marketing director at Culver’s Franchising Systems in Prairie du Sac.

Together, in varying roles, they’re working to insure Phil’s Foods, the village’s lone grocery store, remains a part of the economic and social fabric of the downtown here, a role it has played for over 100 years.

If they’re successful, the 6,400-square-foot store at the corner of Alma and Main streets will become a co-op known as Honey Creek Market.

“We have seen just an overwhelming response in this community to a co-op initiative,” said Carolyn Forde, the village’s library director and co-chairwoman of the co-op board. “The first reason I’m convinced it will work is that we have the will.”

There are 31 grocery co-operatives in Wisconsin, according to Courtney Berner, an outreach specialist with the UW-Madison Center for Cooperatives. Most focus on natural foods and can take two to five years to get off the ground. Deerfield, Baraboo, Oshkosh and Green Bay are among the communities working on creating co-ops.

It’s likely Plain will beat all of them to the punch and has learned from the struggles and success of the Yahara River Co-op in Stoughton and others around the state.

The Plain effort was launched last July after Gene Dalhoff, then the executive director of the Sauk County Development Corporation, attended a cooperative business conference at UW-Madison. Dalhoff is now with MadREP.

Read the full article.