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Winning togetherJenny Price
In the past, Madison and other Dane County communities each would have hustled to sell itself as the best place to call home. Competition would have been fierce and when the company picked Sun Prairie over Middleton or Cottage Grove, political leaders would have mourned what their local economies missed out on. But the mindset is changing. Now, those once-competitive cities and surrounding counties, as well, could instead band together to sell the Capital Region rather than battle it out with each another. That's the vision Dane County leaders have for the region's future as they espouse a view of economic development that's already been embraced by communities around the state, nation and even the world. Business and political leaders here are recognizing that the impact of economic development doesn't end at the city limits or the county line. And in response, they have been working for more than a year to launch a new economic development group focused on growing the economy and enhancing the quality of life throughout the Capital Region. Ready to make nice The goal is to erase the mentality that Madison is competing against other communities and vice versa. Instead, the entire region should strive to be in a position to contend with areas such as Boulder, Colo.; Austin, Texas; and even Beijing, said Jennifer Alexander, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. "The current infrastructure is set up for how we problem-solved in the past," Alexander said. The chamber is leading the effort to develop and brand Dane County's own regional economic development group, which has no official name yet, and partner with seven surrounding counties to promote and market the area, and to create, grow and retain companies. The group is expected to be launched this fall. Business, government, education and nonprofit leaders from around the Capital Region have been meeting for more than a year as part of the Collaboration Council, which is responsible for conceiving the regional economic development group and setting its agenda. The group will ultimately be a resource for and about the region, working with leaders in specific sectors of the economy -- health care, insurance, finance, educational services and government -- to find out what opportunities exist as well as uncover any barriers to success. It will also focus on bringing key players together to address issues such as transportation and water quality. But perhaps its biggest job is to try to build a culture of regionalism that doesn't exist here yet. It's a major change from just a few years ago, when Madison leaders mourned the decision by Epic Systems Corp. to leave the city and open a headquarters in neighboring Verona. Now the thinking among city officials is, "We're lucky Epic didn't pack up and move to the Bay Area," said Rafael Carbonell, economic development director for the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. Collaboration Council members from outside Dane County are also singing Kumbaya. "The assets of the Capital region are formidable and every county in the region makes a very positive contribution to the overall package. I am particularly excited about working on sector-based projects that will capitalize on the unique capabilities of the region such as ag-biotech," said Karna Hanna, executive director of the Sauk County Development Corporation and a member of the council. Going west to learn how to go regional To get educated, more than 50 Dane County business and government leaders traveled earlier this year to Denver, where 17 counties went regional and haven't looked back. Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. was the nation's first regional economic development entity and includes more than 60 cities, counties and economic development agencies. The trip was the first time Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Sun Prairie Mayor Joe Chase had ever met, even though their communities are only about 14 miles apart. To build on lessons learned in Colorado, Metro Denver's executive vice president, Tom Clark, visited Fitchburg in August to talk about how his group created a regional agenda for the Mile High City. Metro Denver has used its muscle to pass a $4.7 billion transportation initiative, which included expanding the metro Denver light rail system and regional bus network. The group is also focused on identifying and assisting companies either expanding or considering leaving the Denver area after determining that more than 80 percent of job growth there will come from existing businesses. Every political leader the Dane County contingent met in Colorado believes their community still benefits when a company locates somewhere else in the region, Carbonell said. "It's just the same hymn book they're preaching from," he said. "They understand it's a long-term game and not day to day." Building on existing cooperation Most of the counties in the Capital Region already have economic development organizations established, making Dane County a "big donut hole" in the middle, Carbonell said. Many have seen Dane County as recession-proof because of consistently strong economic growth and the presence of UW-Madison, he said. Some areas of the state have moved toward more modest economic collaboration in recent years because it's required to be eligible for financial assistance from certain state and federal programs, said Roger Nacker, president of the Wisconsin Economic Development Institute and author of the 2003 study "Regional Economic Development Collaboration: Wisconsin's Experience." "Once implemented, (collaborations) present new opportunities, not the least of which are the critical masses of resources often unavailable to individual communities," Nacker said. Another reason regional economic development groups make sense is that the impact of economic development is usually regional in nature, Nacker said. For example, while nearly two-thirds of those who work in Madison live in the city, the remaining one-third come from virtually all the other communities in the county as well as some surrounding counties. "Obviously, the economic health of the whole county is vested in the economies of each community," Nacker said. Lawrence T. Ward, executive director for the Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission -- which includes Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and Richland counties -- said his area has been helped both by a renaissance in Dubuque, Iowa, and the strong economy in Madison. "If you're only worried about what happens within three blocks of your house you're going to miss some things," said Ward, whose group formed a regional economic development coalition about six years ago. "You need to learn how to play nice among yourselves and quit beating each other up." Finding the money to back the message Spreading the word about regionalism in the Capital Region will take time and money. The Collaboration Council recruited former Dane County executive and M&I Bank senior vice president Rick Phelps to lead fund-raising efforts to launch the group. Phelps raised $1 million in his first month toward the $2.7 million needed to fund the group in its first three years. "That's a pretty clear indication that this is going to be a reality," Phelps said. Phelps said 80 percent to 90 percent of the money will come from the private sector, similar to the Denver model. There are fundraising "captains" from different sectors -- banking, business services, health care, hospitality, insurance, media, real estate and utilities -- to help with the effort. "There's a feeling that the time is right, that we have matured as an area and we can't compete in a global economy city by village by town," Phelps said. "And I think that people understand that almost instinctively." For economic development groups, getting the bulk of their money from the private sector means they're not at the mercy of tight government budgets and political battles. Private money also helps to ensure the groups' success, said Jerry Murphy, executive director for New North, which formed last year to represent 18 counties in northeastern Wisconsin. "They don't like to fail," Murphy said. "They have a significantly greater ownership of the initiative if they have time and money (invested)." Wisconsin playing catch up Regional economic development groups are popping up all over Wisconsin. They have their own individual brand names, but they're all linked by the idea that it makes little sense to compete with your neighbors. For New North, it's much more powerful to sell a company on northeastern Wisconsin as the second-largest economy in the state, rather than to pitch Green Bay or Oshkosh or Manitowoc individually, Murphy said. "Think of it from the perspective of having a deeper or richer menu of assets and attributes to offer," Murphy said. "You're simply making it easier for them to choose you or to stay." For the Tri-County Regional Economic Development Corporation -- which represents Green Lake, Marquette and Waushara counties -- partnering together makes a difference in the potential workforce the region can offer, said Bill Wheeler, the group's executive director. "It provides that critical mass that allows me to market a region," he said. "Instead of county of 20,000 or 14,000, I now have a county of 60,000 to 70,000 people," Wheeler said. Looking at a map, it makes little sense for the area not to work together, Wheeler said. "Green Lake and Marquette were actually at one point one county," he said. "I think there was an argument about a horse or something many moons ago and they hadn't gotten over it." While Wisconsin is a regional economic development rookie, the groups have caught on seemingly everywhere else. "I've seen them in multiple U.S. metropolitan areas. I've seen them in Ireland. I've seen them in other parts of Europe. I've seen them in China," said Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, one of the partners in developing the regional group Milwaukee 7. "You see them all over the U.S.; you see them all over the world." New North recruited Murphy from New York, where he led Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, an eight-county regional economic development group. Murphy says the classic examples of regional cooperation, where people have identified their economic strengths and then branded themselves, include the Research Triangle in North Carolina, Silicon Valley in California and Boston's Route 128. Murphy, a Milwaukee native, says one reason Wisconsin might have been slow to catch on to the trend is "it's not a culture that really shouts from the treetops how great we are." But he also said that humbler outlook could be used to highlight the region's strengths, including a strong work ethic. More than a brand name Once communities decide to partner up and work together, it's not enough just to say they're a region. Becoming a brand requires time and yeoman's work to make sure everyone involved understands the mission and is doing a part to make it happen. "Do the branding work first, because that's very important, and then reinforce the heck out of it on a regular diet. That message has got to be replayed over and over again," Murphy said. "The big mistake that people make is they think, 'Now that I have a tag line, then I'm done.' " Groups have to continually invest in their efforts and get full involvement and follow-through from the public and the business community. Murphy said that gives a region the ability to offer up an inventory of people and resources ready to respond when its marketing campaign succeeds in sparking the interest of a company, or when a particular industry takes off. "If I knock on the door and say, 'Hey, you guys sound pretty cool and here's my company and these are my needs' and you say, 'Well I'm sorry, we don't have anything that can remotely respond to that,' then you did a good job marketing, but you didn't do a good job delivering on really the ultimate goal," Murphy said. Patience is also a virtue in these efforts. Murphy said no regional economic development organization, including New North, is working at full capacity and it will take at least three to five years for his group to begin realizing its mission. The same holds true for the Capital Region, Phelps said. "The real challenge is the challenge you have with anything that's new: People have to reorganize their thinking," he said. Getting past preconceived notions Alexander and others involved with the Collaboration Council have attended town meetings and other events to talk with local leaders about the new regional group. One of the concerns they've run into is "people are worried it will be Madison-centric," she said. Similar perceptions have faced Milwaukee 7, which involves six neighboring counties. "We have such strong identification here with local communities and counties," Sheehy said of those involved in Milwaukee 7. "So if it's Waukesha, Racine or Kenosha, I don't know that everyone's completely comfortable running under the banner of Milwaukee." But despite the assets that individual communities bring to the region's table, Sheehy said it's essential for any group to start with an identifiable moniker "if we're going to play on a national or even a global stage." Washington County Administra-tor Doug Johnson said that while his county is participating in Milwaukee 7, it's still putting a vigorous effort into its own economic development corporation formed last year. "The reality is that Milwaukee is the heart of our area," he said. "We all relate to it for business reasons, entertainment reasons and so there's no denying that we are a region, but every community and every county outside Milwaukee County feels very strongly about its unique identity as well." Phelps said the Capital Region will have to be patient because collaboration will take time to gain traction among decision-makers, who may worry the group could get in the way of any economic development work they've been doing on their own. "When people understand the mission, they will understand that this strengthens their efforts," he said. "It doesn't replace them; it makes them more credible and stronger." jenny.price@gmail.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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