Compressed Natural Gas Discussion
| Tuesday, April 3
2:30-4:30
North Central Technical College, Wausau campus, Room CHS
Please contact the following for more information: - Bob Kulp, Kulp's of Stratford bob.kulp@kulproof.com - Cory Tomczak, IROW, cory@irow.bz - Peggy Sullivan, Centergy, psullivan@centergy.net |
ExporTech Lite training
| Friday, April 13
7:30pm-9pm
Portage County Business Council
5501 Vern Holmes Dr., Stevens Point
Please contact Peggy Sullivan, at psullivan@centergy.net to register. |
2012 Centergy Economic Summit date set
| Please mark your calendars for Centergy's Economic Summit to be held on:
Wednesday, May 2
8am - noon
Sentry Theater @1800
Watch your mailboxes for more information.
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Recall election date set
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June 5
The Government Accountability Board has set the recall election dates for Governor Scott Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and four GOP state senators for June 5.
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Wisconsin Economic Development Association
political tidbits
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Click HERE to read the latest political tidbits newsletter from the Wisconsin Economic Development Association.
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Meet the Centergy
Board of Directors
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Centergy is fortunate to have a strong, diverse board of directors from both the public and private sectors. Meet them HERE. |
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| Greetings! | |
Centergy, central Wisconsin Poised for Action
Spring is here and with it comes a renewed sense of action. As we open windows, wipe the dust of winter away, and start outside projects and activities, so it is with economic development in the Centergy Region. As I work with local economic development organizations, community and business leaders and educators, there is boundless energy and amazing focus directed at overcoming some of the negative economic implications of the past few years. There are new and exciting things happening every day in central Wisconsin that will positively impact our economic position in the state and in the country.
Centergy's renewed commitment is to continue to work closely and collaboratively with all stakeholders to achieve the desired results. I encourage all of you to get involved with your local communities and learn about the efforts that are underway to improve the economic climate. Together we can promote the reason we call central Wisconsin home.
Peggy
Peggy Sullivan
Centergy Interim Executive Director
psullivan@centergy.net
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North Central WI Workforce Development board wins grant
|  The Department of Labor presented a $4,758,656 grant to the North Central WI Workforce Development Board to support healthcare workers through on-the-job training opportunities. This is a tremendous boost to ongoing regional efforts, including those of Centergy, to increase central Wisconsin's Healthcare workforce through the sharing of resources, program collaboration, and innovative planning. Congratulations to our partners at NCWWDB. |
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Advanced manufacturing pilot program support
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Governor Walker announced a $4,000,000 pilot program designed to boost skills training in Wisconsin. The "Wisconsin Workforce Partnership Grant" is designed to foster partnerships between the Wisconsin Technical College System and businesses with advanced manufacturing employment needs. Centergy continues to partner with the Technical Schools in the region to close the skills gap and support their efforts.
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Incourage Community Foundation celebrates success
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Incourage Community Foundation of South Wood County celebrates the success of a three-year initiative started in 2008. This initiative is a strategic effort to address the growing workforce and economic challenges facing the South Wood County community. Congratulations to Kelly Lucas and the entire staff at Incourage for their work to transition the Foundation from solely a grant-making community foundation to one that actively works to confront challenges facing the community. For more information about the foundation, click HERE.
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Fly local, fly Central Wisconsin Airport
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On average, the price difference between CWA flights and flights out of larger airports like Milwaukee or Minneapolis is minimal. Having access to a thriving, regional airport is a benefit that many in the Centergy region take for granted. Ease of travel is vital to everyone and many of us choose alternate airports for our personal and professional travel when the economics demand. But what if CWA was not available? Would traveling to a city 70 to 100 or even 200 miles away continue to be a preference? We must not forget that for a smaller, regional airport to be viable, customer travel is critical. Before your next flight, please compare flights at CWA. Ask yourself if your approach to air travel would be different if CWA was not available.
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Exporting in Wisconsin: The facts
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Wisconsin recorded a record high $22.0 billion in exports in 2011, an increase of 11.4 percent, or $2.259 billion compared to 2010 ($19.789 billion). Wisconsin ranks 18th in the country in export value. Identifying Wisconsin businesses that can benefit from an exporting component is a priority for Wisconsin and the Centergy region. As a result, several initiatives and improvements are in process to provide programs for businesses that want to develop an exporting plan or for businesses that are currently exporting their products and are having difficulties or want to expand their markets.
Top five Wisconsin export Top Wisconsin export
destinations: 2011 categories: 2011
1. Canada: 32.27% 1. Industrial Machinery: 31.21%
2. Mexico: 9.01% 2. Agriculture: 12.9%
3. China: 6.28% 3. Electrical Machinery: 11.25%
4. Germany: 4.00% 4. Scientific & Medical Inst's: 9.7%
5. Australia: 3.46% 5. Transportation equipment: 6.42%
** Central WI foreign trade survey underway:
Centergy has initiated a survey to identify businesses currently involved with exporting to determine what problems these companies face. Information from the survey will be used in conjunction with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to address the issues and to try and improve the exporting climate for existing and new businesses.
** ExporTech training:
An ExporTech training session is scheduled for the Centergy Region. The free, two hour breakfast program is scheduled in Stevens Point at the Portage County Business Council. This program will provide business leaders with a personal "road map" on how to add exporting to their business portfolio. To learn more about this session click HERE. Contact Peggy Sullivan at psullivan@centergy.net with questions or to register.
** U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement:
The U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement takes effect March 15. The agreement was preceded by an announcement in October 2011 that Congress passed regarding trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. This is great news for current Wisconsin exporters. For an overview of the agreement, click HERE.
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