2018 Was an Incredible Year Thanks to Our Partners and Investors

2018 has been a productive year – a year of growth and innovation in West Central Wisconsin. We want to thank our investors for their continued commitment to our organization’s mission and to initiatives aimed at growing our local economy and improving the quality of life for all our residents. The staff at Momentum West acknowledges that we could not do what we do without your continued support. “Reflecting on the last twelve months we need to thank the investors and volunteers that have been instrumental in driving the projects we’ve been involved with forward,” said Steve Jahn, Executive Director.

2018 Highlights

In 2018, Momentum West directed efforts towards several key areas: Business Attraction, Talent, Events and Forums and Marketing. By collaborating with local partners, we were able to see forward progress in many of these areas.

Talent Attraction

A specific focus of ours has been workforce recruitment and retention. With workforce shortages being a pressing concern for many businesses, and something that could increase in the future, identifying ways to retain and train local talent has been incredibly important. This is why we were pleased to announce the creation of the University of Wisconsin Internship Network (UWIN). UWIN is a collaboration between UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls, UW-Stout and Momentum West designed to increase the number of internships in Western Wisconsin. The talent attraction team has worked hard on this initiative to connect students from Western Wisconsin universities with small and mid-sized organizations to gain professional experience. This approach has already proven to be successful with local companies like M&J having recruited much of their skilled workforce from the UW system. The launch of UWIN will expand this opportunity to additional businesses by making it easier to create internships and by matching students with internships in their chosen field of study. By identifying students early and establishing a relationship, businesses in Western Wisconsin will have a greater likelihood of successfully recruiting young talent who can easily stay with the company and grow their careers.

Additionally, the Inspire Connections launch continues to grow, due to the efforts of numerous EDC’s, chambers, the workforce development board, and others. Throughout the state, the Momentum West region is in the top three in terms of the number of businesses participating, career coaches, and learning opportunities.  The talent attraction team continues to work on several other items, such as talent sharing, community curriculum in public schools, and other initiatives.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has also launched a new marketing campaign aimed at encouraging alumni of Wisconsin colleges and universities to pursue their personal and professional goals in Wisconsin. This campaign is aimed at workforce attraction and includes social media ads that link to videos featuring the perspectives of young people who have studied in Wisconsin and landed their dream jobs here, either right out of school or after leaving the state and deciding to return here.

Business Attraction

The business attraction team and numerous sponsors put together several events in 2018.  A housing forum in New Richmond featured speakers and topics covering multiple areas of housing.  The October Familiarity Tour, during which we hosted several developers/site selectors for three days, was success.  “Pulling off an event like this, which is basically multiple events within the context of a single event, would not have happened without the support of not only the business attraction committee, but also the sponsoring businesses, communities and economic development organizations,” said Steve Jahn. We thank all our investors and volunteers who participated and helped to make this event a success. Pictures can be found here, http://www.momentumwest.org/news-and-media/fam-tour-2018.

The newly formed entrepreneur task force is also focused on attracting startups and making it easier for homegrown businesses to launch. They conducted a half day forum, featuring world renowned speaker and entrepreneur facilitator Ernesto Sirolli.  The group is now in the process of developing an entrepreneur process map, assessing regional resources, identifying resource gaps and looking to fill those gaps.

Marketing

The marketing team, again a group of volunteers from the region, guided improvements to our website; aligning our effort to drive talent attraction, development and retention.  Each of the counties in our region now have more representation of data and assets, with a focus on quality of life and links to groups and organizations within their county. The team also is working on the first of five magazines that will focus on the region. They will give us elevated presence on the Livability Media national database, visible when prospective employees, businesses and others search for information on our communities from outside the area.

More information

More detailed information about our goals and strategies can be found here, http://www.momentumwest.org/about/goals-and-strategies.

Looking Ahead

While 2018 has been a year of economic growth, job creation and advancement, we understand the importance of continued progress. At Momentum West we are looking forward to 2019, where we will continue to build upon the strengths and assets of our region to help local companies grow, attract new businesses, focus on job and wage growth, build our workforce and create opportunities for local residents. We encourage you to join us by volunteering, serving on a committee and continuing to provide financial support.

Said Steve Jahn to our volunteers and investors, “Your involvement and support is appreciated beyond words, as it is the cornerstone of our success. Thank you to our investors, volunteers, board members, outgoing board members and chair Bryan Symes from Weld Riley for his leadership this last year.  We’re looking forward to another impactful year in 2019!”