Visions Northwest
OUR PROJECTS
2020-2024 Northwest Wisconsin Regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy
Visions Northwest serves as the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) committee for the Northwest Regional Planning Commission’s (NWRPC) Economic Development District (EDD). The 10-county EDD was designated by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in 1973. The EDA requires the completion of a short-term 5-year CEDS to be updated annually for all federally recognized EDDS. The CEDS Strategy Committee uses a variety of assessment tools that shape the regional development and goals and objectives that drive the regional CEDS.
Northwest Wisconsin Skills Gap Analysis
In 2015, Visions Northwest partnered with the Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board (NWWIB), UW-Superior's Department of Business and Economics, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), which provided the funding for the project, to create the Northwest Wisconsin Skills Gap Analysis of the labor market in the region. The purpose of this project was to study the labor market in ten Northwest Wisconsin counties, Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, and Washburn, in order to ascertain whether the region is experiencing a skills gap. Skills gap was defined as a state of the labor market characterized by a significant misalignment of occupational competencies, including knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), required by employers and those actually held by workers.
Public Utility and Infrastructure Inventory
In 2016, Visions Northwest was awarded a $50,000 Capacity Building Grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to contract with Northwest Regional Planning Commission, who also provided $10,000 match funds, to complete an inventory and evaluation of existing natural gas, sewer and water, and broadband in Northwest Wisconsin. The goal of this study was to gain an understanding of existing infrastructure conditions and how these conditions could impact and possibly restrict future economic development throughout the region. Through GIS data development, the creation of an Internet-based map server accompanies the analysis to allow economic development officials, business owners, and communities to visually see capacities and service areas.
The analysis accompanies an Internet-based map server application that identifies existing industrial/business parks and the utilities they are served by within the 10-county planning region. Data for the service boundaries was provided by municipalities and service providers.
View the Analysis
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View the Map Server