By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
With the intent of ramping up efforts to market the community, Whitewater’s economic development panel has backed a proposal to work in tandem with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
The city’s Community Development Authority on Aug. 26 voted to move forward with a plan to participate in WEDC’s Certified and Shovel-Ready Sites program. Linking arms with the state agency could cost upward of $13,200, though CDA officials assert it could yield long-term benefits.
Thomas Harrigan, economic development specialist with the City of Whitewater, discussed the benefits of moving entering into WEDC’s plan.
“(It) was created … for the purpose of establishing consistent standards for industrial site certification in Wisconsin,” Harrigan said. “WEDC developed the programmatic criteria based on representative needs of advanced manufacturing projects.”
Harrigan described the plan as “accelerated due-diligence” for investors interested in laying down stakes and making informed decisions on where to locate a particular business.
While further details still need to be fleshed out, the CDA agreed with Harrigan’s assertion that participation would benefit economic development efforts across various industries in the community.
“We need this badly,” CDA Chair Jeff Knight said of partnering with WEDC for the program. “This will probably be one of the best educational tools that we could use.”
CDA members, including Knight, discussed the recent economic recession and the ongoing pursuit of working to re-accelerate economic growth efforts locally.
“We have a great story to tell here,” Knight added. “If this sells, it could prove to be an excellent investment.”
CDA Executive Director Patrick Cannon will work with Harrigan and other officials to flesh out how exactly the city can take part in the Shovel-Ready Sites program.
If the proposal does indeed move forward, participation could be used as a marketing tool and an opportunity to raise the city’s profile toward developers across the state — and, potentially, the country.
One of WEDC’s resources is a portal site, www.locateinwisconsin.com, and Whitewater would be included on it as a participant. Other potential benefits include a ready listing of which sites in the city are available for shovel-ready development projects.
Further updates are anticipated in the months ahead.
In other recent business, the CDA:
– Went into closed session to discuss a variety of issues, including the proposed purchase of 5 acres in the city’s business park, entering into a new lease agreement for farming crops on land currently within the city’s business and technology parks and issues pertaining to the city’s tax-incremental financing (TIF) districts.
No formal action was taken in open session on any of the specific issues.
– Voted to amend the CDA’s meeting schedule from the fourth Wednesday to the fourth Thursday of each month. The caveat is the CDA’s regular schedule will be tweaked in November and December because of the holidays.
During the last two months of the year, the CDA will meet the third Thursday of the month.
– Discussed an ongoing citywide fiber optic network plan. The effort remains on the table, and further efforts to possible work with the city and Whitewater Unified School District are being examined.
