A lot of positive and forward-thinking information was shared during the Journey to Growth Public Meeting held on March 1, 2018, at Chatfield Center for the Arts in Chatfield, Minn.
If you have not heard of Journey to Growth (J2G) or have heard the name but are not sure what it is all about, these public meetings are very informative as well as a great opportunity for networking.
Heather Holmes, J2G Project Manager and Regional Branding Cohort, states, “Even though we have been working for four years within the region, there is still a lot of recognition that is necessary and these public meetings allow us the opportunity to go throughout the various communities in the region and explain what we are doing,” as a regional economic development plan.
“J2G is a five-year regional economic growth strategy aimed at growing and diversifying the regional economy. It is a partnership and platform aimed at engaging regional communities, businesses, and organizations in order to fulfill the realization of economic growth and diversification,” according to the J2G website, j2gmn.com.
“Originally developed by Rochester Area Economic Development, Inc. (RAEDI) and the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, Journey to Growth has evolved with the addition of numerous investors and implementation partners,” the website further explains.
The counties included in the greater community include Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Steele, Wabasha and Winona.
There were 120 people registered for the public meeting in Chatfield and those who attended were given valuable information as to the mission of J2G and what steps have been and will be taken to achieve that mission.
Melissa Brinkman, Chair of the J2G board, notes that the public meetings are a chance for reporting out to the community, saying, “We do it about three times a year, sharing accomplishments that we’ve had since our last report out and also sharing what we have on the horizon as far as some things that we are working on, as well just to keep the community engaged and the public aware of what we are doing.”
Mayor of Chatfield, Russ Smith, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone in attendance, saying, “It’s great to have the Journey to Growth group coming today,” and expressed how important businesses are to the local economy.
Brinkman then spoke, thanking those who attended and those who assisted in preparing for the event, “to help advocate and help this initiative to work on us being a more cohesive and connected region,” she stated.
“In 2014 when J2G was launched, our goal was to diversify and expand our regional economy; we have made tremendous strides in doing so thus far and there is still much to accomplish,” commented Brinkman.
Ten committees were formed to begin working towards this goal. These committees include Marketing, Economic, Entrepreneurship, Governing, Early Childhood, Workforce, Talent, Diversity & Inclusion Journey, and Regional and Transportation & Communications.
“Some committees have achieved their goals originally set forth and some are integrating into other Journey to Growth committees or lending their time and talents to other partner organizations,” commented Brinkman.
Sue Reinke Walch, Economic Committee liaison, reported on the committees activities. “Last year our committee held roundtables with each of the industry sectors that are strong in our region; at these sessions we asked the participating leaders to discuss key issues within their industries,” stated Walch.
“There were common challenges present in each industry, such as finding skilled workforce, employee benefit costs, infrastructure improvements, taxation, regulation, etc.,” explained Walch, “but what was a surprise was that there was little knowledge or collaboration between the parties in the room,” she noted.
“There was a case where a company had a production issue due to workforce problems and we learned that another regional company present in the room that day could have done that work for them on a temporary or a permanent basis; neither knew the other existed,” Walch said.
John Reed, Transportation Committee Chair, reported the subjects they feel are most important in the region including sustainable transportation funding, with particular interest in roads and bridges. The committee meets every other month and Reed invites anyone who wants to get involved in transportation and transportation funding to attend their meetings.
Xavier Frigola, with the Entrepreneurship Committee, reported that they have been working toward creating and entrepreneurial system. On August 15, 2017, the committee launched the Southeast Minnesota Capital Fund, otherwise known as the Angel Fund, where investment capital (a minimum contribution of $25,000 per investor) is used as start-up capital for companies with hopes of high returns on their investments.
Julie Brock, with the Workforce Regional Partnership Committee, focuses on the workforce aspect of things saying “we have more jobs than people” which means businesses would be wise to invest in initiatives like J2G. “It’s about activating your workforce centers,” she explains, saying, “often we misconceive that the workforce center is only for jobseekers…they have valuable resources for businesses,” as well.
The importance of Regional Branding was explained by Holmes as she said we need to do regional branding to be competitive, giving examples of Napa Valley, Quad Cities, Iron Range and others as examples of successful regional branding.
The committee has begun a “Name our Region” contest with a prize of $500 for the winning entry. Visit j2gmn.com to enter.
John Wade, outgoing chair of Journey to Growth and member of the Regional Development Fund, spoke about the importance of the economy in the region.
“Regional economy is so absolutely critical,” he stated, saying “there are some 50,000 people a day that go into Rochester to work – that’s amazing,” he said.
“Without a strong neighborhood, as they say, none of Rochester would be possible,” and, “we continue to make strategic investments throughout the region,” stated Wade.
“Years ago we hatched a little idea and we included in the Rochester sales tax something that became known as the Good Neighbor Policy, and we set up some five million dollars out of the Rochester sales tax to not be spent in Rochester but to be invested in our regional communities,” Wade stated.
The committee also came up with the idea for a Southern Minnesota Diversification Fund “which would be some 30 to 50 million dollars that would be invested by organizations that are all here,” and the fund would “help businesses that are not in Rochester – helping them to grow and develop and expand,” stated Wade.
This would be an Evergreen Fund which Wade explains as “that money is invested it goes back into the fund,” for additional investment opportunities.
Wade recently met with Representative Greg Davids of Preston, Minn., who “was the one that was instrumental, along with a lot of other great legislators, that made that Good Neighbor Policy possible,” states Wade and he was excited to announce that Davids will be partnering with them as Chair of the House Tax Committee to advance the Southern Minnesota Diversification Fund.
It is a very exciting time in our region to have a regional economic development plan such as Journey to Growth and all of its volunteers working on behalf of everyone in the region.
For more information on Journey to Growth, phone (507) 288-0208 or visit j2gmn.com.
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