County Seeks Economic Path
Summit Draws Suggestions to Ensure Future Growth

By Emily Ashford
Kenosha News

Kenosha County needs to foster small businesses, expand educational partnerships, and energize the youth of the community.

Those were some of the suggestions from the more than 150 community stakeholders who attended the county's economic summit Wednesday in hopes of molding the county's future.

Kenosha County Executive Allan Kehl said he organized the 2007 summit at Carthage College to get input on the future of the county's economic development.

"I'm tired of unemployment ... . I'm tired of displaced workers," he said. "We're looking forward to creating a path to successful economic development."

At the summit, Department of Workforce Development Director Roberta Gassman praised the county for thriving when presented with challenges, such as a flattened manufacturing industry.

"You learned, and you diversified, and you created a strategy," she said.

The county's population has grown, the job market has grown, and recent unemployment rates have been the lowest in years, she said.

"Your area is a magnet, drawing people from Illinois," she said.

Gassman also praised the group for taking on issues such as worker training and county infrastructure.

"These are the keys to successful communities," she said.

But the economic picture wasn't all rosy. Retired Department of Workforce Development Economist Terry Ludeman said Wisconsin still faces many challenges.

For example, Wisconsin's residents' average yearly income is lower than surrounding states.

In fact, he said, "We are what I would call a low-wage state," he said.

Wisconsin ranked low in its proportion of adults with some post-secondary education, and Wisconsin has a higher-than-average percentage of baby boomers in the work force - which will be a problem soon, as the oldest baby boomers are now 61 and will soon retire.

"They're no longer teenagers," he said. "They still think they're teenagers."

The summit also included possibilities for the future. County Information Services Director Sharon Morgan gave a demonstration of the county's wireless capabilities, showing a live video from a car driving down 56th Street.

Currently, the county uses dark fiber broadband lines that connect the courthouse and the downtown county building to the county building at highways 45 and 50.

Morgan said the county is searching for partnerships with local businesses and schools to try and expand those lines, which would help the county with communications while helping businesses with their broadband needs.

"It's the vital infrastructure for economic growth," she said.

Morgan said the county also hopes to expand its wireless Internet capabilities. It currently has two wireless hot spots at the courthouse and at the Kenosha County Center. Those, too, could potentially be expanded in the future, she said.

"We want all of Kenosha County to operate under that wireless umbrella," she said.

In the afternoon, participants - which included academic, public and private employees and citizens - split off into six groups to discuss meeting employer training needs, recruitment and retention, supporting infrastructure, supporting entrepreneurship, and providing direction for economic development.

Kehl said he will take the suggestions generated by the group, create a summary report and try to make them a reality within the next year or two.

"Or we've done this for nothing," he said. "It's a very competitive environment, and we want a future for our kids and their kids."