Addressing workforce, business needs
Another concern is a changing workforce. As Brown County’s workforce grows older and works longer, a new generation is emerging.
The Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce started a young professional network, Current, to provide a professional and networking venue for young working adults so they stay in the area, Fleisner says.
A major portion of greater Green Bay marketing efforts have been aimed at recruiting new talent, she says.
"While we are blessed to have the Green Bay Packers, our community has so much more to offer with regard to schools, culture, quality of place," says Fleisner. "People in Brown County have a lot of pride in their work and community, and it shows."
The employment rate in the past decade has remained relatively stable, Fleisner says. The area has not experienced the ebb and flow of employment that some regions seem to experience.
Brown County’s unemployment rate in May was 4.2 percent, according to the state Department of Workforce Development, less than the 4.5 percent rate of one year ago. In the city of Green Bay, unemployment stood at 6.1 percent in May, compared with 6.7 percent a year earlier. At the same time, national unemployment was at 5.2 percent.
Fleisner anticipates alternative forms of energy will be a new industry cluster in Northeast Wisconsin. Another cluster could involve tool and die makers that service larger businesses.
A new business is converting animal waste to energy and fertilizer. The New North is active in nurturing wind energy within the region, she says.
Ongoing opportunities for new businesses can be found through Advance, the business incubator sponsored by the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. Advance provides start-up businesses with the facilities and the technical services they need to get started.
Three strategies have been used to address growth, including expansion within existing businesses, recruitment of new companies to the region, and creating new businesses through entrepreneurship, Fleisner says.
Advance has housed 18 new companies in the past three years, she says. The business incubator, located inside the Business Assistance Center, houses eight service providers who are available daily to help entrepreneurs in their new ventures.
"We have seen our business counseling in this area increase 32 percent over the past year," says Fleisner.
Articles of incorporation were filed in 2007 for 1,034 new companies in the county. This year, 982 articles were filed as of July 1, she says.
"We’re continuing to grow jobs in the region by attracting new businesses and expanding others," says Lord. "As our unemployment numbers continue to decrease, it’s a good indication that we’re moving in the right direction."
A conservative approach
Northeast Wisconsin’s economy has never experienced the kinds of economic highs and lows that other areas of the country experience, particularly those on the east and west coasts.
Amidst skyrocketing gas prices, Quinn says Brown County residents seem to spend less to get to and from work every day.
However, he says those numbers are increasing dramatically with urban sprawl. Like most Wisconsinites, residents also seem to have a preference for gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.
When housing prices accelerated upward at the end of the 1990s, Brown County never saw the skyrocketing increases in valuation, though, Quinn says. Several years later, there seem to be fewer housing foreclosures here compared to other parts of the U.S.
The business community here seems to take a more cautious, studied and conservative approach that insulates them from the catastrophic highs and lows that hit economies elsewhere.
"I think we’re a little more conservative, as far as extending ourselves credit-wise," says Quinn. "I trace it back to our Midwestern sensibilities."
