Why Child Care Growth should be an Activity of Rural Economic Developers and How We Can Step Up to the Challenge

There are many community organizations that participate and play an active role with their local child care providers. However, there is no person or organization whose role it is to develop and grow child care (generally speaking) within rural communities. 

Economic Development professionals practice the following:

• Community Planning – we bring together key community wide stakeholders to obtain a common vision.
• Business Retention
• Business Recruitment
• Business Creation
• Business Planning
• Site Selection
• Property (re)development
• Brownfield Redevelopment
• Remove Barriers, Find Opportunities, Interface with government agencies.
• Assist with Governmental Approvals
• Lobbying state officials, agencies, and organizations
• Project Finance
• Grant Writing
• TIF
• Incentive Negotiation

Most child care providers have none of the above skills. Most agencies working with them do not either.

We, as economic developers, have the skills to be that force to grow child care. We need to bring our skills actively, with full vigor, to retaining and creating new child care businesses.

Who is on board? No more studies, no more planning, no talk about the need - we need to build child care businesses. And we, as rural Economic Developers, need to step up to that challenge with the same, if not more, effort than we put into a new manufacturing plant.

Comprehensive Planning for Agriculture – for Urban Areas – Making it Useful

 

Agriculture is one of the most important land use and most impactful from an economic development standpoint in Wisconsin.

Can we admit that most Ag sections of City/Village Comprehensive Plans in Wisconsin are terrible?  That they contain information that is irrelevant for incorporated areas but gets put in the plan because of the language of the state law? 

Can we stop doing that?

The law reads:  Agricultural, natural and cultural resources element. A compilation of objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs for the conservation, and promotion of the effective management, of natural resources such as groundwater, forests, productive agricultural areas, environmentally sensitive areas, threatened and endangered species, stream corridors, surface water, floodplains, wetlands, wildlife habitat, metallic and nonmetallic mineral resources consistent with zoning limitations under s. 295.20 (2), parks, open spaces, historical and cultural resources, community design, recreational resources and other natural resources.

As it applies to agriculture, how is that relevant at all in municipalities? 

IMHO, this is how municipalities should think and plan for agriculture.

There are four main parts of Agriculture:

1. Inputs
2. Production
3. Processing
4. Distribution

We want to identify where there are gaps with inputs, processing and distribution in our area, and then participate with others to address those gaps, so as to improve the productivity of Farms, Businesses and Employees in a way that leads to improved income and living standards for all. 

Gaps are things that are missing – for example:

• Businesses that do not exist in the area that would support other current local businesses
• Infrastructure that would allow businesses to locate and expand
• An industrial park with land to build new businesses
• Educational changes needed that provide fully trained employees

While the City may not be able to address every gap, it can help identify solutions to those gaps and work with others to address them.

This means the City will work to address gaps for inputs, processing and distribution that relate to the agricultural production strengths of the County. 

What are your County’s agricultural strengths and weaknesses, and how is your community going to plan for it?

Thinking about QA/QC for Small Municipalities

Quality Assurance/Quality Control - QA/QC 

Everyone hates it and everyone needs it. 

Fundamentally, QA/QC in local government is a process to assure documents are produced without defect (or as little defect as possible) 

Time is seldom allotted to do it, people hate criticism of their work, it is seen as a waste of time. 

However, as the saying goes, there is never enough time to do it right, but there is always enough time to do it over. (attributed to John Bergman) 

The process of QA/QC is to get the document right the first time and not have to do it over.

I am (in this post) not going to go through and create documents and checklists - that will vary based on community, task, and in particular staffing levels. But every small community should focus on four things when they put their QA/QC process together. 

1. Checklists that guide how to complete tasks

2. Templates for documents to ensure consistency 

3. Clear proofreading guidelines 

4. Supervisor review procedures 

 The side benefit of QA/QC is that you are providing the tools to bring new staff quickly into productive team members - if you have documented all your processes, produced templates and checklists, and established a method of review of work, you are more than 50% of the way there in on-boarding new staff.

Chasing more jobs is a fools game without more Housing.

With a $3.4 million National Investment Fund grant from Wisconsin DOA that I prepared, we partnered with Wisconsin Management Company to build 40 units of workforce housing - the first apartments built in Lancaster in over 20 years.

 

Business Case for New Municipal Projects

Staff often have ideas for new projects or activities, or changes to either. 

They also often do not have the background for building a business case to demonstrate need, viability, cost, or benefits. Also, they have seldom thought through all the costs and impacts. 

This is a simplified business case that I like to have staff use to do those things. I usually have to work with them to complete, but doing so provides enough information for either implementation by staff, or to go to the City Council for approval, if the project is large enough. It is also flexible enough for a small project, but also works for larger ones. 

1. Name of Project 

2. Executive Summary – in five sentences or less 

3. Objectives of Project 

4. Cost of Project 

    a. Design 

    b. Construction/Installation/Equipment cost 

    c. Annual Operating cost 

    d. Revenue/Cost Savings 

    e. ROI 

5. Details – Vendor, Contractor, equipment 

6. When the project will occur 

    a. Ordering 

    b. Installation 

    c. Operating date