By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
A long-range plan looking into future economic development throughout Southeastern Wisconsin has received the backing of a Union Grove panel.
The village Plan Commission on April 4 officially accepted Southeastern Wisconsin Region Commission’s five-year comprehensive economic development strategy plan.
The document is closely intertwined with the M7, a regional collaborative effort that is aimed at pooling resources and bolstering the local economy throughout inner and near outer areas of metropolitan Milwaukee.
As its name suggests, M7 encompasses seven counties, and representatives from each serve within the organization.
In addition to Racine County, the six other counties within the consortium include Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Walworth, Waukesha and Washington.
On the whole, SEWRPC’s plan for the M7 counties includes enhanced efforts to bridge gaps between the public and private sector, building on some of the economic strengths and areas that fall within economically distressed areas, based on census and other forms of data.
Nancy Anderson of SEWRPC gave Union Grove commissioners an overview of the plan at the recent meeting.
“While it’s not required (for the plan to be implemented), we have been going around and seeking approval from municipalities,” Anderson said.
Within Racine County, Anderson pointed to several specific areas of the community that fall within the economic distress category.
The Town of Dover is the closest area to Union Grove that falls within the category, based on per-capita income levels, Anderson said.
A number of areas within the City of Racine area also considered economically distressed, based on the same criteria.
M7, which has been in existence slightly more than a half-decade, has been fruitful, Anderson said, because it links together a number of different industries.
Many of the M7 counties have strengths in specific industries. Racine County, for instance, has a long history of fostering businesses specializing in machinery manufacturing.
Other sections of the region have clusters of businesses with expertise in such categories as energy, water technology, food and beverage, medical technology and printing.
As a whole, Anderson said SEWRPC and M7 organizers are attempting to work throughout the region and bridge some deficiencies that have been noticeable in the post-recession economy.
For instance, Anderson said Southeastern Wisconsin is below average, comparatively, for business startups.
In a formal sign of its approval of the plan and its components, the Union Grove Plan Commission recommended adopting a resolution that affirmed it.
That resolution will now be forwarded on to the Village Board later this month for further deliberation and final action.
Moving forward, Anderson said the plan within SEWRPC is to freshen up the long-range planning document every five years so officials can take stock in progress and map out future goals.
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