Northwest Regional Planning Commission held its Executive Committee Semi-Annual Meeting on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at The Conference Center at Grand Pines Resort in Hayward, WI. Chairman Doug Finn (representing Douglas County) welcomed everyone and thanked everybody from the various counties, partnerships, and private sectors for joining us and making this a great region to live in and work in.
Myron Schuster, Executive Director of NWRPC gave the guests in attendance a State of the Commission report. Minutes of the Annual Meeting, Vouchers, and the 2010 NWRPC Operating Budget were all approved by the full commission members in attendance.
Federal and State representatives updated the group on happenings at the State and Federal levels. Representatives included Karen Graff – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Marjorie Bunce – U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, Matt Rudig – Congressman Dave Obey and Bill Smith – WI DNR.
Guest Speaker for the day was Ken Buehler, Executive Director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. Mr. Buehler gave a PowerPoint presentation on Northern Lights Express (NLX) passenger rail service. For more information please visit www.NorthernLightsExpress.org.
Keynote Speaker was Jack Price, Economic Development Administration (EDA) Regional Representative for the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Gail Towers MacAskill representing EDA as well. The two gave a presentation on cooperation and collaboration amongst businesses, educational institutions and others to form partnerships to maximize regional strengths. For more information on EDA, please visit www.eda.gov.
The meeting adjourned at noon with a luncheon that followed. The next meeting of the NWRPC Executive Committee, will be a regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the NWRPC office in Spooner.