Northwest Regional Planning Commission

Northwest Regional Planning Commission held its Executive Committee Meeting at their Spooner Office on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

Chairman Doug Finn welcomed the Board of Director’s and special guests John G and Darryl Zastrow with the WI DNR and Kimberly Green Strand, new Enterprise Business Manager with the Lac Courte Oreilles.

Minutes of the May 26, 2010 Meeting, July 2010 Vouchers, Resolution #10-04 and Contracts were all approved by the Board.  Executive Director Myron Schuster presented the Executive Director’s Report and the 2^nd Quarter Financial Report. A County Issues Roundtable discussion was also held.

Darrell Zastrow, Deputy Administrator of the Division of Forestry for the WI DNR presented at the meeting regarding the State Tree Nursery Program, particularly the nursery located in Hayward (Sawyer County). For more information please contact Darrell at 608-266-0290 or darrell.zastrow@wisconsin.gov.

Section Report updates from Planning & Housing (Sheldon Johnson), Environmental – Great Lakes Restorative Initiative (GLRI) Grant – J. Laumann, Financial (John Stroschine) and Business Development/Enterprise Centers (Rick Roeser) were presented to the Board.

The meeting adjourned around 11:00 a.m.  to the NWREDF (Northwest Wisconsin Regional Economic Development Fund) Governing Board Annual Meeting. The next meeting of the NWRPC Executive Committee, will be on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the NWRPC Office in Spooner.

Northwest Regional Planning Commission held its Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at Flat Creek Inn & Suites 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 handed out presentation of service awards to Michael Bobin (Washburn County), Ed Peterson (Burnett County) and John Blahnik (Bayfield County) for their time served on the Executive Committee for NWRPC. He also presented special recognition awards to Rene Daniels and Matt Rudig, representatives for Congressman Dave Obey who is retiring. Minutes of the Semi-Annual Meeting, June 2010 Vouchers, Resolution #10-02 Approving CEDS Annual Report and #10-03 Supporting Continued Seedling Production at the Hayward DNR Tree Nursery, 2009 Audit Report and the 2011 Membership Levy were all approved by the full commission members in attendance.

An election of NWRPC Officers was held and the results were as follows:

Chairman: Doug Finn (Douglas County)
Vice Chairman: Randy Tatur (Rusk County)
Secretary: Hal Helwig (Sawyer County)

Tom Beekman (WI Department of Transportation), John Gozdzialski (WI Department of Natural Resources), Craig Thompson (Transportation Development Association) and Mark O’Connell (WI Counties Association) were present and spoke briefly about their State Organizations.

Guest Speakers for the day were Dan Kuiper of Wadal Plastics located in our Medford Enterprise Center and Eric Peterson of Alion Science and Technology located in our Grantsburg Enterprise Center. Both gentleman spoke on how NWRPC and our Enterprise Center Network has helped them grow, expand and benefit their small companies.

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 and Rene Daniels– Congressman Dave Obey, Bryce Luchterhand – Governor Doyle’s Northern Office Director and Nick Milroy – 73^rd Assembly District.

Myron Schuster, Executive Director presented a National Association of Development Organization (NADO) Congressional Partnership Award to Senator Kohl for his support of Economic Development in rural Wisconsin. Marjorie Bunce, representative for Senator Kohl accepted the award on his behalf.

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, July 28, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the NWRPC office in Spooner.

Northwest Regional Planning Commission held its Executive Committee Meeting at their Spooner Office on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

Chairman Doug Finn welcomed the Board of Director’s and special guest Mary Roets with Clifton Gunderson, LLC.  Jim Crandall, newly appointed Bayfield County representative was also in attendance.

Minutes of the April 28, 2010 Meeting, May 2010 Vouchers, and Contracts were all approved by the Board.  Executive Director Myron Schuster presented the Executive Director’s Report. A County Issues Roundtable discussion was also held.

Mary Roets with Clifton Gunderson, LLC was at the meeting to present the 2009 NWRPC Draft Audit to the Board. It was a clean audit with no significant findings. The Board approved the draft audit and recommended it be approved by the full commission at its annual meeting in June.

Section Report updates from Planning, Housing & Environmental (Sheldon Johnson), Financial (John Stroschine), Business Development/Enterprise Centers (Rick Roeser) and ITBEC (Dave Dumke) were presented to the Board.

The meeting adjourned around 11:00 a.m. The next meeting of the NWRPC Executive Committee, will be the Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at Flat Creek Inn & Suites in Hayward, WI.

Northwest Regional Planning Commission held its Executive Committee Meeting at their Spooner Office on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

Chairman Doug Finn welcomed the Board of Director’s and the newly appointed members. New members included Don Taylor – newly elected chair of Burnett County; Steve Sather – newly elected chair of Washburn County; and Russ Kapitz – newly appointed alternate representative for Price County.

John Gozdzialski, Northern Regional Director with the WI DNR and Mike Leudke also with the WI DNR were in attendance.  Minutes of the March 17, 2010 Meeting, Vouchers, 1^st Quarter Financials and Contracts were all approved by the Board.  Executive Director Myron Schuster presented a project proposal on Carbon Credit Aggregation and 1^st Quarter Financial report, along with the Executive Director’s Report. A County Issues Roundtable discussion was also held.

John G with the WI DNR provided an update on DNR happenings in our Region. John touched on changes in deer management, the impact of being in our 6^th year of drought and a petition for de-listing wolves in the State of WI. For more information please visit www.dnr.state.wi.us or to reach John Gozdzialski, please call him at 715-635-4002.

Section Report updates from Planning, Housing (Sheldon Johnson), Website (Chad Kostner), Financial (John Stroschine), Business Development/Enterprise Centers (Rick Roeser) and ITBEC (Dave Dumke) were presented to the Board.

The meeting adjourned around 11:55 a.m. The next meeting of the NWRPC Executive Committee, will be on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the NWRPC office in Spooner.

Northwest Regional Planning Commission held its Executive Committee Meeting at their Spooner Office on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.
Chairman Doug Finn welcomed the Board of Director’s and special guest speaker John Will with WITC. John Gozdzialski, Northern Regional Director with the WI DNR was also in attendance. Minutes of the January 27, 2010 Meeting, Vouchers and Resolution #10-01 were all approved by the Board. Executive Director Myron Schuster gave a NADO Policy Conference and Board Meeting Report along with the Executive Director’s Report and an update on the Regional Economic Development Recognition project with the WI Department of Commerce. A County Issues Roundtable discussion was also held.
A PowerPoint presentation on Regional Presence was given by John Will of the WI Indianhead Technical Colleges (WITC). WITC has 4 campuses that serve 11 Counties, including 8 of the 10 counties NWRPC serves, covering 10,500 square miles of our Region. The following are highlights of the presentation:

• 73% of the 1,733 graduates were employed within the WITC District (Region)
• 83% of all graduates were employed in the State of WI
• 85% of all graduates were hired within 6 months of graduation with an average salary of $30,500
• 61% of students are females with an average age of 28 and 40% of these female students are enrolled full time

Please visit www.witc.edu for more information.
John G with the WI DNR provided an update on DNR happenings in our Region. John mentioned the winter severity index was low this year, which was a good thing, since winter is the hardest time for the deer. For more information please visit www.dnr.state.wi.us or to reach John Gozdzialski, please call him at 715-635-4002.
Section Report updates from Planning, Housing & Environmental (Sheldon Johnson & Bill Welter), Financial (John Stroschine) and Business Development/Enterprise Centers (Rick Roeser & Mark Mueller) were presented to the Board.
The meeting adjourned around 3:30 p.m. The next meeting of the NWRPC Executive Committee, will be on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the NWRPC office in Spooner.

Northwest Regional Planning Commission held its Executive Committee Meeting at their Spooner Office on Wednesday, January 27^th, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

Chairman Doug Finn welcomed the Board of Director’s and special guests Tom Beekman and Brent Pickard with the WI DOT. Colene Frye and Karen Johnson, Planner’s with the St. Croix Chippewa Tribe were also in attendance.  Minutes of the October 28, 2009 Meeting, Vouchers, Contract List and sponsorship for Superior Days were all approved by the Board.  The 4^th Quarter Financial Report and Executive Director’s Report was given along with a County Issues Roundtable discussion.

A PowerPoint presentation was given by Tom Beekman of the WI DOT Northern Region. The DOT Northern Region services 20 counties, including 8 of the 10 Counties NWRPC serves. The presentation was a breakdown of funding distribution and a look at local projects taking place over the next 2-3 years. Please visit www.dot.wisconsin.gov for more information.

Mark O’Connell, Executive Director of the WI Counties Association called into the meeting for a brief explanation of Senate Bill 440. For more information please visit www.legis.state.wi.us or to reach Mr. O’Connell, please visit www.wicounties.org.

Section Report updates from Planning & Housing (Sheldon Johnson), Financial (John Stroschine) and Business Development/Enterprise Centers (Rick Roeser) were presented to the Board. Dave Dumke with ITBEC also provided an update. For more information regarding ITBEC, please visit www.northwestwisconsin.com.

The meeting adjourned around 12:30 p.m. The next meeting of the NWRPC Executive Committee, will be on Wednesday, March 17^th, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the NWRPC office in Spooner. Please note that there is no February meeting due to Superior Days (www.superiordays.com). Therefore, the March meeting will be moved up to the 3^rd Wednesday of the month instead of the last Wednesday of the month as usual.

Northwest Regional Planning Commission held its Executive Committee Semi-Annual Meeting on Wednesday, December 2^nd, 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.