10 minute read
Economic development
“As Greater Green Bay emerges from a very challenging 2020, it’s been fantastic to partner with the TIP Strategies team to take stock of the dynamic and important work being done by local community leaders in our task force groups to continue accelerating Greater Green Bay forward. You can feel the energy and enthusiasm of our members, and I have no doubt our efforts will continue to drive positive and meaningful change that will benefit those throughout the Greater Green Bay community!”
- Lauren Cooling, taskforce manager
“There are lots of artists living and working in Greater Green Bay, but making money outside the region. Greater Green Bay is poised to maximize the economic potential of the arts, especially if local corporations recognize the value of investing in arts as part of the region’s talent attraction efforts.”
– Kent Hutchison, arts & culture leader, Hutchison Art and Design
“Downtown Green Bay is coming off its two biggest years ever—2018 and 2019—right before the pandemic, and the Titletown District is a fantastic complement to downtown.”
– Alignment & conferences task force member
“There is a sense of energy in our entrepreneurial ecosystem that wasn’t there 3 years ago.”
– Innovation task force member
“Greater Green Bay is positioned to accelerate its economic momentum and build an even more prosperous economy over the next five years. The region’s diverse industries—manufacturing, transportation & logistics, healthcare, sports & entertainment, and a growing professional services/tech sector—have helped it weather the recent economic turmoil. The Chamber and its partners have made tremendous strides in key areas including business development, innovation & entrepreneurship, and downtown development & placemaking. The next few years will require continued focus on these areas, along with a greater emphasis on attracting, retaining and developing talent, accelerating the development of sites and infrastructure for bus- iness expansion and housing development, and pursuing new approaches to increase diversity, equity and inclusion. Personally, I am most excited about the region’s progress on building a fertile environment for startups and highgrowth companies. Several years ago (when we started the process of creating the initial EDSP in 2016 and 2017), the entrepreneurial landscape in Greater Green Bay was diffused and lacked visibility. Today, the area has become a well-connected and highly-visible innovation hotspot thanks in large part to the Chamber’s efforts through the Startup Hub, Urban Hub and Tundra Angels and the Packers’ leadership role in TitletownTech. We now point to Greater Green Bay’s entrepreneurial efforts as a ‘best practice’ example—alongside Asheville and Chattanooga—for other mid-size client communities around the U.S.”
Greater Green Bay Startup Ecosystems
Professional services
Startup Hub TitletownTech Green Bay Ecosystems
49 clients 11+ exits 19 startups 3+ exits 5+ Women-founded/led
131+ startups 40+ exits 7 Women-founded/led
53% 74% 59%
Healthcare
18% 26% 18%
Manufacturing
14% 21% 14%
Transportation
8% 21% 8%
Notes: Exits are defined as acquisitions or IPOs and are limited to transactions found in Crunchbase, with the exception of the count of Startup Hub client exits, which were provided by Startup Hub administration. Crunchbase is a crowdsourced dataset and is not comprehensive. The Greater Green Bay ecosystem includes clients of Startup Hub, TitletownTech startups and startups founded after 2000 based in Greater Green Bay. Sectors of a company are estimated by TIP research team based on reviewing online profiles and databases. Sources: Startup Hub; TitletownTech; Crunchbase; and TIP Strategies research.
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Business retention & expansion
The second initiative of the Greater Green Bay Economic Development Strategic Plan focuses on the support of existing businesses in our community. The Chamber’s economic development team has taken an active role in the support of existing businesses through the work of the business retention and expansion (BRE) program led by Eric DeKorne.
The BRE program is an integral part of economic development because up to 80% of new job growth and investment comes from existing businesses in the community. The BRE program supports and builds relationships with local businesses and connects them to resources for continued growth.
By the numbers:
More than More than
businesses were visited as part of the BRE program of the business visits resulted in a referral to a solution provider partner organization
Main issues reported:
Availability of skilled talent/workforce
Availability of industrial space or developable sites for expansion
Projects:
Capital investment estimates
direct jobs created
2.7 million
sq. ft. of developed/ redeveloped space
Economic Development Scoreboard
GreenBayMade.com is the economic development scorecard for the Greater Green Bay area which highlights key metrics and data regarding industry, workforce, and target industries.
Eric DeKorne (right) during a visit with Joe Beausoleil, president, Gemini Plastics, Inc., a local business that highlighted their innovative approach to an ever-evolving manufacturing environment.
Example of a social media post on LinkedIn by Eric DeKorne (left) after a BRE visit with Pomp’s Tire, a local 3rd generation familyowned business which has experienced tremendous growth and expansion. There, he met with Joel Hansen, chief financial officer.
The Greater Green Bay Chamber and Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation entered into a partnership to mutually promote the eco- nomic diversity and growth of Kewaunee County. Kewaunee County is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of 326,000 people; as such, the Greater Green Bay and Kewaunee economies are intertwined.
Startup Hub and Urban Hub – Catering to entrepreneurs
The Greater Green Bay Chamber, in collaboration with several partner organizations, introduced a business representative-staffed Small Business Resource Hotline to answer small businesses’ back to business-related questions resulting from COVID-19 – from accounting questions, to CARES Act compliance, to PPP Loan assistance.
• The hotline was a collaborative effort initiated by the Greater
Green Bay Chamber’s Startup Hub, along with partners Associated
Bank, Wipfli LLP, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Small Business Development Center, Green Bay SCORE Chapter 508 and
Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation. (WWBIC).
• The hotline, staffed 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, was answered by representatives of the sponsoring organizations.
Back to Business Grants help to sustain small businesses
The grant was created in response to statistics that show more than
of small businesses sought financial support during COVID-19.
of Chamber member businesses employ fewer than 100 employees.
Grants were awarded in amounts up to $10,000
$276,500
was awarded to
local businesses supported the grant program and supplied funding. Two rounds of grants offered to Brown County businesses with fewer than 50 FTE employees who also fit other criteria.
The Audible and TechConnect pitch events
Both events were hosted in November as part of Startup Wisconsin Week, a statewide initiative focused on supporting high-growth entrepreneurship and innovation throughout the community.
The Audible pitch event:
Chad Hendricks of Experienced Associates delivered the winning pitch for The Audible, receiving the $1,000 prize provided by the New North and advancing to the regional pitch competition hosted by the New North. Hendricks’ pitch focused on mitigating the professional truck driver shortage, helping trucking companies recruit experienced international truck drivers through the EB3 Visa program.
Second place: Lovin the Skin I’m In, a community organization for girls of color in Northeast Wisconsin, received the second-place prize of $500 and advanced to the regional pitch competition hosted by the New North.
12 entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges.
TechConnect reverse pitch event:
• Startups pitch an audience of developers and designed regarding what they need from a technical perspective. • Four startups pitched at the event in November 2020. • Three of the four startups found their tech lead or technical co-founder as a result of the event. These startups are based in
De Pere, Neenah, Sheboygan and Milwaukee.
Coffee Break educational series serves up small businessfocused conversations
In November, we kicked off the first in our Coffee Break series with Wipfli LLP, providing educational opportunities in a casual conversation, small-group format format on topics of interest to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The event has since moved monthly, showcasing Wipfli’s tax, accounting and financial insights.
*Chad Hendricks, Experienced Associates
*Rhonda Chandler, Lovin’ the Skin I’m In
Urban Hub new initiatives and updates
In May, the Urban Hub hosted a celebration of the coworking space and announced new initiatives and updates. More than 20 companies call the Urban Hub home and use the 24-hour coworking space as their home base.
Making the Urban Hub the home of the Tundra Angels angel networking group; the group made its third investment in a startup business this spring (see more on next page) Welcoming new banking partner Greenleaf Bank
Introducing Lamarr Banks, Urban Hub community manager Adding additional dedicated desk space Launching of The Blueprint Green Bay powered by the Greater Green Bay Chamber and New North
• First-of-its-kind accelerator program targeting minorities, veterans and female-owned businesses in the Greater Green Bay area and surrounding region. The goal: to offer these entrepreneurs additional avenues of access to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and encourage and support their success.
• The targeted businesses are those in business fewer than five years with annual revenue of one million or less. The Blueprint Green
Bay provides seed capital, entrepreneurial training and technology training for startups.
Tundra Angels invests in two companies –Octane Coffee and COnovate
In the past fiscal year, the Chamber’s Tundra Angels angel investor group invested in three opportunities. Two of them:
*Octane coffee NEW MIRON CONSTRUCTION OFFICE
GREEN BAY, WI
Octane Coffee is the first business in which Tundra Angels angel investor group invested, and the Waukesha-based business hopes to be first fully-automated robotic coffee drive-thru in the nation. They plan to launch in Pewaukee in fall 2021.
COnovate, a Wisconsin-based company developing a novel anode material for lithium-ion batteries. COnovate, and its patented COPHITE material, represent a new frontier in the battery industry. It’s a patented 2D material that is the first solid form of carbon monoxide that exists at room temperature and pressure. The team has demonstrated a 2x better battery capacity and 6x better charging time than current graphite-based batteries.
BUILDING COMMUNITIES
After years of building dreams in the Green Bay area, we’re thrilled to be settling into our sixth satellite office located in Titletown. With a home base in the heart of the community, we will be able to better serve our clients and contribute to exciting growth in the area. This, is Building Excellence.
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