Home to cranberries, lush forests, rolling farmland and paper mills – that’s central Wisconsin. 

While all of these things are an integral part of the region’s economy, change has happened. As the nation’s economy faltered, the region’s cranberry growers struggled and paper mills trimmed their work forces.

“Just one paper mill laid off 500 people [in 2009], and there were layoffs before that,” says Melissa Loken, director of economic development for Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance. “Overall approximately 1,500 people were laid off.
The mills are starting to replace some of those positions, but not on the scale we lost.”

When jobs are lost, new jobs must be created, and here this region reigns strong. Education coming from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point (UWSP) business school and Mid-State Technical College is helping displaced workers gain new skills for meaningful employment and even build businesses of their own.

“The majority of job creation in the United States is the result of the expansion of small businesses,” says Professor C. R. Marshall, chair of UWSP’s Division of Business and Economics. “When a major industry leaves, whether an automobile manufacturing plant or a paper mill, that town usually doesn’t find another big industry to replace it. It needs a growth in small business and entrepreneurship to keep the townspeople employed and the money flowing.”

Central Wisconsin is at the crux of this change. As paper mills and other large businesses cut headcounts, small business must pick up.

“Small businesses support the central Wisconsin economy,” Marshall says. “Our growth and economic recovery is going to come from them.”

Re-building a business program

Budget cuts and shifting priorities a decade ago left the UWSP’s business program a bit battered, but changes to its programming and the pursuit of accreditation has this school positioned for future growth and in a prime spot to help displaced workers find jobs.

“Change has become a constant and we are embracing it with what we are doing with our curriculum, faculty and modes of delivery,” Marshall says. “We are in a good position to take care of our students and support the central Wisconsin economy.”
The school moved from UWSP’s Liberal Arts College to the College of Letters and Sciences to better emphasize its professional focus. It also is within striking distance of receiving accreditation from The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which accepted its pre-accreditation application this summer.

Before revamping the program, the college conducted listening sessions in business centers across central Wisconsin. Here, they learned much of the region’s business is international. Today’s transportation technology and communications capabilities make it possible for even a small business to buy and sell goods on the international market. In addition, goods steamed to Canada from overseas are transported by rail via the Canadian National Railway, which travels straight through central Wisconsin.

“With those things in mind, we figured international trade would be very important to us,” Mullins says. “Our listening sessions bore that out, with constituent businesses telling us they were heavily engaged in international trade.”

The college designed a business degree with an international concentration then took it a step further and changed the core curriculum in its business administration, accounting and economic majors as well. Today all business students must take courses in international business. “If students were not thinking of a global economy as freshman, they are aware of it by the time they are seniors,” says Marshall.

The college also developed a Corporate Partners Project, the brainchild of recently retired Dean Joan North, designed to help students gain meaningful local, national and international internships before they enter the work force.

While many internships are in the five-county area the college serves,  students can opt to spend a month in China or participate in a semester-long internship in London. “We’ve had students work for members of Parliament and economics publications,” says Mullins. “We’ve had interns in Singapore and Bosnia.”

Since making these programming changes,  the number of students majoring in business at UWSP increased by more than 23  percent, and 75 percent of these students will likely remain in the area upon graduation, notes Marshall.

How are these things important to the region? “The short answer is economic growth,” says Marshall. “Producing more college graduates who stay in central Wisconsin strengthens the regional economy. Graduates with an understanding of business, accounting and economics can start new businesses and help existing businesses operate more efficiently and be more profitable.”

Renewable energy sparks change

Another college looking to help the region gain economic muscle is Mid-State Technical College, which has campuses in Marshfield, Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point. In 2008, the college, which already had a forestry program, grew its environmentally focused programming by adding a cluster of renewable energy programs and added five certificate programs to help area tradesmen gain proficiency in renewable energy systems.

Renewable energy is an area that will continually increase in importance — especially in central Wisconsin, predicts Ron Zillmer, associate dean. “We live in the middle of a never ending ‘oil field’ with our forests and agricultural land,” he explains. “This is something that’s coming. Some day it’s going to be just energy, not renewable energy.” He points out Japan already solar hot water systems in homes and Germany mandates photovoltaic (PV) panels produce 20 percent of a new home’s energy.

Central Wisconsin businesses need these kinds of graduates. Case in point: Energy Composites Corporation (ECC) recently announced plans to add on to its Wisconsin Rapids manufacturing facility. This firm manufactures and installs infrastructure to manage water resources; manufacture, store and transport biofuels; generate wind power; reduce the environmental footprint of industrial processes; and generate power from traditional coal sources without polluting the air.

By Ronnie Garrett

Ronnie Garrett owns and operates Garrett & Co. Studios, a Fort Atkinson company providing editorial, photography and graphic design services.

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