Foster regional economic growth through collaboration with public and private partners to identify challenges and promote solutions.”

That is the new mission statement of the 7 Rivers Alliance.

Here’s the previous mission statement:

“The 7 Rivers Alliance is a regional leadership group that boosts economic growth by fostering collaboration in Southwest Wisconsin, Southeast Minnesota, and Northeast Iowa. We advocate for keeping communication open, and we continue to develop regional networks through meetings and networking events. The 7 Rivers Alliance brings together public and private resources to forge entrepreneurial growth and serves as a clearinghouse of information to enhance quality of life in the region.”

Clearly the new one is more concise, but our aim is still the same -- grow the region through collaboration.

A mission statement is a formal summary of the aims and values of a company, organization, or individual -- it’s how you will achieve your vision. That statement sets the tone for strategies, the ways of using the mission to achieve the vision. Goals are statements of what needs to be done to implement the strategy.

This is the simple explanation of strategic planning. There are entire courses taught on the concept,  but successful businesses and organizations all have at least one thing in common -- they determine how to best spend resources to achieve goals.

I’m proud to announce that the 7 Rivers Alliance has completed a new strategic plan that will carry us through 2023. This was the result of many hours and work by board members that started last December with facilitator Tracy Dryden from Western Technical College.

Much of our existing strategic plan was put into place shortly before the 7 Rivers Alliance embarked on the process of developing the Workforce Innovation for a Strong Economy (WISE) Plan. That plan -- now called the 7 Rivers Alliance Workforce Development Plan -- remains an important part of our strategy

You can read the entire 2020-2023 Strategic Plan on our website, but here are some of the priorities:

• Strengthen regional economic development readiness by holding summits or community feedback sessions with regional partners and business outreach and site readiness.

• Continue to aggressively market the region with the brand Our 7 Rivers, sharing economic data and hosting regional tours.

• Continue implementation of the 7 Rivers Alliance Workforce Development Plan with a focus on the challenges of childcare, housing and transportation and convening regular meetings of the plan task force. We will also continue to develop Inspire to create work-based learning opportunities for high school students.

• Improve the 7 Rivers Alliance’s financial sustainability by increasing membership, building a cash reserve and increase staffing that aligns with the strategy and builds capacity to serve the region.

There is our future. A simple delivery of key services in the quite complex landscape of economic development layered underneath the jurisdictional differences of three different states and 14-different counties.

As CEO, it is my job to work at the direction of the board to deliver those services and results. We have set up a dashboard to measure the success and will review it at every board meeting.

Our value proposition, as stated in our plan: “Be the leader of support services to businesses and communities.” 

None of this happens without your financial support of our organization. We’ve already had many members renew their support for 2020.

 Help us spread the word.

 The more the merrier! 

I wish all of you and your families a joyous holiday season.