WORKING TEAMS HOLDING FIRST QUARTERLY MEETING AT PURDUE CALUMET TODAY
The Alliance Working Teams will meet today (Tuesday, June 3) for the first quarterly follow-up meeting at Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, Indiana. The all-day event is an opportunity for the Teams to report on progress and plan strategies for the next phase of activity, and will include a tour of Purdue's Center for Innovation through Visualization & Simulation (CIVS). The Alliance would like to thank Dr. Chenn Zhou, CIVS Director and Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies, for hosting the meeting. 

GREEN GROWTH

Team Goal: Promote a cluster strategy of the Southern Lake Michigan Basin as the world leader on all water related industries and research

Project: Expanding the footprint of the Water Council as a key avenue to expanding the national and global reputation and opportunities of the region relative to water technology and innovation

HUMAN CAPITAL

Team Goal: Collaborative Branding of the Region's Workforce Capacity and Resources

Project: Produce series of brief videos that illustrate this collective strength

INNOVATION

Team Goal: Developing a common understanding of the region's innovation ecosystem, its key challenges, and common goals

Project: Creation of an Internet portal

TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS

Team Goal: Determine needs and prioritize potential infrastructure projects

Projects:

1. Create regional asset map to be used to identify underutilized assets and development opportunities 

2. Organize private sector to identify needs to better get our goods quickly and efficiently into the hands of customers across the nation and around the world (based on Conexus as best practices)

As work proceeds, Working Team members are aiming their efforts at building towards the Second Annual Summit on Regional Competitiveness on December 19 to be able to present concrete evidence of regional collaboration. (See below for more on the Summit.) 

As always, the Alliance is grateful to the hardworking volunteer members of the Working Teams. We look forward to continuing to work together throughout the year!

Alliance Leaders Propose Territorial Expansion at Water Council Members Meeting on May 29
On May 29, Wisconsin Operational Chair Carmel Ruffolo,  Indiana Operational Chair David Terrell, and President and CEO Kelly O'Brien made a presentation to The Water Council at the organization's monthly member meeting in Milwaukee. A key priority for the Alliance's Green Growth Working Team is exploring expanding the footprint of The Water Council into Illinois and Indiana. O'Brien and the Operational Chairs discussed the Alliance's role as a neutral platform to foster regional collaboration and economic expansion, similar to the role of The Water Council, and the potential for a territorial expansion of The Water Council to enhance the national and global reputation of the region relative to water technology and innovation. The expansion idea will be taken up by the Water Council board at its meeting on Thursday, June 5.

Alliance Stakeholders Announce Innovative Partnership to Improve Technology and Engineering Training in Southeast Wisconsin

On May 27, University of Wisconsin-Parkside (UW-P), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), and Gateway Technical College announced the Technical Pathway Partners initiative at the Snap-on Corporation in Kenosha. Responding to the needs of statewide manufacturers for a workforce with better technology and engineering skills, the partners developed two new programs, a Career and Technology Education (CTE) teacher training and licensure program in southeast Wisconsin and a consortial engineering program for local students to complete degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering at both UW-P and UWM. The new engineering program is a guaranteed transfer agreement for qualified students between UWM and UW-P and will create a seamless pathway for electrical and mechanical engineering students to complete their first two years of studies at UW-P and their final two years at the UWM College of Engineering and Applied Science.

The UW-P Institute of Professional Educator Development and Gateway Technical College have developed Wisconsin’s first-ever post-Baccalaureate licensure program for CTE educators specializing in technology and pre-engineering teaching. This  new partnership was triggered as a result of discussions launched by Alliance stakeholders in spring 2013  regarding manufacturing education and how this impacts on the skills mismatch in industry. It became apparent in these discussions that the lack of CTE certified teachers in the region which would greatly impede efforts in promoting technology and engineering classes in our high schools.

In June 2013, the Alliance and stakeholders including Snap-on Incorporated, UW-P, and Gateway Technical College convened a one-day Tri-State Manufacturing Leadership Institute, hosted at Gateway, to explore ways to build a solid manufacturing education pipeline based around increasing the number of CTE teachers being trained in the region. It is hoped that the new partnership’s innovative dual focus in teacher and worker training will alleviate the skills mismatch in southeast Wisconsin, with benefits accruing to the entire Tri-State region.

Read the official press release (PDF)

Browse the Alliance’s July 2013 newsletter

NEW ALLIANCE WEBSITE DEBUTS

We're pleased to announce that the new Alliance website is now live at www.alliancerd.org. The organization's first independent website showcases the Alliance's history, leadership, sponsors, and current work including the efforts of the Working Teams. Among its features are a regularly updated news blog, Alliance newsletters (including a newsletter signup link), information on sponsorship opportunities, and soon biographies of our Working Team members. While staff continues to put the finishing touches on the site, Alliance stakeholders are invited to browse and explore our new home on the Web!

Visit the new Alliance for Regional Development website