Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the National Plastic Exposition (NPE) 2006 at McCormick Place in Chicago. It was my first NPE, since it is held only every three years, and I have been with Forward Wisconsin for a little less than two years. I was struck by the the overall size of the event, the sheer number of attendees, and the incredible amount of multi-million-dollar machines, equipment and product present in the convention center. Plastics is a huge business worldwide and nearly 100 countries were represented in the Windy City.

My prior trade show experience with Forward Wisconsin includes the last two BIO shows but in terms of attendance, NPE is about four times larger than BIO. In addition, when BIO 2006 was held in Chicago in April of this year - also at McCormick Place - the exhibit area filled just one hall of the facility. The NPE 2006 trade show booths covered all three halls of the facility. Forward Wisconsin had a 20-foot booth on the floor and was joined by about 50 other Wisconsin plastics-related firms in exhibiting at the show.

We had a great show with about two dozen companies from outside the state expressing an interest in potential expansion to Wisconsin. Forward Wisconsin is already following up with information to those business prospects. We also visited each of the Wisconsin firms exhibiting at the show and thanked them for their investment in the state.

I am continually impressed with the professionalism and knowledge of the economic development representatives that join us at shows like NPE to work the Wisconsin booth and call on other exhibitors. Without these volunteers, which hail from all over the state, we would not be nearly as effective at trade shows and on marketing missions.

Thank you for your support and have a great July!

Whistling Straits in Kohler is just 12 months away from hosting a second major golf championship and the Wisconsin team is already excited about the event and all it brings to the state. The U.S. Senior Open will be played on the Pete Dye designed links- style course on July 2-8, 2007 and the championship provides another great opportunity to promote Wisconsin as a premier business destination.

Several meetings have already been held between Kohler Co. officials, Forward Wisconsin and the Department of Commerce. Forward Wisconsin and Commerce are currently working to put together an initial plan for business outreach at the U.S. Senior Open. The Department of Tourism has been very helpful in providing input into the planning as well.

Whistling Straits was the site of the 2004 PGA Championship, an event that pumped more than $76 million into Wisconsin’s economy and boasted attendance of over 300,000 people. From an external business promotion standpoint, it was especially important that more than $46 million was spent by out-of-state spectators and that the tournament was also broadcast to more than 100 countries and territories worldwide. Forward Wisconsin and Commerce also participated in the PGA Championship to promote the state for business investment.

Kohler officials are expecting about a quarter of a million people to attend the U.S. Senior Open in Kohler. Golfers 50 and over will battle on the Lakeshore for the Francis Ouimet Trophy. Some of the names that will be eligible for the championship are Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara, and Nick Price.

Wisconsin's Buildings and Sites database now includes 1900+ available buildings and 700+ available sites from across the state. These totals are expected to continue to grow as more Wisconsin communities utilize the system and more cooperative agreements are made to bring in listings.

As the listings grow, Forward Wisconsin has also continued to pursue upgrades to the database and its related features. Recently, new data on three metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) was added. The MSAs include Chicago, which includes Kenosha County data; Duluth, which includes Douglas County data; and, the Twin Cities, which includes St. Croix and Pierce County data. In addition, all data for the other 12 MSAs in the state was updated as well.

A couple of new features were implemented to the system to speed up searches. An alphabetic search feature was put in to allow a simpler search for a community name in a list, by first clicking on the letter that the community name begins with. A "Quick Filter" feature now appears above listings to provide a way to look at a range of building or site sizes without having to spend time doing an advanced search. Users will also note that a "My Properties" button gives the opportunity to gather several listings into one file area for ease of use. For more information on the database, contact Sharon Seffrood at 608.261.2501 or via email.