The Alliance Working Teams met for a quarterly Strategic Doing workshop on Tuesday, June 3, hosted by the Purdue University Center for Innovation through Visualization & Simulation (CIVS) in Hammond, Indiana. Working Teams in the Alliance’s four key focus areas–Green Growth, Human Capital, Innovation, and Transportation and Logistics–used the daylong workshop to further strategize collaborative projects to support the goal of increasing regional economic competitiveness. All four team strategies were reviewed by the Alliance’s operational team in a collegial “Shark Tank” presentation that capped the day’s activities. The initiatives championed by the Working Teams will be showcased at the Alliance’s Second Annual Summit on Regional Competitiveness on December 19.
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.
Team strategies are summarized below, including updates since June 3:
GREEN GROWTH
The Green Growth team is focusing on the water sector and ways to regionalize the growing water cluster. Data collection is underway and before July 4 a tri-state conference call with key players will take place to identify state water initiatives. By August, the team will investigate state university water initiatives. In autumn 2014, graduate research assistance to identify water stakeholders will be provided by the faculty and students from the University of Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, and in November, two receptions will be held in Illinois and Indiana to gauge local stakeholder interest in organizing and possibly growing the Water Council’s footprint.
HUMAN CAPITAL
The Human Capital team is aiming its efforts at reaching employers. The team wants to show employers already in the region and those considering locating here that we have innovative workforce development programs that are both replicable and scalable by filming an informative, best practice, branding video. In addition, the team will adopt and scale Illinois’ existing successful “Hiring Event” model to other parts of the region. Hiring Events differ from job fairs in that attendees are pre-screened and scheduled in advance to have interviews with exhibiting employers, with the aim of attendees interviewing during the event and leaving with an offer of employment. Two regionally coordinated dual-state hiring events will also be organized—Illinois/Indiana and Illinois/Wisconsin—in locations near the common state borders and with employers from both states, with the aim of scaling such regionally coordinated Hiring Events. Data will be gathered through July, then the pilot Hiring Events will be scheduled and employer feedback collected. The Hiring Events will be featured in the branding video to be exhibited at the December 19 Summit on Regional Competitiveness.
INNOVATION
The Innovation Team is focused on mapping the regions innovation ecosystem as suggested as one of the Key Findings in the Chicago Metropolitan Tri-State OECD Review. Resources of use to local innovators in the region will be organized in a user friendly way. The team is considering several web models including Detroit BizGrid and are working with the creators of Illinois Innovation Network, Indiana’s Innovation in America’s Regions, and the innovation section of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation website to obtain pertinent information. In addition, businesses, institutions, resources that demonstrate innovation leadership in the region will be identified, as will their messaging and how that messaging is being delivered. Branding this region as a vibrant innovation hub is another team priority. Possibilities exist for a regional innovation award competition in 2015.
TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS
The Transportation & Logistics team is gathering regional asset data by taking State data and parceling out and then connecting the 21 counties in the three states to create a first of its kind regional transportation map. A platform will then be identified to plot the data, making it available for comprehensive analysis. The Purdue Regional Decision Maker is under consideration as a possible platform. Also being reviewed is the use of different platforms for different transportation sectors. The desired outcomes include identifying the existing interconnected transportation infrastructure as well as underutilized assets in order to build a model for the future that local mayors and other elected officials can use in terms of policy making and funding requests. The team expects to have data collected, a platform identified, and analysis begun by September.
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!