Driftless Development striving to build greater Crawford County into vibrant community

By Ted Pennekamp

Driftless Development Inc., is at a pivotal point as the economic development organization begins to look at the challenges faced by the greater Crawford County area while also starting its shift from a transitional board of directors to a permanent board, aided by several committees.

“Much effort has been put forth to set a strong foundation for Driftless Development in becoming an effective economic development organization. One that has the real potential to be a change-agent for the communities, people, businesses and organizations that make up Crawford County,” said Driftless Development Executive Director Jim Bowman.

In addition to working to better understand market dynamics that include commerce and trade, workforce, housing and infrastructure, plus creating fundamental economic development programs and services, the stage is set to listen and learn from county-wide constituents, Bowman said.

To that end, Driftless Development is wrapping up two surveys, one for residents and one for business owners in an effort to gain feedback to generate a market analysis for Allamakee, Clayton and Crawford counties. The surveys closed on April 29.

The surveys will help Driftless Development to create a Strategic Doing Action Plan and a budget to aggressively confront key economic issues that could positively impact the local economy and people’s lives, said Bowman.

Strategic Doing is a process. Some questions include:

•Where are we now and where are we going? Where do we want to go?

•What can we do? What should we do? What will we do?

Driftless Development is on track and is meeting the milestones set back in January when the organization was officially formed by the merger of the Crawford County Economic Development Corporation, the Prairie du Chien Economic Development Corporation and the Prairie du Chien Main Street program, said Bowman.

In addition to the surveys, Driftless Development has been holding meetings and is focusing on three key initiatives:

•Communicate the Crawford County economic challenges

•Recommend solutions (based on the Strategic Doing Process)

•And, plan and launch an aggressive fundraising campaign.

Bowman said there are numerous economic challenges facing Crawford County.

He noted that for two decades the population of the county has been declining and aging. Many of the young people get good jobs elsewhere and don’t return, he said. The population has declined by 5.2 percent over the past 20 years. 

The county’s population is aging faster than state and national averages. The average age in the county is 46. Statewide it is 39, and nationwide it is 37. “We are getting older faster than other counties our size,” said Bowman.

Bowman also said that Crawford County is relatively poor. Median household income is $44,895. Statewide it is $56,811. Nationally it is $59,039.

The labor force is shrinking and there is a low labor force participation of 59 percent. Yet there is a relatively low unemployment rate of 3.4 percent. 

“Forty-one percent of our labor force is not actively working and there are many unfilled jobs,” Bowman said. “It’s a complicated issue, with government subsidies playing a part and also the problem of prospective employees trying to find a livable wage. In some areas, wages are rising because employers can’t fill jobs.”

Another challenge faced by the county is a loss of small businesses (empty storefronts and vacant commercial lots).

Bowman also pointed out that schools in the county have generally seen declining enrollments and increasing operational costs.

There are also record levels of children receiving free and subsidized lunch programs, nearing 60 percent, which Bowman says is another indicator of a poor county.

Bowman said that inadequate housing stock and failing farms also need to be addressed.

“We obviously got some work to do,” said Bowman regarding the county’s many challenges. “We’ve got good infrastructure but there is room for improvement. We also need to make our downtowns, the heartbeat of any community, robust again.”

He said that many residents say much of the county’s challenges have occurred due to a lack of focus, planning and strategy. Others mention it’s just because most people have grown complacent and accept the fact that this community is poor and will always be poor, or are subject to market dynamics. Yet, some people conclude that it’s due to a mindset of not wanting change, while others believe there’s a “good ol’ boy” mentality, real or perceived. And many simply don’t know what to do and are confused and afraid of the inevitable.

Bowman says the question is: Do we (you) want real change and measurable growth and prosperity?

If so, what can be done to influence these economic trends in a direction of improvement?

The solution, Bowman says, must begin by recognizing and openly discussing that there are serious economic issues that exist in Crawford County.  These issues require confronting by creating an action plan to effect real and permanent change based on developing trust relationships and a shared vision, immediately followed by open collaboration and working across governmental and private-sector networks and borders where every available asset is deployed and all who are concerned are heard and invited to participate.

One area Bowman said Driftless Development will be working on is how to attract prime (new) dollars to the greater Crawford County area. New dollars is money that is spent here by people living outside of the area. Neutral dollars is money spent by residents of the county and circulated within the county. Business development, which is very important, can also be considered neutral dollars, said Bowman. Bad dollars is when money is spent by residents outside of the market area.

“We need to find ways in which we can make our communities more attractive and grow businesses,” said Bowman. “We have a steep hill we have to climb but we need to have community development so we attract people and build a workforce. It’s about people recruitment as well as business recruitment.”

Bowman noted economic development has to be looked upon with a long-term view. “It can be a slow process,” he said. “But, we’ve got to try to be proactive, to stay focused, and be willing to be patient. It can be like turning a ship. Small adjustments can lead to significant change over time. We’ve got to work together.”

Bowman said Driftless Development and county residents will need to work beyond community borders, county borders and government borders and to trust each other.

“We need to celebrate wins in other communities,” he said. “Success in one community is success for all communities.”

Bowman said it would be good to review every 30 days, what was done in the past 30 days? What will be done in the next 30 days? He said significant change is a refinement process of finding out what works and what doesn’t. Anyone can get involved, he said, and it doesn’t have to be in a “big” way, maybe a person knows of something they can work on for an hour each month to help improve the economy in their community.

One thing Driftless Development will be working on is the creation of a small business center where prospective entrepreneurs can get help with their proposed start-up, including advice about possible financial options and the creation of a business plan.

Driftless Development eagerly accepts all feedback from area residents, according to Bowman. He said the main question for Driftless Development and all residents is, “Can we build this community into a vibrant community?”