Strategic Partners | | Wisconsin Downtown Action Council

A key part of WDAC’s mission is to collaborate with other organizations to broaden the support and resources available to Wisconsin downtowns. In October 2008, WDAC convened the first annual Strategic Partners Summit. The outcome of this Summit was a pledge to:

Promote greater awareness between partner organizations about what each is doing to support Wisconsin downtowns.
Identify opportunities to work together such as sharing information, joint programming and improved communication between partner organizations.
Identify and collaborate on specific projects that will assist downtown revitalization goals.

The WDAC Downtown Partners will meet annually to review accomplishments and identify new collaborative projects. Notes from the last summit are available here for review.

The following summary includes a list of the WDAC Downtown Partners and a description of each partner organization. WDAC intends to expand on this collaboration by identifying and recruiting other downtown-supporting organizations to become part of the WDAC Downtown Partners.

Wisconsin Main Street Program
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Wisconsin Main Street, housed in the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, is a comprehensive revitalization program designed to promote the historic and economic redevelopment of traditional business districts in Wisconsin using the Four Point Approach TM developed by the National Trust Main Street Center. The Main Street Program was established in 1987 to encourage and support the revitalization of downtowns in Wisconsin communities. Wisconsin Mainstreet communities receive technical support and training needed to restore their Main Streets to centers of community activity and commerce. Currently, the staff is working in 36 rural communities and urban neighborhoods. The results of their efforts have been impressive. Since 1988, more than $1 billion has been invested by the private and public sectors creating more than 16,000 new jobs and more than 5,000 buildings have been rehabilitated.

For more information about the program, check out our website at wedc.org/mainstreet

UW-Extension
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Through its network of county-based “Community Resource Development” educators, the University of Wisconsin-Extension has an extensive history of helping Wisconsin communities with various aspects of downtown revitalization. Much of this educational work focuses on building organizational capacity through visioning, strategic planning and public engagement processes but also addresses more technical aspects such as market analysis and Business Improvement District (BID) development. UW-Extension was named Wisconsin’s “Outstanding Downtown Development Organization” by the Wisconsin Downtown Action Council (WDAC) in 1999. UW-Extension partners with the WDAC and the Wisconsin Main Street Program in delivering the successful “Revitalization Wisconsin’s Downtowns” webinar series.

For more information about UW-Extension’s downtown revitalization resources or to contact your county UW-Extension Community Resource Development Educator use the following links:

www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/downtowns/index.cfm

www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/

1000 Friends of Wisconsin
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1000 Friends of Wisconsin was founded in 1996 by a diverse group of academics, conservationists, lawyers, elected officials, businesspeople – to become the citizens’ voice for sound land use planning. The goal was to protect Wisconsin’s quality of life, natural resources and cultural heritage from the effects of sprawl and uncontrolled growth.

In the early days, 1000 Friends started an outreach program to introduce the idea of traditional neighborhoods and sound land use planning. We then developed a land use agenda to present to the legislature. In 1999, the 1000 Friends initiative, called Smart Growth for Wisconsin, was introduced in the legislature. The far reaching legislation required every Wisconsin community that makes land uses decisions to have an adopted comprehensive plan by 2010 – and it required those communities to involve the public in the development of that plan

This historic land use legislation passed in late 1999 thanks to a strong grass roots movement. With almost 1700 members in 250 communities around Wisconsin, 1000 Friends was the catalyst behind the legislation. During this period, our members voiced their strong support by calling, writing, emailing and visiting their elected officials at crucial moments. Our staff helped write the Smart Growth law, built a coalition behind the legislation and lobbied the legislature for Smart Growth.

1999 was a decade ago. The deadline for communities to have adopted a comprehensive plan – 2010 – is upon us. Almost 90% of the communities that are required to develop comprehensive plans have completed their plans. Over 300 additional communities not required to complete plans have chosen to do plans.

Today, 1000 Friends is assisting communities with the implementation of their plans and helping citizens make sure elected officials follow the plans. Our staff continues to focus on education and advocacy, to engage citizens in fresh conversations about Wisconsin’s future, and how to make sure it’s a future we all want. We seek to enhance the quality of life we enjoy in Wisconsin, with beautiful natural areas, traditional working landscapes, good transportation options and vibrant, livable communities for urban and rural residents alike.

Arts Wisconsin
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Arts Wisconsin is Wisconsin’s arts service, advocacy and development organization.Arts Wisconsin puts the arts at the center of life and learning throughout the state by:

Raising awareness of the value of the arts in Wisconsin
Advocating for increased statewide public and private investment in the arts and arts education
Keeping Wisconsin citizens creatively and culturally informed and involved
Providing tools, teaching and training to Wisconsin’s arts industry, to strengthen and sustain their work on the local level.

Arts Wisconsin’s vision is that everyone, everywhere in Wisconsin should have the opportunity to experience and participate in the arts, and that the arts help build and sustain healthy, vibrant communities throughout the state. Arts Wisconsin’s mission, to advocate, communicate and educate on behalf of the arts, arts education and creative economy in Wisconsin, connects the organization with, and helps serve, the wide-ranging, diverse and creative constituency of people, organizations and communities making the arts come alive in every corner of Wisconsin. Programs and services include advocacy and public policy, promotion and visibility, professional development, technical assistance, and leadership training, information and research, and strategic partnerships and networks for the arts.

Arts Wisconsin received the 2004 Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts from the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts in 2004.

Learn more about Arts Wisconsin at www.artswisconsin.org

Association of Wisconsin Downtown Business Improvement Districts

Association of Wisconsin Business Improvement Districts
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The state of Wisconsin is one of the country’s leaders in BID establishment. The association of BIDs will strive to improve communication, networking and learning between BIDs. The association offers a consolidated voice on issues challenging BID operation. The association’s goal is to inform, educate, and advocate on behalf of all BIDs by:

disseminating information
sharing resources and expertise among its member districts
assisting member districts in their development
supporting BIDs in their physical, social, and economic environments
being a collective voice to propose and advocate for initiative/legislation that support the viability of all BIDs
provide an atmosphere that is conducive to economic and business development
provide a general support for BID

The association will accomplish these goals through producing a quarterly newsletter, co-sponsorship of the annual statewide BID Seminar and developing effective governmental relationships that influence public policy.

International Council of Shopping Centers
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Founded in 1957, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its 75,000 members in the U.S., Canada and more than 80 other countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, lenders, retailers and other professionals as well as academics and public officials. As the global industry trade association, ICSC links with more than 25 national and regional shopping center councils throughout the world. Wisconsin ICSC membership includes 605 individuals and organizations.

The principal aims of ICSC are to advance the development of the shopping center industry and to establish the individual shopping center as a major institution in the community through:

Promoting the role of shopping centers in the marketing of consumer goods and services
Establishing codes of fair business ethics and dealings with retailers and consumers and with government and public agencies.
Encouraging research into the architecture and design of shopping centers and into the development of improved management and maintenance methods.
Collecting and disseminating information among members pertaining to techniques of profitable operation, which can serve to improve the individual shopping center and the industry.
Study economic, marketing and promotional conditions affecting the shopping center industry.
Promoting the prestige and standing of members as reputable specialists in the field of shopping center development and management.

Learn more about the International Council of Shopping Centers at www.icsc.org/index.php

Wisconsin Chapter of the American Planning Association
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The Wisconsin Chapter of the American Planning Association aims to provide the vision and leadership that fosters better planning in Wisconsin through its network of over 660 practicing planners, citizens, and elected officials committed to urban, suburban, rural, and regional planning.

WAPA offers a wide spectrum of benefits to its members including an annual conference, a quarterly newsletter, professional development, and networking to advance planning in Wisconsin.

For more information, visit www.wisconsinplanners.org

Wisconsin Economic Development Association
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WEDA is Wisconsin’s Voice for Economic Development. Our statewide association is a 450+ member organization whose primary objective is to increase the effectiveness of individuals involved in the practice of economic development in Wisconsin by encouraging cooperation, exchange of information and promotion of professional skills. With a proactive board and involved membership support, we will continue to advance the professionalism of Wisconsin’s economic development efforts. WEDA provides education, communication and legislative action services as it seeks to foster economic development initiatives in the State of Wisconsin while continually striving to develop the professional practice of economic development

For more information, visit our web site at www.weda.org

Wisconsin Historical Society
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Wisconsin Historical Society was founded in 1846, two years before Wisconsin became the 30th state, and it ranks as one of the largest, most active, and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, it receives about 60 percent of its funding from the state of Wisconsin. The other 40 percent comes from membership fees, admission fees, gifts, trust funds and grants. A 36-member Board of Curators governs the Society.
Our Mission
The Society helps people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories.
For more information, visit our web site at www.wisconsinhistory.org

Wisconsin Main Street Alliance
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation National Main Street Center created the Main Street approach to downtown revitalization in 1980. During 1987 the Wisconsin Department of Commerce established the WI Main Street Program. The Wisconsin Main Street Alliance (WMSA) was formed in 2005 in an effort to maintain and enhance the WI Main Street Program and Wisconsin Main Street Communities. The WMSA mission is to enhance the visibility and successes of the Main Street Programs in Wisconsin through resource development and education. The primary purpose of the Alliance is to enhance the Main Street Program in collaboration with the Wisconsin Main Street Program, the National Trust Main Street Center and other strategic partners in Wisconsin economic development . In furtherance of this purpose, the organization shall focus on the enhancement of image, education, funding and community assistance.

For more information use the following link: www.wimainstalliance.org

Wisconsin Rural Partners, Inc.
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Wisconsin Rural Partners, Inc. is a statewide organization that works to build leadership, networks and voice for rural areas of the state. A non-profit corporation, WRP serves as Wisconsin’s State Rural Development Council as recognized by the United State Department of Agriculture and authorized in the Farm Bill. The organization serves downtowns through an array or programs that include:

Annual Top Rural Development Initiative awards, that recognize best practices and excellence, including some great downtown projects
Community Progress Teams – interdisciplinary teams of experts and rural leaders that assist communities and downtown areas by assessing assets and needs and assisting communities in developing, implementing and evaluation their own economic and social progress
Rural People, Rural Policy – a national initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation that can help downtowns join networks focused on policy development around issues such as entrepreneurship and small business, broadband deployment and transportation
Discover Your Hometown Treasure – a community development philanthropy program that helps communities establish endowments that can provide perpetual resources for downtown improvements
Wisconsin Rural Summit and Online Resource Directory – helping identify the needs of rural communities and provide information on successful work of smaller downtown areas.

For more information use the following link: www.wirural.org