Bob DeKoch says the frustration was palpable at the spring 2024 New North, Inc. board meeting. Then-UW Oshkosh Chancellor Andy Leavitt had asked for time on the agenda to discuss the challenges our region’s higher education institutions were staring down: declining funding, declining enrollment and national rhetoric that maligned both the work and the value colleges and universities provide.
UW-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander, Lakeshore College President Paul Carlsen and St. Norbert College President Laurie Joyner were among the higher education leaders who joined Leavitt to ask the 18-county economic development organization for help.
“They were making a pitch to the board that … the marketplace is not communicating the value of higher education in a way that inspires young people to make decisions to do four-year degrees, and even two-year degrees,” says DeKoch, who co-chairs New North Inc.’s marketing committee. “They [said] legislators don’t appreciate or understand the value that higher education brings and that business leaders in the area were not standing up for that fight.”
DeKoch saw the request as a challenge to his committee, which is made up of what he describes as “the best marketing minds in the region.”
For more than a year, DeKoch, his co-chair Donna Rippin and New North, Inc. VP Renee Torzala worked on the issue: Knowing that Northeast Wisconsin lags the national average for four-year degree attainment (18% compared to 21% nationwide), how can we tell the higher ed story to prospective college students and their parents? How can we help business leaders, whom we know believe strongly in the value of higher ed and need educated workers, to step up and tell the story in their own words?
In May, on the heels of the revelation that Wisconsin has continued to drop nationally in public funding for four-year higher education and now ranks 44th of 50 states, New North, Inc. convened a summit focused on the vital link between higher ed and workforce, featuring remarks from UW System President Jay Rothman and Titletown Tech Managing Partner Craig Dickman. The event set the table for the hard launch of New North’s latest marketing initiative June 5 at its annual summit.
“Growing Roots — Finding Wings: Learn and Thrive in Northeast Wisconsin” is a two-year campaign featuring testimonials from business leaders including Sachin Shivaram of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry, Bethany Skorik of Fincantieri Marine Group, Dennis DeLoye of Associated Bank and Laurie Butz of Capital Credit Union.
In her testimonial video, Butz shares the value of “blooming where you’re planted” and the quality of education she received at UW-Green Bay and UW Oshkosh.
“I found my wings in the New North. This is a market that has very, very competitive pay, exceptional benefits, and more than anything employers like us care about the people we employ,” Butz tells viewers.
Torzala says the region’s business community, colleges and universities have already demonstrated their desire to work together, pointing to the bevy of higher ed articulation agreements that have recently been put into place as well as the strong support for continuing education and tuition reimbursement offered by New North employers feeling the pinch of the skills gap.
A total of 10 higher education institutions are partnering on “Growing Roots – Finding Wings,” which includes a separate campaign and website landing page for each participating college and university. Their commitment to partnership, even when in some cases the institutions may be competing with one another for enrollment, proves the strong need for this effort, Torzala says.
“Several of the higher ed institutions mentioned in our discussions that they wanted to make sure this was a focus on the New North,” she says, “for the benefit of the New North and not an individual institution.”
Companies are also encouraged to share the materials and are invited to collaborate on the campaign. If executed well, Torzala says, it will serve not only to increase enrollment but also attract talent.
“We’re trying to show people why this is the best place to grow your roots and find your wings, and also encourage students to stick around and start their careers here in the New North, because we’re here to help you continue to learn and help you with your career path,” Torzala says.
DeKoch agrees.
“I describe it as an ecosystem of education and business connections that’s bigger than [others] around the country,” he says.
On the web: thenewnorth.com/growing-roots-finding-wings/
