2017 has been a busy year for WCMEDC. We are making some valuable waves in regional economic programming and are achieving our mission, one win at a time:
“Fulfilling our commitment to a dynamic, sustainable regional economy.”
Our top 3 efforts:
- Grant writing–We have secured or will receive in early 2018 the following grant funds and/or programming awards to help us do the work we do. This does NOT include the generous contributions made by our partner organizations (cities, counties, chambers):
- National Assn. of Realtors Singletrack pathways study grant: $15,000
- Cascade Chamber grant for Adventure biking marketing: $6,750
- Idaho Dept. of Commerce EDPro grant: $27,500
- Idaho Power Marketing Grant: $1,500
- Umpqua Bank Community Giving grant: $4,000
- City of McCall Match for ED Portal program: $5,000
- Cascade Medical Cluster Labor Micro Grant: $17,900
- Programming–We work closely with the Idaho Department of Labor to promote registered Apprenticeships at the local level, have spearheaded several career and technical education initiatives, are working with other nonprofits on creating more miles of pathways, support the West Central Mountains Housing Trust administratively, host the annual West Central Mountains Economic Summit, provided leadership in the final stages of the America’s Best Community contest, perform public relations outreach with local and regional media, assist start-up businesses, and created an economic development and education online portal for our constituents: portal.wcmedc.org.
- Business outreach–We engaged 113 businesses in 2017, on topics ranging from state and federal business retention/expansion resources to help with Marketing. Several companies tapped into Small Business Administration trainings on doing business with the Government, soft skills trainings and finding growth grants and financing. Others are looking into leveraging state of Idaho resources for tax incentives and grants, as well as Dept. of Labor Apprenticeship resources for training the workforce. We also work closely with cities and counties to identify and address policy challenges and opportunities.
In 2018, we will drill down on the following topics, to varying extents. Some we’ll execute programming for, others we’ll look for policy solutions or may assist partner organizations with capacity building.
- Broadband
- Pathways
- Workforce development/apprenticeships
- Recreation district
- Regional PR/marketing
- Housing strategy
- Open space levy
- Woody biomass
- Regional hospitality alliance
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on these or other topics, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
WCMEDC
208.398.3321