Local community leaders attend Legislative Day
Several people from around the St. Croix Valley were among the 65 volunteers for Momentum West’s legislative advocacy event in Madison on Feb. 16.
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Several people from around the St. Croix Valley were among the 65 volunteers for Momentum West’s legislative advocacy event in Madison on Feb. 16.
They included Angela Popenhagen (Stevens Engineers), Kim Heinemann (Hudson Area Chamber of Commerce), Ryan Sicard (Village of Somerset and St. Croix EDC), Bill Berndt (Riverwood Consulting), Roger Humphrey (Equity Marketing Group and St. Croix EDC), Trudy Popenhagen (Xcel Energy and Polk County EDC), Russ Korpela (New Richmond Area Chamber of Commerce), Terry McKay (ERA Muske Realty), Patti Robertson (WESTconsin Credit Union and St. Croix EDC), Rosanne Bump (River Falls Area Chamber of Commerce), Noel Eggebraaten (Eggebraaten Associates and St. Croix EDC), Chancellor Dean Van Galen (University of Wisconsin-River Falls), Brian McQuade (B-Wireless of River Falls), Blake Fry (UW-River Falls), Marian Furlong (Hudson Hospital and St. Croix EDC), Cedric Ellingson (Bo’s ‘n Mine and River Falls Chamber) and Bill Rubin (St. Croix EDC).
The volunteers participated in several appointments with state senators, representatives or their respective staff. Legislative priorities were identified in late 2009 and outlined in a booklet during the appointments. The issues were grouped according to major themes like economic development, education, transportation, agriculture and tax code matters.
The elected officials also received feedback on the passage of legislation from the 2009 session that was of benefit to west central and northwest Wisconsin, including enhancements to Act 255, the consolidation of the state’s tax credit programs, and state bonding authority for major interstate bridge projects.
Many of the volunteers boarded a coach bus in Hudson and departed by 6 a.m. Additional people were picked up in Eau Claire before arriving in Madison at 10 a.m. Team assignments were given along with overviews on the issues. Following lunch, the teams went on appointments from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Secretary of Commerce Richard Leinenkugel spoke to the group at 4 p.m. and a reception was held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. The coach bus arrived in Hudson just before 11 p.m.
Plans are underway for another legislative advocacy event in 2011 under the direction of Momentum West.
Momentum West is a 10-county external marketing and collaborative economic development organization in west central and northwest Wisconsin. In addition to St. Croix, the counties aligned with Momentum West are Barron, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk and Rusk.
Tags: local government, business, wisconsin, chamber
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