JULY 2019 BACC NEWSLETTER
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The Bay Area Community Council is the leading organization in engaging community leaders in understanding and shaping the future of the greater Green Bay area.
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President's Message
Dear friends of the BACC,
You and I have participated in too many conversations across the political spectrum that share the same theme over and over:
“Our national government is broken. All we hear from representatives of the Executive and Legislative branches are arguments, disparaging remarks and delayed legislation and implementation. Our broken immigration system is the most glaring example. Solutions are not even addressed. We’re stuck.”
Not only are words like these hard to hear, the underlying discouragement of people is even more difficult to see. Many of us have our own analysis of what’s wrong and even perhaps what is needed to get
things going again. But in the meantime, I believe that where we do continue to have
significant positive influence is right here, at the local level. Whether we are part of education,
business, local government or nonprofit entities, we know that we can help foster positive change
working closely with our co-workers, friends and neighbors. It is so encouraging to hear and
see such positive vibes from folks when we discuss, plan and work together in the greater
Green Bay. There is a lot of positive energy on all levels. We are able to create a positive future!
Thank you to all those who give of themselves in the office, the factory, our health care industry,
our schools, our various governmental entities and our human services. And a double thanks to
all the volunteers who quietly give of themselves day after day.
The members of Bay Area Community Council are committed to continue to support these
positive efforts. As a “deep think tank” we will bring forth insight and positive proposals to grow
as a community.
Paul Demuth
President
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JULY 11 BACC Board meeting
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The BACC Board of Directors met at St. Norbert College on July 11. Dave Wegge explained the formation of the signal teams and assigned members to various teams. The topics of the team are governance and civic culture, community of choice, health & wellness, pathways for success, and local economic transformation. Board members will scan for signals (events, choices, trends) within their category.
The BACC has applied to the Green Bay Packers Foundation for a grant to subsidize its fall 2019 Foresight Analysis training for 12-15 leaders in the Green Bay community. The BACC received word that its grant proposal to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, for capacity building, was not funded but the BACC hopes to apply again in October 2019.
The Board met one local leader who is considering joining the BACC Board.
Following the Board meeting, members joined its facilitator, internationally known futurist Garry Golden, via Webcast for its fourth installment in foresight analysis training.
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Know your BACC Director: John Katers
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Tell us a little bit about yourself—where you were raised, past and current professions and careers, how long you have lived in Brown County, and some of your favorite pass times
I was born in Heidelberg, Germany, but grew up in Green Bay and have spent almost my entire life here. My first job was with UW-Extension at the UW-Green Bay campus, where I worked as an industrial recycling specialist for the solid and hazardous waste education center (SHWEC). I then joined the faculty at UW-Green Bay as an Assistant Professor in 1999. After being promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and Professor in 2012, I became the founding Dean of the College of Science and Technology in 2016. With the addition of the Richard J. Resch School of Engineering, the College has now been renamed as the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology.
I enjoy bowling and golfing, as well as coaching baseball, although I have not had much time to do any of those things lately! I also enjoy watching the Brewers and Packers, with my couch and my seats at Lambeau Field not being very far apart!
Describe your relationship to the BACC—when did you start on the BACC, what are your hopes for the BACC, what personal gifts do you bring to the BACC mission?
I have been on the BACC board for about a year and am excited about the potential for the BACC to lead change in the community in an number of different areas. Personally, I am very interested in the environment and sustainability, as my Ph.D is in environmental engineering and I serve as chair of the Brown County Solid Waste Board. The community has made great strides in this area and has solid infrastructure in place for water, wastewater, and solid waste, which will serve the community well going forward.
What do you like most about life in Brown County?
Brown County offers a great quality of living and is an excellent place to raise a family. There are a wide range of economic and social opportunities available, without the traffic and other issues faced by larger communities. It is a place where you get to know your neighbors and still has the feel of a “big small town.” It is a place where one person can still make a difference and a group of people like those on the BACC can make a big difference.
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Applying foresight analysis to life in greater Green Bay
BACC Director
Bob Woessner
provides the sixth installation of a six month series by BACC directors connecting foresight analysis to life in our community
An essential step in the foresight analysis process is systematically searching for what futurist Garry Golden calls “signals.” A signal can be a news event, publication of a research study, a blog post by an expert in your area of interest or the announcement of a meeting or conference in that area.
Golden suggests using
Twitter and Google Alerts to stay abreast of developments of interest. Set up a
Diigo account so you can easily sort and file material as it becomes available, he urges.
While searching for signals is an important part of futuring, the process is not totally new. Many of you have kept paper files, tucking away news clippings, printouts from internet sources and other material that you believed might come in handy.
Thirty years ago, when I wrote editorials and columns for the
Press-Gazette, I had drawers full of such stuff. At the time, the PG had subscriptions to perhaps a score of state and national newspapers. The Associated Press and other news services provided much more material than could be printed.
I would take an afternoon every few weeks to stroll to the downtown library to canvass its collection of magazines. I made trip after trip to the newspaper’s morgue, a file of date-stamped stories. Over time, I filled shelves with reports and studies from think tanks, schools and governments. It was a valuable process because it kept me up to date on topics and provided a view of what was happening elsewhere that likely would have an eventual impact on Green Bay.
A valuable process, but time consuming and messy. I shredded newspapers, clipping articles and putting them in file folders. I ran up toner bills on copy machines making duplicates of what I could not clip. A time or two, I requisitioned more file cabinets and shelves.
The Internet – Twitter and Google alerts and cloud-storage applications such as Diigo – would have made the task of assembling and later accessing information much easier. More important, today’s technology would have enabled me to cast a bigger net, throw it farther in my bid to keep up and look ahead, and more effectively process my catch. Foresight analysis and the technology that enhances it came late for me. But it is here in time for you.
Favorite resources and news you can use
Recent news stories, articles, books, videos, Websites or venues of interest to the BACC supporters and newsletter readers, recommend by the BACC staff and directors. Also community events of interest to the BACC supporters
Poverty rates fell for children but rose for elders in 2017. The poverty rate for families with children fell from 12.0% to 10.1% between 2016 and 2017. This improvement appears to reflect a boost that families with children received from the economy, with parents possibly taking advantage of lower unemployment rates. Meanwhile, older Wisconsin residents (aged 65+), who are more likely to be out of the workforce, saw their poverty rates rise from 9.0% to 9.5% in 2017. This increase may in part be due to growing costs of living, including out-of-pocket medical expenses such as insurance premiums, co-payments for medical services, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and uninsured medical expenses that present a significant challenge for the low-income elderly.
Wello invites participation in Community Well-Being Survey
Wello's
Community Well-Being Survey
is now live! You know your health and well-being better than anyone else knows and work hard to achieve a good quality of life. That's why we need YOU, residents of Brown County ages 18+, to complete this short well-being survey to identify the most pressing problems affecting your well-being. The survey is available in English and Spanish, takes less than 10 minutes to complete and is anonymous. This data will in turn inform programs and services to address obstacles to being well and focus on investing in a thriving future for our kids, families and businesses.
6 pm-7 pm
July 25, August 15, August 29
Sponsored by Brown County Library, each Thursday night features a short walking tour and explanation of the historical and cultural influence of a given section of downtown Green Bay. Contact Dennis Jacobs, 920-448-4400, for more information.
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