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City of Portage, Wisconsin

Summary of Research and Analysis March 20, 2012

Voltedge, Inc. dba Ady Voltedge | 613 Williamson Street, Suite 201 | Madison WI 53703 | 608.663.9218 | AdyVoltedge.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

Objectives and Approach --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2

Ratings on Locational Factors---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

Summary of Primary Research------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13

Stakeholder Input------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14

Business Owners/Major Employers Focus Group------------------------------------------------------14

Retail Business Owners/Downtown Stakeholders Focus Group------------------------------------16

Major Employer Interviews------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18

Key Constituency Input----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20

Evaluation of Available Property ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------21

Target Industry Analysis---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25

Preliminary Target Industry Analysis-----------------------------------------------------------------------25

Labor Match -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------26

Retail Market Analysis-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------27

Portage Retail Data---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------27

Recommended Positioning for Portage, WI--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------32

Marketing Plan for Portage, WI------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------34

Appendix A: Stakeholder Responses: Business Owners/Major Employers ---------------------------------------------35

Appendix B: Stakeholder Responses: Retail Business Owners/Downtown Stakeholders---------------------------43

Appendix C: Available Property Worksheets-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------51



Voltedge, Inc. dba Ady Voltedge | 613 Williamson Street, Suite 201 | Madison WI 53703 | 608.663.9218 | AdyVoltedge.com Page 1 of 74

BACKGROUND The City of Portage is geographically located on a narrow strip of land separating the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers in south central Wisconsin. It is the county seat for Columbia County. While having a population of only 10,200, Portage has four open TIF districts, is a Main Street Community, has a downtown BID, and supports the Columbia County Economic Development Corporation. It recently won a significant grant from the EDA which it used to build the Portage Enterprise Center on the campus of the new industrial park. The Portage Enterprise Center will be used to give light manufacturing businesses a customizable facility in which to grow. Despite these coordinated efforts, the City is faced with numerous challenges. One of these is to increase the amount of development at the City’s Industrial Park. Since the City created the Business Park in 2004 with the purchase of 70 acres of land and subsequent infrastructure improvements, the City’s total investment is approaching $2 million. To date, only one private investment has occurred. A second challenge is that the property value of Portage’s downtown as represented by the BID has declined by 2% since 2007. The number of vacant stores has increased. The three-block area of West Cook Street through the heart of downtown has nine vacant storefronts. The incremental value of TIF District #6, created in 2008, which incorporates the downtown, has a negative value of $1,693,700. While the City has been patient and still believes strongly in its economic development efforts, it has retained Ady Voltedge for assistance in developing and implementing a marketing plan for spurring investment and job growth.




OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH The City of Portage retained Ady Voltedge to:

Assess the City’s environment, assets, and its economic development efforts

Develop recommendations for industries to target for both the downtown business district and for the city’s Business Park

Propose benchmarks for evaluating the success of the plan

Develop marketing materials and an implementation plan

Based on the City’s objectives, Ady Voltedge designed a customized approach to this project based on the following principles:

The City of Portage and the opportunities and challenges it faces are unique, and therefore, so should be the approach to develop the plan for creating investment and jobs.

The City of Portage has shown by its actions over a long period of time that it is committed to economic development and has worked hard to promote stakeholder support and the coordination among the various economic development entities.

The City of Portage has done a significant amount of planning and is ready for implementation.




RATINGS ON LOCATIONAL FACTORS The site selection process is fairly uniform among most site selection firms. Essentially they start with understanding the client’s business objectives in wanting to relocate or expand. Examples might be to be closer to customers, be closer to suppliers, consolidate operations, to merge operations of an acquired firm, and so forth. The consultant will also ascertain the scope of the new operation in terms of the desired size and type of the new facility, required access to transportation, number and type of employees expected to be hired, longer-term growth plans, and so forth. From this vantage point, the site selector will methodically identify potential locations and eliminate those with the greatest advantages and the fewest disadvantages. Ultimately, a “short list” of locations will be visited, specific properties evaluated, and a location selected. In terms of the community looking to attract new businesses, it is helpful to not only understand the general process, but to understand how the community rates on key locational criteria. These criteria are the baseline factors that most consultants use most of the time for their initial screening. Of course, specific projects will usually have additional criteria unique to that particular project, but the baseline locational criteria are fairly stable. In a nutshell, these criteria include four categories of factors, as shown below.

Categories of Locational Criteria

and Sample Criteria

Market

Characteristics Operating Costs Operating Conditions Quality of Place

Demographics (Population Size and Growth, Age Cohorts, Educational Attainment, Diversity, etc.)

Transportation Assets: Rail, Highway, Port, Airport

Proximity to Customer Base/Consumer Markets

Proximity to Raw Materials/Suppliers

Access to Natural Resources (Water, Agricultural Commodities, etc.)

Labor

Utilities o Electric o Gas o Water o Sewer o Telecomm.

Occupancy Costs

Transportation

Business Climate (state and local)

Labor Management Relations

Workforce Productivity

Electric Reliability

Gas Reliability

Wastewater Treatment Capacity

Vocational Education/Training Resources

Access to Major College/University

Local Economic Development Factors

Access to and Quality of K-12 Schools

Access to and Quality of Healthcare

Recreational and Cultural Activities

Crime Levels

Cost of Living

Cost of Housing

Public Transportation

Availability and Diversity of Housing

Nightlife and Restaurants

General Appearance of Community

Etc.




Ady Voltedge evaluated Portage/Columbia County on each of the key locational criteria relative to the State of Wisconsin, the Madison MSA and the U.S. as a whole to get an understanding of the City’s relative advantages and disadvantages. We supplemented desk research with:

Stakeholder Input sessions

Business Owners/Employers

Downtown Retail Businesses

Major Employer Interviews

Key Constituency Interviews (utilities, technical college, etc.)

Property Evaluation

Retail Market Analysis




Locational Criteria

Rating of Portage, WI on Market Characteristics

Demographic Factors Rating Comments

Population Size and Growth

Portage’s population of 10,324 has grown at a rate of 6.1% over the past 10 years, which is similar to Wisconsin’s rate of growth, but lower than that of the Madison MSA.

Labor Force Size and Growth

The labor force of 31,142 in Columbia County has gotten smaller (-1.7%) in comparison to the growing rates of the Madison MSA and the national average.

Age of Population

27.59% of Columbia County’s population is in the age cohort of 25 to 44, which is larger than the same cohort in the rest of the Madison MSA as well as the rest of Wisconsin.

Educational Attainment

Portage has a lower rate of high school (87.74%), 2-year college (8.39%) and 4-year college graduates (12.39%) as well as a lower number of graduate degree holders (5.13%) than Columbia County and the Madison MSA.

Ethnic/Racial Diversity

Portage is predominantly Caucasian (84.70%) with a higher percentage of blacks (5.20%) and Asians (4.70%) than the rest of Columbia County.

LEGEND

Portage is at an advantage.

Portage is at a net neutral

position.

Portage is at a disadvantage.





Transportation Factors Rating Comments

Rail

Canadian Pacific and Amtrak have lines going through Portage. Most large employers we interviewed were predominantly transporting via truck, however.

Highway

Interstates 39 and 90/94 run outside the city. State Highways 33 and 16 go through the city as well as US Highway 51. Highway access is seen as one of Portage’s key assets.

Port

The nearest port is located in Milwaukee.

Airport

There is a municipal airport located in Portage, and the closest regional airport is located in Madison.





Other Factors Rating Comments

Proximity to customers/consumer markets

Portage is located roughly 30 minutes from Madison, two hours from Milwaukee, three hours from Chicago and four hours from Minneapolis. Portage is roughly an 8 hour drive from all of those metropolitan areas as well as Detroit, Indianapolis and Kansas City, equaling a population of 22,711,876 people.

Access to Raw Materials

Portage is proximal to sand, which are used in foundry operations and in window manufacturing.

Natural Resources

Located in between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers and close to the Baraboo Bluffs, Portage is fortunate enough to be in close proximity to a variety of natural resources, including water.




Operating Costs

Rating of Portage, WI on Operating Costs

Operating Cost Factors Rating Comments

Labor Costs

Labor costs are competitive within the region, and labor availability is generally considered good across most occupations.

Utility Costs – Electric

Many of Portage’s employers are among the largest electricity users in Alliant Energy’s network; costs are moderate to high relative to other parts of the Midwest.

Utility Costs - Gas

Employers rated gas costs as about average.

Utility Costs – Water

In line with the region based on a study conducted in recent years.

Transportation Costs

Portage has access to many haulers and the interstate highway system, with distribution centers elsewhere in the region.

Business Climate-State Rating Comments

Workers Compensation Costs

Wisconsin ranked 33rd according to a 2010 study by the State of Oregon. Its rate of $2.21 per $100 in payroll was near the middle of all states; the lowest is North Dakota at $1.02 and the highest is Montana at $3.33.

Unemployment Insurance Costs

Wisconsin ranked 21st out of 50 in Unemployment Insurance Tax Rate according to the 2012 Tax Foundation State Business Climate Index Study.

Corporate Insurance Taxes

Wisconsin ranked 32nd out of 50 in Corporate Tax rate according to the 2012 Tax Foundation State Business Climate Index Study.

Personal Income Taxes

Wisconsin ranked 45th out of 50 in Personal Income Tax rate according to the 2012 Tax Foundation State Business Climate Index Study.

State Incentives

The new Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has developed a number of new programs and standards for providing incentives for economic development projects. They have been very active in providing funding but it is too early to benchmark total dollars against other states.




State Regulatory Environment

The 2011 Forbes “Best States for Business Study” ranked Wisconsin 35th for Regulatory Environment. Their ranking considered a number of metrics influenced by the government such as tax incentives, economic development efforts, government debt, tort liability, right to work status and transportation infrastructure.

Local Business Climate Rating Comments

Local Regulatory Environment (compared to region)

Employers noted, unaided, several challenges with local regulations, such as fire suppression, liquor licenses, and permitting.

Local Incentives (compared to region)

The City uses TIF as an economic development tool and the County has a revolving loan fund. The incubator offers access to an in-house consultant to start-up businesses.

Several businesses noted the City’s involvement in helping them gain CDBG funding over the years.

Local Property Taxes

(compared to region)

Property tax rates in Portage are slightly below the average tax rate for cities in Wisconsin.

Ease of Doing Business

Businesses in both focus groups and in the one-on-one interviews rated Portage as hard to work with.

“The City is seen as a rule enforcer, not a facilitator to get things done.”

“Perception as barriers and red tape to jump through – saying ‘no’ to proposals.”

“Zoning codes aren’t strong and/or enforced. The City Council is not forward-looking, too much cronyism.”

“Poor/lack of leadership at City- pushing something that is not in the best interests of the City as a whole.”

“Our contacts with the City have been when there is a problem.”




Operating Conditions

Rating of Portage, WI on Operating Conditions

Operating Conditions Factors

Rating Comments

Labor - Management Relations

Despite Wisconsin’s perception as a highly unionized state, most large employers noted good relationships with unions.

Workforce Productivity

Employers noted the positive work ethic and high productivity among their employees, including relative to sister plants in other locations.

Electric Reliability

Several larger electricity users are on the peak program, which interrupts their service on high-usage days. Normal reliability is excellent though, with substations nearby.

Gas Reliability

There are two stations that feed Portage and either one have the capacity to fulfill Portage’s gas needs.

Wastewater Treatment Capacity

Portage has excess well capacity and storage including four wells and three elevated water storage tanks with about 1.75 million gallons capacity. The city-wide max capacity is nine million gallons/day, and the average daily usage is around one million gallons. The Waste Water Plant is 28 years old, but was upgraded two years ago.

Vocational Education/Training Resources

While MATC has a campus in Portage, employers view its offerings as too limited and state they go to Truax or UW-Baraboo instead.

Access to Major College/University

UW-Madison, a major research university, is only thirty miles away. Upper Iowa University, Herzing University, ITT Tech, and Edgewood College are also nearby in Madison.




Local Economic Development Factors

Rating Comments

Level of Professional Staff, Funding Levels, Leadership Support

The City does not have a dedicated economic development staff. The City Administrator leads efforts, as directed by the Mayor and City Council.

Presence of Public-Private Partnership

The CDA was created by the City under City statutes. It does not have any private funding currently. The chamber and other entities do have private funding.

Cooperation and Coordination of E.D. Activity Between Organizations

The Columbia County EDC participates actively in regional (Thrive) activities, but Thrive’s focus has not been on business attraction. Local groups (BID, Main Street, Chamber, etc.) have more turnover than most.

Support for E.D In The Community

On the one hand, business owners were very pleasantly surprised to be asked to participate in this project. At the same time, they were skeptical that action would be taken, based on past experiences.

Availability of Land

The City has some industrial land available, including shovel-ready parcels.

Local Land Use Support for Development

There is support for development of land, but a lack of incoming businesses.




Quality of Life Factors

Rating of Portage, WI on Quality of Life Factors

Operating Conditions Factors

Rating Comments

General Appearance of Community

Parts of the City look very presentable; however, the overall impression is an aged infrastructure, buildings and housing.

K-12 Schools – Access to and Quality of

The Portage School District is viewed as one of the strongest in the region per employers.

Healthcare – Access to and Quality of

It is the home of Divine Savior Healthcare, with 162 beds and 13 specialty areas.

Recreational and Cultural Activities

With Cascade Mountain, the Wisconsin River and Lake Wisconsin located near Portage, there are a number of recreational activities. Attractions such as the Surgeons Quarters, the Indian Agency House and the other registered historic places represent some of the cultural activities that are available.

Crime Levels

Portage has crime levels that are higher than the United States for both violent crime and property crime. Employers note that some young people seem to have little else to do than use drugs and cause property crimes.

Cost of Living

Portage has a lower cost of living (95 based on a US average of 100) in comparison to the rest of Columbia County and the Madison MSA.

Cost of Housing

Median home costs of $123,900 in Portage are lower than the median home costs for Columbia County, the Madison MSA and the rest of Wisconsin, but new housing stock is weak, much of the City’s housing is rental, and many white collar workers live outside the city limits.

Public Transportation

Taxi and shuttle service is available to those living in Portage. Our interviews found that there is a desire for a bike path.

Availability and Diversity of Housing

Portage has a lower home ownership rate (57.23%) than the rest of Columbia County. This was concern that was reflected in our interviews.

Nightlife and Restaurants

There are a number of bars in Portage, but people flock to Wisconsin Dells or Madison for a more active nightlife scene. Many employers noted that they do not entertain visiting customers in Portage, nor do they put them up in the Portage Best Western. Instead, they recommend Madison or Wisconsin Dells.




SUMMARY OF PRIMARY RESEARCH To supplement our desk research, we spent a considerable amount of time in the field gathering input from employers, civic leaders, stakeholders, and site selectors. A summary of the findings follow.

Stakeholder Input Sessions

o Business Owners/Major Employers

o Retail Business Owners/Downtown Stakeholders


Key Constituency Interviews

Evaluation of Available Properties




Business Owners/Major Employers Focus Group On February 21, 2012, Janet Ady of Ady Voltedge led a stakeholder input session and focus group consisting of local business owners. A summary of the discussions can be found below, and the complete verbatim responses can be found in Appendix A of this document.


Company Name Title

Penda Corporation Kathleen Cromey Vice President, Corporate Services

Encapsys Brian Frost Plant Manager

TriEnda Shelly Karuppiah Director of Human Resources

Portage Molding & Casting Ken Greip Vice President

Flexible Foam Mike McVicker Vice President

Key Themes History/Downtown

Portage has a rural, small town feel that is welcoming to people and there are a number of outdoor activities

available in the area.

Portage is rich in history and there a lot of “cool things” stemming from that history. However, along with

that history comes the perception of the City being old, run down and behind the times. It is also viewed as

being “not well kept, historic value not seen in architecture of downtown”.

The canal, part of Portage’s history, no longer has the nostalgia that it used to and would be better used as

a bike path.

Parking, red lights and one-way streets are all issues with the traffic pattern downtown.

Transportation/Location

Portage has an advantage since it is located near the interstate system and other highways as well as being

located roughly halfway between Minneapolis and Chicago. Based on this location, business owners feel

that Portage has the opportunity to be better than it is currently. This can be done by taking advantage of

the roadways and becoming a logistics/distribution hub.




Education/Training

Middle managers with 4-year degrees are hard to find in the area and must be recruited through colleges

and universities rather than locally.

Technical training opportunities should be increased since some employment skills such are lacking.

Perceptions of Portage

There is the perception of the quality of life in Portage being negative – this is due to a lack of housing

options, kids hanging out on the street corners and a lack of access to the arts and other cultural amenities.

Another perception the City has is having “poor or lack of leadership”. There is also the belief that Portage needs to “remove the roadblocks and allow growth thinking”.




Retail Business Owners/Downtown Stakeholders Focus Group As part of the downtown retail assessment, Janet Ady led another stakeholder input session and focus group consisting of retail owners and other stakeholders. A summary of the responses can be found below and complete verbatim responses can be found in Appendix D of this document.

Company Interviewee Name

ACE Hardware John Bulgrin

Cascade Mountain Rob Walz

Chamber of Commerce Marianne Hanson

Crawford Oil and Propane Jon Crawford

Divine Savior Healthcare Mike Decker

Main Street Portage Gil Meisgeier

Pierce’s Marketplace Eric Erickson

Portage Lumber Dennis Dorn

Portage Lumber Ron Dorn

Portage Theatres Jeremy Rusch

Portage Theatres Mary Rusch

Prairie Flower Beads Art and Rita Bricert

Schultz Small Engine Don Schultz

Wilz Drug Larry Wilz

Key Themes History/Downtown

Portage has a historic background, which leads to opportunities for both tourism and recreation.

Downtown Portage has a lot of opportunity for retail development and growth due to the number of empty storefronts. The downtown can be used to serve both local customers as well as brining people from outside the area.

Other issues affecting the downtown include people going to Madison, Baraboo and Wisconsin Dells to shop, stores not being open during the evening and/or on weekends, and too many renters of buildings compared to owners. One participant said “Buy local is fine, but you still have to offer a value proposition to customers.”

Another issue with Portage’s retail market is that there is a perceived fear of new businesses taking out local businesses.

More downtown activity is desired, but truck traffic has become an issue.




Transportation/Location

The interstate system can be utilized to boost businesses, especially higher-end restaurants.

The crossroads of highways and the railroad was identified as a way to provide access to Portage’s retail, tourism and recreation markets.

A bike path was suggested, linking the downtown and south side of town to the north side.

City Leadership

Support groups in Portage as well as the city government are viewed as “revolving doors”, and “current mayor great but stability is problem”. The City “is seen as a rule enforcer, not a facilitator to get things done” which is believed to be the cause of many frustrations in regards to progressing. There is also the belief

that there is “an inability to act and change with trends”.






Company Name Title

AMPI Don Weideman Plant Manager

Cascade Mountain Rob Walz Owner and GM

Penda Corporation Kathy Cromey Vice President

Portage Castings & Mold Ken Griep Vice President

Portage Plastics Kevin Putnam Vice President - Operations

StaCare Steve Aldridge Consulting Executive

Walmart Kathy Doucey Store Manager

Key Themes From Business Owner/Employer Interviews Employees and Facilities

Most hourly workers come from anywhere around the area such as Pardeeville, Montello, Baraboo, Fox Lake, and Dalton but most of the salary and/or management workers come from closer to Madison.

People further south than Poynette or Lodi go south for work instead of going north.

Employers have to hire many workers just to keep a small number of them. Example = hire ten to keep two. Educational Institutions

K-12 schools are good, but MATC doesn’t offer courses that are pertinent to most of the employers. The campuses in Madison or even UW-Baraboo are more relevant. Employers aren’t sure of what they really do offer.

Perceptions of Leadership

There is a perception among many executives that the City can’t close the deal on a lot of new projects such as Kohl’s or UPS. One participant said they “heard they said ‘no’ to Kohl’s” and another said “Portage missed the boat by not getting UPS here.”

Many people have the desire to change the way things are in Portage, but there are a lot of “revolving doors” in organizations looking to improve the City. Along with this comes the perception that “Portage has to be one of the most closed-minded, good old boys’ clubs I have ever seen.”




Downtown

Attracting businesses to downtown and keeping them there has been difficult. Housing

There are too many rental properties and not enough higher-end housing to attract certain families to stay. Crime

No serious crime problems, but there is a lot of petty crimes and there seems to be increasing drug use. Transportation

The nearby interstate system and state highways are a major asset, but they also result in issues such as congested traffic downtown primarily due to trucks. A bypass would be helpful.

Portage has a favorable location, located roughly between Minneapolis and Chicago.

Airport could be used better and there have been stories about filling the space with industrial sites. Competition

The city has to face with retail and tourism competition from nearby areas such as Wisconsin Dells, Baraboo and Madison.

Some owners also noted that it is hard to host visiting clients in Portage because there isn’t many adequate lodging or dining opportunities.

History

Portage is deeply connected with history, and it is something that the City can and should be a marketing advantage.




Key Constituency Input

Key Constituency Interviews

Name Organization Capacity

Bruce Kepner, Mark Meierdirk

Alliant Energy Provided information on electrical rates, capacity and reliability.

Terry Kucera Frontier Communications Frontier provided the wiring infrastructure for the incubator building in the Industrial Park.

Bob Redelings City of Portage As the Public Works Director, he provided us with information regarding water and sewer capacity and reliability.




EVALUATION OF AVAILABLE PROPERTIES We looked very closely at available properties as well; this included available buildings as well as potential industrial sites. As Bob Ady says, “If you don’t have any property, you have nothing to sell to business attraction prospects.” He followed up with the City of Portage to get baseline comparable data on each property. A summary of the properties and his comments is shown on the following page. All of the completed forms are included in Appendix C.

The City has valuable shovel-ready property in its Industrial Park that is ready now. It should next turn its attention to getting the 90 acres where the Airport is located now converted to additional industrial area. An additional 260 acres, which needs further attention to get more development ready, holds significant promise as well.

Portage, WI Progress Report



Priority Name Size Location Site Form Status Comments/Next Steps Bob Ady Comments

1 Portage

Industrial Park

48.4 acres

STH 16, Kutzke Road, Boeck Road

Well done.

Ready-to-go Property. Owned by city. Priority #1.

Would put virtual buildings

and proposed infrastructure on site plan

1. Show map of acreage with Enterprise Center building acreage carved out of site

2. Transportation-Railway: CP Rail at south boundary

3. Highway-Distance: I-39 0.74 miles

4. Utilities-Electric Power: Show distance to nearest substation at 2330 W. Wisconsin Street

5. Additional Information: Should enclose topo, site layout with easements, utility layout and recent aerial photos. No need to send environmental assessment.





2 Portage Airport

90 +/-

CTH CX, Silver Lake Drive and Airport Road

Well done

Must clear obstacles to development:

Receive FAA approval to terminate

Receive military approval to terminate

Review impact on private aircraft

Demolish unsightly and unusable buildings fronting on Silver Lake Drive

Some work to be done. Will be worth the effort. Owned by city. Level with all utilities nearby. With power lines and I-39 in the distance and jet travel, airport is in a time warp.

1. Show map of acreage with surrounding area

2. Highway-Distance: I-39 0.68 miles

3. Utilities-Electric Power: Show distance to nearest substation at 2330 W. Wisconsin Street

4. Additional Information: Should enclose topo, site layout with easements, utility layout and recent aerial photos. No need to send environmental assessment





NA Office Warehouse

40,375 sq. ft.

1640 LaDawn Drive

Awaiting building forms.


3 Proposed Airport Site

260.5 acres

CTH CX

Well done. Couple of suggestions:

Show map of acreage with surrounding area

Highway-Distance: I-39 0.50 miles

Show distance to Hamilton Street Substation

Recent aerial photos

Need FEMA map of site and surrounding area

Need Wetlands evaluation and map

Need geotech report to determine soil bearing capacity and water levels

Need Phase I environmental

Large site for major user. City owned. Uncertainty of closed landfill and proximity to Fox River requires proactive due diligence




TARGET INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Preliminary Target Industries There are two key industry sectors that are a particularly good fit for the City of Portage:

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the backbone of Portage’s economy now. There is a diverse base of large and small companies now, especially in the plastics clusters.

The City of Portage should focus outbound efforts on key areas of strength and growth:

Chemical Manufacturing Food Manufacturing Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing Machinery Manufacturing Printing and Related Support Activities Primary Metal Manufacturing Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing Miscellaneous Manufacturing

Transportation & Distribution

The City is ideally located on major Interstates that connect Chicago and Minneapolis directly to the East Coast and West Coast.

In recent years, it has been considered for and lost out on DC projects, such as projects in Beaver Dam (Wal-Mart) and Baraboo (UPS).




Labor Match An important consideration for any potential target industry is the local labor force’s skills and availability. In general, those industries that are supported by available labor with the right skills match pass this step, while those that do not are carefully considered. Often, workforce training initiatives result from this phase of the screening process, as it very specifically identifies the number and types of occupations/skills that would be required to succeed in a target industry. Ady Voltedge uses a technique which first identifies the top ten occupations for each target industry. We then look at the skills that are required for each occupation, and the skill compatibility of the current workforce’s skills with those required for the occupation. We use the base county (Columbia) plus all contingent counties as the labor pool for this assessment. From here, we did a weighting to assess the likelihood that the area has a workforce with the required skills available.

Portage: Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33) Top Occupations

SOC Code Occupation Description

Employed in

Industry

Percent of Total Jobs in Industry

51-2092 Team assemblers 3,052 6%

51-1011 First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers 1,911 4%

51-9061 Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers 1,544 3%

51-4072 Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 1,363 3%

51-4041 Machinists 1,301 3%

51-9111 Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders 1,249 2%

51-4121 Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers 1,194 2%

51-9198 Helpers--Production workers 1,150 2%

53-7064 Packers and packagers, hand 1,068 2%

53-7062 Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand 962 2%

TOTAL 14,794 29.0%

In our analysis for the City of Portage, we found that the manufacturing industry, along with all of the sub-sectors (e.g., chemical, metal, plastics and rubber, food processing, printing, electrical, etc.) have a good labor match in terms of both the compatibility of jobs as well as the amount of jobs in the region. The top ten manufacturing occupations account for roughly one-third of the industry's jobs, there is also a compatibility index of 95 (out of 100) and just under 75,000 compatible jobs within the 7-county region.




Current Employer Base As another check on the target industry identification, we analyzed Portage’s largest employers. As you can see by the list below, nearly all are in the manufacturing sector. A second observation is that for a city of its size, Portage has quite a few larger employers, which is another sign of that sector’s strength in the community.

100 or more

AMPI/Associated Milk Producers, Inc.

Cardinal FG*

Cascade Mountain Ski & Snowboard Area

Columbia Correctional Institute

Columbia County

Divine Savior Healthcare

Goetz Companies (Petro Travel Plaza)

Northwoods Inc.

Penda Corporation

Portage Community Schools

Rayovac - Portage Plant

Wal-Mart

56-100

Madison Area Technical College (MATC)

Portage Plastics Corp

Spartech Packaging Technologies

35-55

Culver's Restaurant

Dean Clinic - Portage

Flexible Foam

General Engineering

Hill Automotive

Kmart

Pierce's Market Place

Trecek Automotive of Portage, Inc.

Unimin Corporation

Zimmerman Plumbing, Inc.

25-34

AmericanWay

Arbor Green, Inc. Best Western Resort Hotel & Conference Center

Encapsys

Pizza Hut

Portage Lumber Do-It Best

Rhyme

Walgreens - Store 7732

Wieser Concrete Products, Inc.




RETAIL MARKET ANALYSIS

Portage Retail Data Current Business Facts

Portage has roughly 144 retail stores employing a total of 1,826 people; there are 26 establishments with more than 20 employees:

o 3 Grocery stores o 13 Eating and drinking places o 2 Drug stores o 2 Automobile Dealers o 2 Department stores o 1 Hardware store o 1 Home furniture, furnishings and equipment store o 2 Miscellaneous stores

Consumer Spending Patterns

On average there is more growth at the 30-minute drive time level than at the 10-minute or 20-minute drive time.

At the 10 minute drive time, spending is below the US average on all products except healthcare, which is at the US average.

At the 20-minute and 30-minute drive time, spending is at or below the US average on most products except healthcare and transportation, which is consistent with what stakeholders said: residents do a lot of their shopping outside of Portage.

As a whole, consumer spending increases as the drive time increases.

Opportunity Gap – Retail Stores

Portage has an overall retail surplus (-) of $44,191,077 at the 10-minute drive time. This surplus actually changes into a total demand (+) at the 20-minute drive time ($23,421,423) and then changes back to a surplus (-) again at the 30-minute drive time ($53,540,791).

Portage’s overall retail surplus (-), $44,191,077 (at the 10-minute drive time) means that supply outweighs demand. However, there are still several areas where Portage can benefit by offering local alternatives. Large opportunities include (10-minute drive time gap shown):

o Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers ($32,405,837) o Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores ($2,300,245) o Electronics and Appliance Stores ($2,030,260) o Building Material, Garden Equipment Stores ($4,962,447) o Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book, Music Stores ($2,292,164)




Below is a table that depicts all of the major retail categories and their opportunity at a 10-minute, 20-minute, and 30-minute drive time. The overall opportunity column depicts which of the major categories Portage has an opportunity in.

Retail Opportunity Gap Analysis

Category Overall

Opportunity 10 Minute Drive

Time 20 Minute Drive Time

30 Minute Drive Time

Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers

$32,405,837 -$279,013 $22,658,542

Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores

$2,300,245 $7,011,061 $12,397,684

Electronics and Appliance Stores

$2,030,260 $7,165,736 $21,821,977

Building Material, Garden Equipment Stores

$4,962,447 $23,696,609 $35,525,555

Food and Beverage Stores

-$13,101,986 $3,783,628 $37,422,467

Health and Personal Care Stores

-$4,017,572 $10,276,071 $16,244,892

Gasoline Stations

-$34,399,423 -$50,025,178 -$111,036,860

Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores

$2,107,152 $8,296,764 -$96,945,294

Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book, Music Stores

$2,292,164 $6,729,351 $17,774,878

General Merchandise Stores

-$18,366,648 -$9,000,905 -$2,566,955

Miscellaneous Store Retailers

-$3,904,883 $1,807,425 -$618,126

Non-Store Retailers

-$1,264,973 $17,686,296 $62,839,402

Foodservice and Drinking Places

-$15,233,697 -$3,726,422 -$69,058,953

Total

-$44,191,077 $23,421,423 -$53,540,791

Even though the biggest jump in total opportunity is from the 10-minute drive time to the 20-minute drive time (opportunity grows by a little over $67,500,000) versus the 20-minute drive time to 30-minute drive time (opportunity declines by almost $77,000,000) we recommend that Portage begin their retail focus on categories that show the largest amount of opportunity at the 10-, 20-, and 30-minute drive times which are indicated in green on the previous page. The categories with the largest amount of opportunity are as follows and are depicted below by bar charts:

Building Material & Supply Dealers

Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores


Electronics and Appliance Stores




Building material and supply dealers’ opportunity is the largest opportunity in the 10-minute drive time area and continues to grow at the 20-minute and 30-minute drive times. Portage currently has $12.5 million in building materials, garden supply and mobile homes related sales.

Although furniture and home furnishings stores has significantly less demand than building materials and supply dealers it is the second highest opportunity in the 10-minute drive time. Currently Portage has sales in this category of about $2.6 million.

$49,649,139

$24,021,904

$6,351,368

$0 $20,000,000 $40,000,000 $60,000,000

Building Material & Supply Dealers

10 Minute

20 Minute

30 Minute

$12,397,684

$7,011,061

$2,300,245

$0 $20,000,000 $40,000,000 $60,000,000

Furniture & Home Furnishings Stores

10 Minute

20 Minute

30 Minute




Sporting goods, hobby, book, music stores is a close third behind furniture and home furnishings stores but has a big jump in opportunity from the 20-minute to 30-minute drive time.

Electronics and appliance stores also have over $2 million in opportunity at the 10-minute drive time. Similar to sporting goods, hobby, book, music stores, there is a big jump in opportunity from the 20-minute to 30-minute drive time.

$17,774,878

$6,729,351

$2,292,164

$0 $20,000,000 $40,000,000 $60,000,000


10 Minute

20 Minute

30 Minute

$21,821,977

$7,165,736

$2,030,260

$0 $20,000,000 $40,000,000 $60,000,000

Electronics & Appliance Stores

10 Minute

20 Minute

30 Minute




RECOMMENDED POSITIONING FOR THE CITY OF PORTAGE The key aspects of any sustainable positioning are whether it meets all three of the following criteria:

Is important to the audience (relocating and expanding companies)

Is unique (differentiating) relative to other communities

Is difficult to copy

To that end, when we develop positioning statements for regions, we focus on what factors are most important/unique and how well does the region rate on that factor. On the next page is a four box that depicts how the City of Portage rates on specific factors. The box to the upper right contains the factors that the City rates high on as well as the factors that are deemed to be of high importance. Some of these factors include exceptional Interstate highway access, and a strong work ethic.




MARKETING PLAN (This will come in the April report)




APPENDIX A: BUSINESS OWNERS/MAJOR EMPLOYER FOCUS GROUP

RESPONSES

1. Imagine you are a company executive from outside the region, looking to relocate or

expand your current business. What would you want to know about the region?

Individual Answers (written)

Availability of resources, property, land, housing, employees

Utilities, water treatment, transportation, workforce, suppliers

Employment base, cost of living, location opportunities, tax credit/assistance

Transportation, logistics, employee pool data, local costs (taxes, utilities, etc.)

Quality of schools, rate of pay info, cost of doing business, unemployment rate, cost of

utilities, incentive programs

Discussion (oral)

Employment base

COL

Tax credit assistance

Incentives (training, grants, taxes, credits, etc.)

Relocation assistance to families (schools, etc.)

Real-time wage data for region

Education status

Employment rate

Utility rates and reliability (e.g., comp. to Indiana)

Water treatment capacity, access to treatment system (ability to handle solids)

Housing availability (40% are renters, transient)

Transportation and logistics – rail, Interstate

Proximity to customers




2. What is the first word that comes to mind when you describe the Portage region?


Historic, old

Run down

Behind

Hub

Not well kept, historic value not seen in architecture of downtown

Discussion (oral)

Hub

Dingy and run-down

Not well kept

Lot of history in Portage, cool things, but you don’t see any of that brought out

Standardization of downtown “look” – like Reedsburg’s downtown is

Perception of being behind

Old, historic




3. What are the biggest opportunities for growth in the Portage region?


Location within state/region, “road wise”

Build on transportation strength of highways

Distribution, challenges from issues will not make this an ideal location

Taking advantage of location (5-state area)

Discussion (oral)

Taking advantage of logistics hub

Transportation

Distribution

Opportunities for backhauling

Have the opportunity to be better than we are – based on geography, higher education




4. What are the biggest challenges currently facing the Portage region?


Poor or lack of leadership

Not thinking global, image matters, how we act matters

Reputation – “perception becomes reality” – what has the city accomplished/helped? –

lack of desired housing, perception of lack of assistance from groups, recreation, family

YMCA

Perception of city (politics, economics), quality of life

Number of available mid management people (4-year degree holders)

Discussion (oral)

Perception (and reality) that quality of life is a negative – lack of housing options

Kids standing on corners with skateboards, lack of things for them to do

Reputation as hub for kids and drugs

Middle managers (4-year degree) hard to find locally – recruit through colleges & universities rather than locally

Zoning codes aren’t strong and/or enforced – City Council is not forward-looking; too much cronyism

Poor/lack of leadership at City – pushing something that is not in the best interests of the City as a whole

Nothing has changed in 20 years (exception of Cardinal FG, came because of sand)

Hard to show customers or prospective customers this city

Not thinking that image and how we act matters

Nearby cities have high-tech libraries, housing, access to the arts, other amenities

Inflexible/high utility rates

Work force accountability

Perception that manufacturing is not something you want your kids to have a career in

City contacts with businesses have been when there is a problem – with water treatment, odor, fire suppression code, etc.




5. If you could add one thing to the Portage area that would have the most positive impact on

the region’s future, what would you add?


A joint focal group between city and industrial, service companies and develop short and

long term plan

Youth programs

Bring in a fresh set of eyes and remove the “this is the way it has always been” thinking

Technical training capabilities (maintenance, computer, truck driving)

More shopping options for clothing/shoes = job center

Discussion (oral)

Job Center – where high school graduates could learn how to fill out an application, complete a resume, determine what they’re good at

Employment skills – some of the basics, like working together as a team, reading a tape measure– worse in Portage than at other plants that local employers run in other places

Sense of entitlement among high school graduates

Technical training skills

Youth employment opportunities so that entry-level workers have some sense of work ethic




6. If you could take away something from the Portage area that would make a positive

difference for its future, what would you take away?


Canal

Remove the roadblocks and allow growth thinking

Manufacturing base

Discussion (oral)

The canal (sludge pool) – has a misplaced nostalgia. Admit that it’s dead and come up with a re-use like a bike path or skateboard park.

Traffic pattern in the downtown area – between one-way streets, red lights, and parking

Take away the politicians who don’t listen, act




How well does Portage deliver on the following locational criteria? (5 respondents)

Criterion Very Good

Good Fair Poor Don’t Know

Labor – Quality/Productivity 0 3 1 1 0

Labor – Availability 1 1 3 0 0

Labor – Costs 0 0 4 1 0

Traffic (Frequency and parking)

0 5 0 0 0

Available Buildings 0 0 1 1 2

Business Resources 0 1 1 2 1

Quality of Life Factors 0 1 1 3 0

Totals 1 11 11 8 3




7. What other assets does the Portage region have, that most other competing regions do not

have?


Natural resources – outdoor activities

Low cost living w/ close proximity to Madison or for hunters/fisherman – great outdoor

opportunities

Rural, small town feel

Nice parks, active community programs

Discussion (oral)

Close proximity to Madison (+/-)

Natural resources activities in this area (Dells, Madison, Milwaukee)

For those who like “small town living”?

Have heard that City parks are well maintained




APPENDIX B: RETAIL BUSINESS OWNERS/DOWNTOWN STAKEHOLDERS

FOCUS GROUP RESPONSES

1. Imagine you are a company executive from outside the region, looking to relocate or expand

your current business. What would you want to know about the region?


Location, employees, level of income by consumers, taxes, traffic count, supplier access,

population, school system, healthcare, library, city ordinances, zoning

Cost of rent, buildings to buy, parking/traffic, population

Population, workers, homes, taxes

Traffic patterns, flow, expanding areas, drivers for destination

Competition in area, population in area, traffic, income

Convenience of location, population

Population, income, growing or declining population, existing retailers

What types of businesses are here, traffic count, taxes, demographics, is town growing or holding

steady, location, can my business survive here

Traffic count, draw of other businesses, inventory of retail businesses, income, cost of doing

business

What percentage of income is spent on retail

Potential customer base

Discussion (oral)

What kind of draw are existing businesses seeing?

Traffic counts

Availability of workers

Access to suppliers

Other businesses in the community

Cost of doing business, including taxes

Discretionary income

Population

Competition – inventory of retail businesses




2. What is the first word that comes to mind when you describe the Portage region?


Historic

Historic, county debt

Historic, diverse

Potential

River, parks, recreation, tourism, history

Historic, crossroads

Historic

History, diverse

Diverse, industrial bare, historic

Historical

Historic

Discussion (oral)

Historic (several mentions)

Diverse – diversity of industrial base

Potential

Crossroads – highways, railroad, river




3. What are the biggest opportunities for growth in the Portage region?


Utilize the I90/94 system, manufacturing, businesses near the airport, higher-end restaurants,

higher-end housing

Industry, food, retail shops

Retail, food

Tourism, crossroads, highways, rivers, tourism, attractions = permanent residents

Highways, railroads

Roads and retail

Larger retailers, maybe clothing, higher-end housing, dist. center for some companies

Retail, restaurant growth

Recreation and sales within recreation markets

Distribution

Discussion (oral)

Roads and railroads, etc. providing access

Downtown has a lot of opportunity for retail development and growth (empty storefronts)

Housing – need higher end housing

Distribution center of the Midwest?

Sell to recreational markets – fishing, etc. (new sporting goods store)

Earning the customers’ business, including bringing people outside the area to Portage rather than just depending on local buying

Collaborating to put billboards out on the highway

Have seven historic places – trying to market them together




4. What are the biggest challenges currently facing the Portage region?


Lower household income, too many rental properties, city needs implementation

Getting store in the downtown

Layout of city, proximity to Madison

Inability to act and change with trends

Downtown retail vacancies, too many renters vs. owners, 2nd floor housing

Downtown revitalization

Growing our hosing and tax base, retail

Jobs, retail, growing storefronts downtown, growing housing

High vacancy rate downtown

Lack of branding, lack of direction of what we should be

The amount of flood way land

Discussion (oral)

Retail – opportunity and a challenge, trying to grow the empty storefronts

Growing housing and tax base (not just upper end, but $120-150k)

Lot of land in/around city is floodplain – should we be expanding our city boundaries?

Parking (perception or reality) – enforcement of two-hour parking, business owners who park in front of their own businesses, movies that are longer than the two-hour parking limit, upstairs apartments don’t have overnight parking which limits the value of the building

Disproportionate amount of rental verses owned = more transient residents, less reinvestment in the homes

Reaching the critical mass so Portage becomes the destination place for shopping

Easy to “go to Madison” to shop, or Baraboo and the Dells

Stores not open during evening hours (sometimes a perception); some stores not open seven days a week - doesn’t sync with customers’ patterns

City is seen as a rule enforcer, not a facilitator to get things done

Perception as barriers and red tape to jump through – saying “no” to proposals




5. If you could add one thing to the Portage area that would have the most positive impact on the

region’s future, what would you add?


Annexation, higher paying jobs and more housing

More factories, bike path

Higher paying jobs

Add place of business with state wide recognition to customers

Develop marketing for tourism

Expand MATC, higher education

Continue on social events, concerts, plays, sports, etc.

More retail options, higher end jobs, biking trails reconnecting the town, higher education

Factories, annexes, structure, city biking access, linking city, expand MATC

More factors to afford families to stay, biking access linking the city, canal to schools to north

side

Expand the city

Discussion (oral)

Biking access linking the city, e.g. from the canal to schools to the north side

More factories so that families can stay and work here instead of leaving the city for a job

Finish the last segment from Adams Street to Railroad Bridge

Expand MATC for higher education (possibly in the works)

Annex property

Look at City Government structure, is very inconsistent from mayor to mayor

City Council meets all the time , is very involved in the details which slows down the decision-making




6. If you could take away something from the Portage area that would make a positive difference

for its future, what would you take away?


Rental properties

Trucks through town

All the low end rentals

The idea that any outside business will kill small business

Public housing growth

The prison

Some of the wet lands around the city

Truck traffic through town

Baraboo, truck traffic downtown

Truck traffic (bypass if possible)

Reorganize city government – current mayor great but stability is problem

Discussion (oral)

Truck traffic through town – is the bypass possible?

Public housing growth

Prison – has some downsides, like visitors




7. How well does Portage deliver on the following locational criteria? (11 respondents) Criterion Very Good Good Fair Poor

Don’t Know

Labor – Quality/Productivity 1 7 4 0 0

Labor – Availability 1 3 7 0 0

Labor – Costs 1 5 4 0 0

Traffic (Frequency and parking) 5 2 4 0 0

Available Buildings 0 7 2 1 0

Business Resources 5 4 2 0 0

Quality of Life Factors 3 6 2 0 0

Totals 16 34 25 1 0

Discussion (oral)

Labor quality and productivity GOOD

Labor availability – GOOD/ FAIR

Labor cost – GOOD and FAIR

Traffic - VERY GOOD

Available buildings – GOOD and FAIR

Business resources – VERY GOOD o Access to capital is a persistent issue in the region o City RLF is empty; county still has one

Quality of Life – GOOD/VERY GOOD




8. What other assets does the Portage region have, that most other competing regions do not have?


Great interstate systems, w/ both rail and water access

Recreation, interstate, railroad, 3 highways

One of the last stopping points for people heading north

Traffic patterns = great highways

Heritage, tourism, attractions, interstate system, rail

Rivers, lakes, parks

Great recreational areas and wonderful people

Interstate traffic, a community interested in improving

Tourism, Dells, Wisconsin River, etc.

Interstate access, proximity to the Dells, recreation – fishing, skiing, Lake Wisconsin

Transportation system, central location – halfway between Chicago and Twin Cities

Discussion (oral)

Transportation system (Interstate and rail)

Access to water? State is monitoring it more closely

Tourism – million + at the Dells alone, plus people traveling up to Minocqua

Heritage Tourism attractions

Healthcare system

Portage schools (K-12)

Parochial schools are also here (St. Mary’s, St. John’s) - how about a high school?




APPENDIX C: EVALUATION OF AVAILABLE PROPERTIES (Beginning on next page)

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